Erik Andersen

"Wow, you can really play!"
"I love your song selections!"
"Clap, clap, clap, clap!"
"Play one more!"

These comments and feedback are very common when attending an Erik Andersen performance, and that's is the way Erik intends to keep it!
Erik has been honing his guitar skills and vocal abilities for quite some time now. Never wanting to be "just a guy in the corner with an acoustic guitar", Erik has continually challenged himself to stand out. Modern loopers and effects pedals assist Erik to create a backdrop for the audio voyage Erik goes on. He carefully selects the music gear he uses to provide the best audio quality available, and creatively uses these items to formulate sonic landscapes during improv moments. He records rhythm loops and uses his guitar chops to solo over them in different ways, sometimes creating layers of music that are unique to each performance. Its never the "same show" twice!

Raised in Northern California, Erik spent his youth in the 1970s and became interested in music after listening to some of his dad's record collection when he was about 6 years old. He was exposed(via hi-fi headphones) to the amazing production efforts that led to the results of The Beatles "The White Album", Queen's "News Of The World", and John Williams "Soundtrack To Star Wars", among others. He didn't understand at the time how these albums were made, or anything about the musicians who wrote the music that was recorded. He just knew that music struck something inside of him at an early age, and from that point on, Erik has been chasing music in one way or another.
Through early adolescence, Erik took interest in the trumpet. He thought it would be a fun instrument after watching Gonzo (from The Muppets) blow it in a funny way after the opening of each episode of "The Muppet Show". He took lessons from the elementary school teacher, and through 4th-6th grade performed at school talent shows with other student band mates, and he also played his first solo performance at a local Boy Scouts event. He was so nervous at that performance that he played the whole song facing down at the ground, instead of towards the audience.
By the time Erik entered High School, he was beginning to make connections with other people his age who were playing rock and roll and punk rock in their garages with each other. He was an teenager with nothing to lose, and he decided his next instrument of choice would be an electric bass guitar. Erik asked his dad to help obtain a bass guitar, and before he knew it there was a bass guitar on his bed one day when he came home from school. After the initial shock of getting the bass, he realized he didn't know how to play it (but his dad did). Being a fan of the band Oingo Boingo, Erik asked his dad to teach him how to play a song called "Just Another Day", which had been on a movie soundtrack Erik had watched recently. He picked that song up pretty easy after getting the lesson from his dad, and soon after Erik began to learn (by ear) every other song he liked as much as he could. He was hanging around with his friends who were playing in the garage bands, and was learning different songs and techniques from them as well. Erik felt like he had found something that he would identify with for the rest of his years, playing music.
During a break from one of these garage sessions, Erik was listening to his friend strum an acoustic guitar. He had no idea how a guitar worked when he simply asked his friend to "play something pretty". Obliging to Erik's request, his friend began to "play something pretty" and it was at this moment that Erik decided that the guitar was going to be the next instrument he would attempt. He remembered there was an old 12 string acoustic guitar in a case in the closet at home. No one had been playing it for years, and Erik decided to bring it back to life. Not knowing how hard it is to learn to play a guitar, let alone an acoustic 12 string, Erik began to learn how to play all of the open chords on the 12 string guitar (his fingers sure did pay the price for it too).
By this time, he was a senior in High School and had become a fan of The Grateful Dead after attending a few of their concerts. Erik became enthralled with the guitar playing of Jerry Garcia, who would captivate the audience nightly with his emotional and often downright amazing skills. Erik would become a student of Jerry Garcia for many years, and is often cited as being influenced by Jerry with his guitar playing.
It was around this time that a neighbor friend burned him a copy of Tom Petty's "Full Moon Fever" album. The song "Running Down A Dream" was a song that Erik just loved. That album made a connection with Erik, and the relation between Erik and Tom Petty's music only grew after that. Erik believes that Tom Petty is the greatest American songwriter of all time, and if you dive into the history of his recordings and accolades, it is hard not to agree.
Erik began to formulate his own songs and music around this time. His uncle, whom in later years would give Erik guitar lessons, lent him a 4-track cassette recording machine for Erik to play around with. This was where Erik began to record different guitar and bass tracks to create a complete song. He began to record his singing along to some of these songs, and Erik's early production efforts were born.
After High School, Erik continued to play guitar, and soon after Erik would primarily play the guitar as his main instrument. He decided to learn how to play lead guitar also, and began to take guitar lessons so that he could understand the theory behind the chords, and the scales and keys that work within the chords. Erik was learning how to enhance his music by adding layers of chords and scales, and all the while increasing his appetite for new genres of music to learn.
As he moved through his 20's, Erik played in different bands with friends. While in college in Long Beach, his band "Sweet Sauce" played at The Nugget (the on campus bar and grill). This is one of the spots that local Long Beach band Sublime played at when they were forming, a few years prior. Erik played in a band called "The Swooners" with some other friends, and they would perform at parties and different bars in the area. Erik learned that the live performance opportunities provided the most fun when playing music with friends. Hearing the crowd's response through clapping and hoots and hollers was Erik's justification that the music was good, and that was all he needed. Erik often states that after a live performance, he gets a "buzz" from it that lasts for hours after.
Eventually, Erik had furthered his songwriting and recordings to be able to create a homemade cd. He began to make albums from his recordings and pass them out to friends and people he knew. Erik thought it was cool to be able to have an album on the shelf with his name on it, right along side all the other cd albums in his collection. After creating a couple of these albums, Erik took the plunge to see if he could explore his music on a different level. He had been playing as a solo acoustic musician here and there and wanted to have his own band. He recruited some local players to create a rhythm section, and within a short amount of time "The Erik Andersen Band" was formed. Initially a power trio, Erik and his band played mostly Erik's original material. They played local events, festivals, bars and grills, pubs, wineries, you name it. There was local support from promoters and radio stations for Erik and his band. Erik decided to take the band to a local professional studio, and over a few months they recorded Erik's independent album "Lushes Foolish" (2004). The album contained a full collection of songs Erik had been writing. They had a lot of fun and it was a great experience working in a professional studio with an engineer to assist Erik with the recording process.
After a few years, The EAB dismantled and Erik "retired" from the live music scene. He had been working on a follow up album, however it never completed. Erik put together a recording space at his home, and would use this "music lab" as his main source to capture his new music moving forward. He continued to write and record all types of new music and songs over several years, honing his production skills slowly, one song at a time.
In 2018, Erik returned to the live music scene and released the independent album "The Transitions Project" (found on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube), which is a collection of music Erik had been working on after Lushes Foolish (2004), and through the fall of 2018. The album is a 20 song collection of material that was designed to bridge the gap of time between older recordings and current ones. Erik reemerged into the scene as a solo musician, and also had ambitions of creating another band, which he did.
The Bad Vibe Killers band played their first show in Stockton, Ca. in March of 2019. After a lineup change in the band, Erik went full circle and became the bass player for BVK. Erik has enjoyed playing bass with BVK and in 2022 he expects that band to make a comeback in the music scene (BVK was forced to take a hiatus due to the Covid-19 breakout and shutdowns).
Erik released a new album in the fall of 2021, Rebirth, and he feels this is his best work to date. He has confidence there are some great tracks on the record, and he is excited to showcase the new music to everyone!
Thank you for visiting!

Required: POWER SUPPLY
Space needed: 10'x10' or larger