Mark Everett of Eels: ‘It’s weird being a father when you’re older than your father ever was’
I played I Like the Way This Is Going as a love letter to my then girlfriend, now wife, before having it played as we walked down the aisle. What does it feel like to be able to create songs that can change people’s lives? cleckhuddersfax
It’s the most amazing feeling because you write these songs for yourself, so to have other people getting something out of it is fantastic. I wrote that song for my girlfriend at the time and a few hours later we got in a big fight. Then I felt stupid for having written it, but we’re still friends and she’s been at shows when I’ve said, “The person that this is about is actually in the room with us.”
Are you considering a follow-up to Things the Grandchildren Should Know? Probably the best book by a musician I’ve ever read. Boxspringhog
I want to, because so much crazy shit has happened since I finished that book. The problem I have is that, with the first one, I was writing about people who had died, so I didn’t feel too guilty. But now, spilling the beans is not such a good idea. I have a great, juicy story, but I’m waiting for everyone to die first.
Did your mum really say you were “a great mistake”? MementoMori1000
No, she didn’t and I should have warned her. When the song came out she called me and said, “I don’t think you were a mistake.” It was poetic licence. She adored me and I always feel a little guilty when I sing it. It’s in character, not autobiographical.
It’s a Motherfucker is one of the most profoundly beautiful, wrenching songs about grief. Did it begin beautifully and become so emptying? Notyetrev
People think it’s grieving a relative, but it’s not. I was going through a breakup, it was a miserable Sunday afternoon and I just went down to the basement and wrote it. I love it because songs about some huge universal concept of life are very hard to come by. Like John Lennon on the Plastic Ono Band album: Mother, Isolation, Love. There are very few words but he tells a story. In my own way I think Motherfucker is one of those songs. It’s not in the same league, but it’s succinct.
The song Fucker, particularly the words “trying to vent some of the terrible passion that’s coursing through me” describe the physical rampage of depression and have really helped me. Which lyrics or words have helped you? Nelfherself
That song was actually a letter I had written to my girlfriend at the time. She didn’t want to be in a relationship but couldn’t help herself and kind of resented me. So her pet name for me was Fucker, in a loving way.
Given that your father [physicist Hugh Everett III] is the originator of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics, do you feel that you are in exactly the right universe? Balnkfrak
I have a really hard time grasping my father’s theory for more than a few seconds at a time because it’s so mindblowing, the idea that there can be parallel worlds at the same time. I actually make a cameo appearance in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania as a nod to my dad. The director’s a fan of his and thought it would be fun.
You were 33 when the first Eels album was released and in your 40s when you made Blinking Lights and Other Revelations. Why did success come at a later age? JimmyBallyStudios
It wasn’t until I was 24 that I thought: “Fuck it. I’m going to drive
to California and see if I can do anything in music.” It was the only thing I had passion for. I didn’t have great hopes and I was 27 when I signed my first record deal. I mean, the Beatles weren’t even 30 when they broke up. My five-year-old son calls me “the old guy” [laughs].
How has becoming a father in your mid-50s shaped your approach to life or caused you to reappraise your relationship with your own father? chase
I don’t have the luxury of big building blocks of time to make music any more. It’s more a case of sneaking out of bed at 4am to listen to a mix before my son wakes up. It has made me more forgiving towards my father and given me a great role model for how to do it: do the opposite of everything he did. It’s weird being a father when you’re older than your father ever was. He made various choices and died at 51, but at least he had fun.
In real life, what works as Novocaine for your soul? mesm
We all have ways of trying to numb ourselves when things get too intense. Alcohol doesn’t numb me. I’m a happy drunk. I don’t know if I’ve discovered my Novocaine. Maybe I should try actual Novocaine.
Knowing the extremely sad and shocking things [his sister’s suicide and mother’s illness] you went through during that time, can you bring yourself to listen to Electro-Shock Blues? bandofhorses
When that album was reissued I had to listen to approve it and was surprised how much I liked it. It was also hard to listen to because of the content and reminders of a difficult time in my life. I had a distinct moment of inspiration when my mum was first sick with cancer: I was at her house in Virginia, in the bedroom I had in my teenage years, and just laid on the bed thinking about how awful things were. I imagined a blue sky and somehow that’s what the music became like – things are terrible, but there’s still hope.
You once said you regretted a line in Susan’s House because it sounded a little judgmental. Are there any other songs that you would change in retrospect and if so why? Canocola
Sometimes I’ll polish ’em up and change them. I can’t remember which line I thought was judgmental but on tour in 2000 I changed the lyrics to that whole song and made a completely different story. That version is on the live album, Oh What a Beautiful Morning.
Which song emotionally affects you the most when you sing it live and has it changed over time? shivermetimbersnow
It changes. A few tours ago we covered Prince’s When You Were Mine, a sad, slow version. I was enjoying it but then at some point I was going through a breakup and the song was just killing me.
I have only ever read two books more than once. Have you and if so which books? percythepolarbear
The two Sammy Davis Jr autobiographies – Yes I Can and Why Me? – combined into one volume, titled Sammy. Recently something made me reread the whole thing. It’s just this fantastic life story. I’ve also read Ray Charles’ autobiography a few times, starting in my teens.
Where is the strangest place you’ve heard one of your songs? NigelNeptune
Potty-training my son when he was a toddler. He had his first successful poop when he was watching Shrek for the first time. A song came on that was me singing. It confused him and he got mad, saying: “I want to sing on Shrek!”
• Eels’ Lockdown Hurricane tour of the UK, Europe and North America starts 26 March at Nottingham’s Rock City (tickets). Hombre Lobo, End Times and Tomorrow Morning will be reissued via E Works/Pias from 17 March
• This article was amended on 9 March 2023. The version of Susan’s House referred to is on the live album Oh What a Beautiful Morning, not UhOh as previously stated, and the Prince song covered on a recent tour was When You Were Mine, not When Doves Cry.