Home | About | Bands | Contact | Discography | Gear | Guestbook | Hire Eric | In The Media | Links | Sounds | Store | Extras
|
Welcome to my new website!
www.myspace.com/ericalthaus
8/26/2008 (photos by Kerry Ring for DeadRinger Photography)
One of Joy Ride's final shows of July was at Mayslack's - a local Minneapolis venue. It was one of the first shows we've had as a band where the venue was only about one-third full. But one of the attendees just happens to be the current lead singer of THE DOORS!!! That's right, Jim Morrison's latest replacement in the band is Freeman James, and he's also playing bass for the band (even though the group never had a bass player). Freeman has performed on so many recordings over the years (he was telling me about some funny Bee Gees stories ;-), and is truly a Rock & Roll Legend! Joy Ride's lead singer, Mark Allen, has been friends with Freeman for many years, so it was a very pleasant surprise to all of us! Freeman has a full-scale production/recording studio located in the Minneapolis suburbs (Jamesland Studios), which he has invited me out to "have some fun", and "try out the drum room". I plan to do so soon.
A special shout-out to Mark Petrocelli at Pro-Mark Drumsticks for the package of goodies I received earlier this month. I woke up to the dogs going crazy, and when I got to the front door to see what the fuss was about, there was my 'Christmas in Summer' package full of all sorts of things to have fun with. Another shirt, hat, lanyards, practice pad (the cool 'snare-like' X-PAD), and more. Pat and Mark have always been a pleasure to deal with at Pro-Mark, I'm happy to be a 'user-for-life'. :o)
I hope to see you at a show real soon! -EA
7/22/2008 (new photos in this update by Ringer) It's been an interesting Summer so far. I hope you've been enjoying yours!
The family went camping in the new 5th wheeler over the 4th of July. Because of the surgery the week before, I wasn't very 'fleet of foot', but it was SO much better to sit on my ass out in a lawn chair and take in nature, than it ever was sitting on my couch at home ever since the accident. It was the first time I got any sun or spent any time outside in the past 7 or 8 months since the whole fiasco began. Since the camping trip, we've done several other outside activities, so I finally feel like I have somewhat of a life! Because I couldn't go on any trips earlier in the year, now we're making a point to take a bunch of mini-trips every week for the rest of the summer. I have to fit it into my performance schedule, but that still leaves plenty of opportunities during the week while most people are stuck at work.
I've been hearing from friends and former colleagues that they're doing well. Luna Sea, of course not a 'former' group, has had my friend Terry fill in for me at a couple of shows recently. They've been doing as well as ever. Melody has been dividing her time between Luna Sea, blues great Corey Stevens, and rock legends CROW this summer. Jeff has been busy writing and recording some tunes. I'll be recording drums on one of them that will no doubt be heard quite often this election season. Trust me, you'll hear about it! My buddy, Johnee D'Shea, has been tearing up the charts with his back-catalog of released material. Check out his site for current news. The Bad Animals have been keeping busy with a series of successful outdoor festival appearances. Craig Life (former ShakyJake guitarist) has been keeping busy with his cover band HYLANDER, as well as starting up a new Alice In Chains tribute band. My former colleagues in Vox Tempus will have their CD re-released on indie label AngelMilk Records. I'm not on it, of course (that's Greg Bissonette), but I was involved in the writing of several of the tunes, so go ahead and check it out (even though, I get no compensation ;-). Hmmm, is it cheaper to get 'legal' on them? ;-) lol ... nah, I wish my friends Ray and Jim the best. They're great players, and they deserve some attention. Dan's a great vocalist, and even Ragno is a great keyboardist...we just had 'issues' with each other toward the end of it all. Good to hear that everyone is doing so well and keeping busy! That's about all for this update. I hope to see you at a performance soon!
-EA 6/17/2008 (new photos in this update by Ringer) Thanks, as always, for stopping by and visiting my site!
I have a significant update regarding my foot. I'll be undergoing another surgery next week to have the four screws removed from my right foot. It seems as though they have been hindering my recovery progress by fusing the foot's joints together. At the moment there's a risk that they might break soon...thus the urgency of the sudden surgery being scheduled. Granted, this is supposed to be a much 'easier' surgery, but anytime I've had to go under the knife, I just get a sick feeling about it. And I'm not the most graceful of individuals when waking up out of anesthesia. I don't get sick or anything, but lets just say I'm not the most pleasant person to be around when the poor nurse comes by to try and wake me up. I'll be apologizing to them in advance! ;-)
Now, you might be wondering what the heck I'll be doing about Joy Ride. Well, much like I did with Luna Sea earlier this year, I'll be playing a bunch of shows "lefty". It doesn't affect my playing too much, other than no double bass patterns, and the hihat has to remain closed throughout the entire show - since the foot is occupied over on the double pedal. In case you're wondering, I chose to continue playing this summer with Joy Ride for a couple of reasons. First, we've put a lot of time and effort in to getting the band off the ground. Now that we have all these shows all of a sudden, I find out about my foot's predicament. And the shows are located within the Twin Cities metro area, so they're closer to home for me, and setup more favorably for the loading of band equipment in/out. Any possible way to keep the physical logistics as manageable as possible, is a HUGE plus for me in that situation. And since I just came from that situation, I can be more intelligent about how I go about retaining a gigging schedule. I feel good about leaving Luna Sea in capable hands for the time being with Terry, and I'm looking forward to the Joy Ride in the meantime!
I probably won't update this site for a little while now, due to my recovery period. But I'll try to do so when it is convenient. Thanks for understanding. In the meantime, I hope to see you at a show real soon! Please check my schedule here and on my MySpace site often. I'll update those frequently since they don't require much of a time commitment to do so. Until next time....Happy 4th of July to my American friends out there! Get out there and celebrate proudly!!! -EA 6/3/2008 Another quick update, as I have very limited time at the moment...
In other Luna Sea related news, vocalist Melody Gilbert is featured on Corey Stevens' latest live release - Live at the Myth. Mel, along with drummer Norm Steffen (who was my fill-in drummer while I recovered from my foot injury) are both on the new album, and it really kicks ass! Pick one up, if you get the chance! Joy Ride has a new website - www.joyriderocks.com to go along with their popular MySpace site - www.myspace.com/joyridemn. Joy Ride has been adding dates regularly for the upcoming summer months. We'll be performing at many of the area's top venues all summer long! If you're going to be in the local Minneapolis/St. Paul area this summer, check my calendar for performance dates, and come on out to a show! Be sure to stop up and say hi! Not much new to report on my foot's health. Just read the previous update, and that's still where I'm at with it. My friend, bassist Johnee D'Shea, has a new website - www.johneedshea.com. Stop by and check it out. And one quick last note - my new website design is well under way, and we're hoping for a mid-summer rollout! WOOHOO!!! 5/22/2008
The new band Joy Ride has a website up and running. Check it out at www.joyriderocks.com. The band is finally booking some *real* shows now. We'll be hitting the circuit hard in July! Until then, we might have one or two shows pop up, so check my calendar for updates! I have to thank everyone that's been visiting my site here, as well as my MySpace page. I don't know why, but the profile views and song plays have been getting numerous hits each day. Whatever the reason, I'm flattered! I've been walking around now without the walking boot. I still have a bit of the "Frankenstein Shuffle" going for me when I walk (slight limp), but hopefully with all the therapy and working out I'm doing, the foot will get back to 'normal' in the coming months. I estimate it's progress to be around the 80% level right now. I'm able to play drums with it now - almost like normal. I notice the little subtle techniques that I'm struggling with right now, but I don't think the audience notices. The bands haven't noticed, so I guess that's a good thing. Unfortunately, that's all the time I have right now. I'll try to provide another update as soon as possible. And know that my new website is currently underway in the design phase. Should be finished mid-summer. I can't wait! To my fellow Americans, have a nice Memorial Day weekend! To my foreign friends, I hope you all have a nice weekend, too! Keep keeping in touch! -EA 4/9/2008
I have some new photos to share, courtesy of my friend BJ with IsaBob Photography. I joined a new band - Joy Ride !!! Joy Ride consists of members from Chris Hawkey's POWER PLAY, and a band I formerly worked with - ShakyJake. The musicianship is top-notch within the group, and the material is great. I auditioned last Thursday and was offered the drum position last Saturday. My first show with the band will be this coming Saturday night, and I'm looking forward to a long-lasting relationship with my new friends in Joy Ride. Check out their MySpace site here.
Unfortunately, the singer and guitarist in Dirty Faced Angels decided to move on and work with other groups. This left Johnee D'Shea and myself wondering what the next step would be. As timing would have it, that's when the Joy Ride opportunity came my way, and you now know my decision. Johnee and I are still planning to put the right combination of people together at some point in the future, and have a lot of fun with it. In the meantime, that project is on hold. And I do still have shows with Luna Sea, so you can come see me with my Luna-Friends at their shows. Enough about the bands...
I have a new website design underway. I have some of it completed and I've enlisted the help of a professional graphic artist and animator I'm friends with, to help with the rest. It's been a lot of fun to plan, and I can't wait to show you all what's been in my head for the past couple of months. Look for it later this spring! And finally, my foot is still healing up from being broken and the surgery. It's been 5 months now (well it will be in another week), and I'm off the crutches. I walk around in an air-boot, and I'm finally able to play a foot pedal with it. There's still a lack of 'slap' and power in the foot, but when the kick drum is mic'd up, it hasn't seemed to matter too much. The intricacies of my footwork will take some time to redevelop, but I'm in physical therapy that seems to be helping tremendously. I hope to be walking normally within the next month or so. In the meantime, I have the Frankenstein walk working for me. lol
-EA
2/1/2008 I hope everyone's 2008 is off to a great start! From a physical standpoint, mine is still going really slowly while my foot heals. But all the down time has presented me plenty of opportunities to plan upcoming projects...
I was able to perform with Luna Sea at a couple of shows in December. I was in an air boot for my broken foot, so I couldn't use my right (main) foot at all. I used my left foot exclusively on the bass drum via the double pedal, and because of that I had to keep the Hi-Hat closed at all times. The only way this affects my playing, is that double bass patterns, and subtle Hi-Hat footwork aren't possible. Fortunately, none of the music Luna Sea performs requires those two elements. Leading with my left foot on the kick drum isn't much of a bother for me, as it really has the same abilities as my right foot. The speed and technique are mostly identical. The only area my right foot is superior, is endurance. My left foot started to feel tired at the end of the night. This didn't affect my performance any though, just how I felt when the show was over. And all the showmanship aspects aren't affected at all - so aside from the audience seeing me crutch and gimp my way up to the drums, I don't think any one would actually know I'm injured. I sat out all of January, as I was in a cast that whole month. Wearing the air boot offers some added protection for m foot and toes - whereas the cast left my toes vulnerable, and was too large to fit any additional protective layer over. Being around heavy gear didn't seem very smart, so I had drummer Norm Steffen (Corey Stevens, CROW) fill in for me.
There are a couple of recording offers on my table right now. One of them is a big 'name' within the major jazz/fusion guitar world. I need to allow myself to heal up first, before any serious talks can resume, so I'll just leave it at that for now. I'm pretty excited about it though, so I had to mention *something* here! :o) I'll list my new performance schedule for 2008 in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, you can check out my current dates listed on MySpace. I intend to honor the dates I have listed there, so that's the best source for my schedule for the time being. -Eric 11/30/2007
I'm bummed out, because I can't really do ANYTHING, since everything I can think of involves needing to put weight on my foot. I can't enjoy playing on my new pool table, no drumming (though I can actually play left handed/footed just fine - but NO weight, dammit!), no walking around anywhere, I can't drive, etc. It's going to be a rough time of year for me, as all the family activities virtually require me to be somewhat mobile - and THAT'S just not in the cards for me in the near future. The only past-time I'll have now will be TV, games, and possibly reading. And hopefully I don't balloon up too much while being a couch potato! :o) Since I'll be sidelined for a while, I'd like to extend a "Happy Holidays", "Merry Christmas", etc. to all my visitors here. Have fun and be safe out there! -Eric Althaus "As always, thanks so much for taking the time to visit my website and for all the support. I couldn't continue doing all this without your support! Thank You!!!" -Eric
|
Current Project News
|
March
2006 - After
three and a half years of having the previous design, and more than 45,000
visitors later (more than this particular drummer deserves ;-), it was time for a new look and layout for this website. My
last one was created by both myself and some friends of mine, so some of the
content was presented in either first or third person perspectives. Some of that
content is still going to be found here for a while - until I get around to
changing it all - but at least I finally got around to redesigning this site. I
hope you like it!
Lots of action
since the last update.
Just yesterday
I performed with Luna Sea at an annual private party we always do. Lots of love
to all the "Fry Guyz" out there! Nothing beats a nice pool party in the midst of
such incredible summer weather. Bikinis, BBQ, great people...it just doesn't get
any better. One of the ladies (Vickey) has been collecting drumsticks from me at
performances over the past several years, so in addition to signing another pair
for her - I decided to 'up the ante', and signed a cymbal for her and Jack to
take home. It means a lot to me to have such great fans - I consider them good
friends after seeing them so often at the shows - and any small reward I
can provide...I will! Thanks for having us back again guys. It's always a great
time! :o)
You drummers
out there HAVE GOT TO check out
I've been
performing a lot of shows recently, which has been nice to do again. After
playing 100+ shows per year over several recent years, last year was rather
'slow' for me. I think I only managed to perform at about 60 or so shows last
year, due to vacation time, family time, and [of course] the foot injury in
November. While I was laid up on the couch recovering, I wondered if I'd ever
get back out there. Fortunately, I've been healing up ok, and I now find myself
performing nearly as often as I ever have! It feels great to be back on track
and keeping busy doing something I truly love to do. I'm very fortunate, and
have you
to thank for all the continued support!
I left off my
last update with my [then] upcoming foot surgery to remove all the hardware from
the original surgery. I'm happy to report that I no longer have any screws or
rods in my foot what-so-ever. I've been working out with the foot and it is
getting stronger every day. I walk with less of a limp at this point, since the
screws aren't there to limit my mobility. I'll have discomfort in the foot for
the rest of my life, basically, but at least it should heal up to it's previous
'normal' potential over the next several months. At this time, it's really just
a matter of strengthening the ball of the foot and toe muscles. Even the nerves
have been coming back to life, so everything on that front is finally starting
to come around. Most importantly, I've been able to use it while drumming. Yes,
it gets swollen and painful at times, and the technique isn't entirely back to
normal, but I'm pleased with the current results and looking forward to the
coming months...
Joy
Ride had our first
official show this past Saturday. Thanks to all my family, friends, MySpace
friends, and everyone else that made it out to
BeBops/Choppers Roadhouse.
It was great to see so many familiar faces, and even former colleagues from
previous bands. It was a great opportunity for us, and we had a good show. The
band was tight, and the crowd seemed very receptive to the material we're
playing. HaanZ has posted a video on the
And with news
of my upcoming foot surgery, I've enlisted the help of another local drummer,
And finally,
for Father's Day, my wife and kids got me a great GPS unit for the car. This
thing has more bells and whistles on it than any device I've ever seen. And yet,
it's the simplest thing to use. I figured it'd be impossible to 'program' and
use with any dignity. I thought I'd be knee deep in manuals and software. But
nope...it turns on, and with a touch of the screen it knows what I want and does
it's thing. AWESOME!!! Thanks, guys!
Just
a quick update this time. I have a lot of news but no time to document it right
now, so hopefully I'll be able to provide another, more complete update in a
couple of weeks.
Lots of
updates, so let's get started!
Ok, so I
know that over the past couple years, I've mentioned joining a few bands. They
were all great situations to be stepping into at face value, but for one reason
or another, they just never materialized any further. I took this scenario very
seriously into my consideration before joining Joy Ride. Joy Ride really seems
to have all the pieces in place. As I previously mentioned, the musicianship is
truly Upper Echelon, and it is important to note that this is a NEW BAND. The
previous groups were all established bands that I joined, so there were existing
dramatic situations involved in each of them that left a short shelf-life for
the groups. I'm telling you that THIS situation is completely different, and I'm
positive that we'll be working together for years to come.
I just ordered
a new Roland sampler percussion pad this week. I'll be working with recorded
files, and sampling techniques for the foreseeable future. I want to be able to
trigger keyboard parts while performing live - along with other tasks. This is a
new world for me, as I can hit things just fine...but add technology into the
mix and I'm just lost. This will give me the excuse I need to change that, and
bring my drumming into modern times so-to-speak. It'll be a fun toy, and I can't
wait until it arrives later this week!
The
new band, 
So...literally
hours after writing my previous update, I had an accident while
hanging/installing seasonal lights on the roof of my house. Long story short: I
shattered the front half of my right foot (basically from the ball of the foot
through all the toes) when I landed on the cement walk way. Back on 11/21/2007,
I had surgery on the foot, and it now sports a series of screws in every toe,
pins throughout, and tiny rods that are sticking out for the time being. Fun!
I'll be non weight bearing on the foot for two to three months. Because of this,
I've had to cancel my performance appearances for the upcoming 2-3 months.
