Ahead of his Zagreb show, Eckman reflects on leaving the band life behind, finding a new home, and the power of going solo. Join us on May 15th for a night of reflective, bare-bones performance.

What inspired the transition from The Walkabouts to your solo projects and collaborations like Dirtmusic?
There were a lot of things happening simultaneously. By 2012 when The Walkabouts last toured we had been a band for almost 30 years. We were still deep friends and musical partners but our personal lives had changed a lot and it became harder and harder to find the time to commit full on to the band. And there was no point in doing it if we couldn’t do that. In my case, I had moved halfway around the world and was starting a record label and various other things. It felt like a good time to let it down gently. It had been a great run and as you mentioned it gave me a chance to pursue other projects like my solo work, Dirtmusic and of course The Strange.

Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of music?
I do. I love hiking, reading, photography. I remember someone asked me the same question in the 90’s and I didn’t have a very good answer. I think I said “music” and of course at that point playing music was my job. A hobby is obviously a very different thing.

Tell us about your favorite performance in your career.
I don’t think it is possible to pick just one. There have been a fair number of performances over the years that had an emotional gravity to them that was very memorable. One of them would have been Jabolka in Zagreb, when Carla and I played there in 1995. There are still people who come up to me and say how much that concert meant to them. Or the first time The Walkabouts played Athens in the early 90’s and we had no idea we were popular there, and nearly 1,000 people came. It was like a strange dream. Or the record release show this year for “The Land We Knew the Best” in Ljubljana. It felt like a homecoming of sorts even though I have been living there non-stop for over 20 years. It is a hard thing to describe, but it was a very beautiful evening.

What’s the best piece of advice another musician ever gave you?
Be kind to people on the way up, because you are going to meet them again on the way back down.

What’s the piece of advice you would give to other musicians?
Be brave and be yourself. To my mind it is better to fail doing something true to yourself than to succeed trying to sound like someone else.

Do you sing in the shower?
Yes. I also write songs in the shower.

What is the most trouble you’ve ever gotten into?
I made more than my share of mistakes over the years.  But I have never been arrested. It is probably best to just leave it at that.

What are your thoughts about the role of music in societal commentary?

I came across this quote from Salman Rushdie recently. It more or less sizes up what I think about the social role that art can have: “a poem cannot stop a bullet. A novel can’t defuse a bomb. But we are not helpless. We can sing the truth and name the liars.”

What challenges have you encountered as an expatriate musician?
I have been pretty blessed for the most part. I found interesting, like-minded people to play with almost from the start. The Bambi Molesters helped me out a lot. They gave me a musical home away from home. And at this point Žiga Golob and Blaž Celarec who I am playing with at Močvara, have been a part of solo stuff for over 15 years. And the Slovenian singer-songwriter Jana Beltran, who is also joining us, is someone I began making music with about 5 years ago.

How has the cultural environment in Slovenia impacted your creativity?

It has been a very creative place to live. There are not as many negative distractions as in a big city – noise, traffic and so on – and at the same time there is a vibrant cultural scene. It is a healthy combination.

What has been your most rewarding production project to date, and why?
Producing the first two Tamikrest albums in Bamako, Mali was particularly memorable. I learned so much from that experience both culturally and musically. It really opened my eyes to new ways of seeing and hearing things.

What legacy do you hope to leave through your music?
I don’t really think about that sort of thing. I am still thinking about the upcoming stuff I want to do. And the list isn’t getting any shorter.

Anita Ulovec