This upcoming Thursday, Phil Elverum — the man behind Mount Eerie — is set to make a stop at the intimate UW Music Hall next Thursday, September 6. Somehow finding time to tour during a year in which he released two albums (the quiet, spacious Clear Moon and the soon-to-be-released Ocean Roar), the show is sure to be a shoo-in for one of the best this fall. The very, very busy man sat down to answer five questions.
You draw much inspiration from your hometown Anacortes, Washington. What is it like to live in Anacortes? Is there any other place that has been a source of creative inspiration?
“It is a pretty quiet town. Not much happens here but somehow I am always rushing around busy with my own projects, so I imagine my head would explode in a more hectic place. Also, it’s super beautiful here — amazing light and water and mountains and deep forests and stuff. I have been inspired all over the place, though. I just have the deepest relationship with this particular spot.”
You probably get this one a lot — what caused the name change from The Microphones to Mount Eerie?
“I felt like The Microphones project was complete, and this ambiguous idea of ‘Mount Eerie’ was fertile and unexplored and interesting to me. Also, it felt more relevant to the songs I was writing.”
You’re about to release another new album, Ocean Roar, very soon. How does this one compare to this year’s earlier release, Clear Moon?
“It is heavier than Clear Moon. It’s more immense and dreamy and thick. It’s less about the experience of being a person and more about just raw dense obliteration. Non-human experience.”
You started your own record label a few years back. How has that been working out? Do you find yourself with a lot more freedom?
“Yes, 100 percent freedom, but also so much more work. I like it. I enjoy figuring out how to make a weird idea a physical reality, and how to mass produce and sell it.”
After being active for so many years, what parts of touring still invigorate you? And what parts of touring would you mind doing without?
“I love touring still. I feel lucky to be able to travel around and have people be interested enough in my thing to make it worth it. It is exciting to see the world roll by, and it is amazing to feel a sense of purpose while doing it, versus just a meaningless vacation. The toughest part is the months and months of emailing that go into arranging it all. Computer feeling destroying the mind and body.”