Vintage Pop Soulster JEFF EAGER Releases Song For The Ages – Literally – In “I Don’t Care For What’s Out There”
For his new album 2070, Jeff Eager strove to create a collapsing of the eras – the sounds he loves, inspired by the classic songwriting of the late 70s and early 80s, but for the future – say, the year 2070. His first single “I Don’t Care For What’s Out There” – available now – perfectly encapsulates this blurring of time as Eager, against an energetic, summer-fun groove, addresses the juxtaposition of the musician lifestyle and fatherhood.
A mix of vintage pop, rock, and soul, “I Don’t Care For What’s Out There” blends synth and acoustic sounds (think Raspberry Beret) and a clever, heartwarming message: all of the successes (and more importantly, the failures!) of a music career don’t matter to a small child:
You don’t care where I’m going when I back my bags
You don’t care where the gig is at
You don’t care about the tours played around the world
You just care that I’m coming back
“This album is for my kids in the future … when they reach middle age and they start thinking about what their old dad did when he wasn’t making lunches and cleaning the house,” Eager explains. “This was the motivation that kept me working through this album at such a high level.”
What spurred this concept was Eager thinking about his own parents once he became a dad, what their lives were like when he was little, outside of his memories.
“You don’t really know what your parents do, outside of feeding and clothing you and generally just being around,” Eager muses. “Their lives outside of their relationship with you doesn’t matter much to you, and it shouldn’t; you’re a kid with your own path and life to build.”
Eager didn’t want to pander to a current 2023 sound, he just wanted to make a record he absolutely loved, and the sound he came up with was inspired by his favorite music from a bygone era. “This album is not done as a gimmick, it’s not an intentional throwback, it’s not trying to capture an era-specific sound,” he said. “I simply wrote the music that I enjoy most, and when I was done, I inadvertently made a record from 1980.”
The album is for two audiences: listeners today who will enjoy the pure fun of 2070 and the tiny, tight-knit group of people who will find special significance and intimacy in it decades down the line.
“There’s tons of hidden gems, references, and easter eggs in this record for my kids to find later,” Eager says. “It’s for an Audience of Three in 2070.”
Watch the lyric video for “I Don’t Care For What’s Out There” below and learn more about Jeff via our mini-interview.
Care to introduce yourself?
Jeff Eager, Professional Musician (whatever that strange job title means … it’s different for every person, and it changes throughout your career).
These days, with the release of my new album (the first in over six years!), I am wearing my singer-songwriter / original artist hat once again …. and it fits better than ever!
Tell us about the process of writing and recording “I Don’t Care For What’s Out There”?
This song is a dedication to my daughter, Zoe. I promised I would write a song for her after her older sister had songs on my first album. To match her personality and energy, the song had to be fun, heartwarming, and a little quirky. Lyrically, it reveals the mental and emotional balance between musicianhood and parenthood. While the verse seems to imply something negative off the top (that this girl doesn’t care about all the wonderful successes I have in my music career), the narrative is turned around when I realize she also doesn’t care about the failures, the struggles, and the emotional roller-coaster of a career in the arts. She just cares about spending time with me. And there is peace in that. So, when I’m with my daughters, my wife, my family … I don’t care for what’s out there, either. This is what is most meaningful.
All of that wrapped in a fun, summer pop jam.
What’s it like being a musician in Toronto?
I came to Toronto in 2004, a very different time for the city, with a very different music scene. It was magical to cut my teeth in all the bars, clubs, and venues in those years from 2004 to 2014 (The Hideout on Queen, Joe Mamas on King, The Orbit Room, ROK Boutique, Silver Dollar, Grossmans Tavern, The El Mocambo, countless pub gigs and a few after-hours jams!). Social media was very different, and live music was still more important than perfectly curated online content.
Slowly, my career changed into more touring and out-of-town gigs, my family grew with new babies, and living in downtown Toronto wasn’t necessary or practical anymore. In 2014 we moved to Burlington, ON.
I’m not sure what it’s like being a musician living and working in downtown Toronto today. It seems tough, with rents being sky-high, and so many venues closed. I really hope there is a strong live music scene in Toronto for the next generation, but the city needs to take action to protect and enhance the arts, culture, and nightlife scene.
Who was the first and most recent Canadian artist to blow you away?
Some great Canadian bands in the 90s I remember making an impression on me: Big Sugar, Wide Mouth Mason, Philosopher Kings, and Sloan, to name a few.
Most recently, I had Gracie Ella open my album release show just this week. I first heard her a few years ago when we shared a bill for Unplugged North at the Rivoli in Toronto. I was seriously impressed with her effortless vocal ability and guitar chops! I am very thankful she agreed to play an opening set at the ‘2070’ album release show, she sounds as good as ever! Check her out.
You’ve been making music for a while now, what’s one piece of advice you can offer to those starting out?
This is advice for those in the art of live music (again, I can’t speak much to maximizing your Spotify streams or your TikTok following).
To be a great live performer, I think you need to get 10,000 hours on a microphone in front of people under your belt (practice in your bedroom or rehearsal space, though important, doesn’t count towards these 10,000 hours)
To get all these hours logged, play covers. You’ll gain so much experience and get used to your voice in a PA system (good ones and bad ones), get used to your playing (while you’re too hot, too cold, too sweaty, not sweaty enough, etc). You’ll see how you do under pressure when a monitor stops working when your instrument is out-of-tune at the start of a song and you need to make it all the way through, when you’re sick and need to sing, you’ll learn how your “sick voice” works! Basically, all the things you could possibly experience will come your way. And once those 10,000 hours are done, I believe you will be one of those performers who ‘makes it look easy.’