Four years ago, Mark Everett, the mainstay of beloved indie rock band EELS, decided to take a break. During his hiatus, Everett (who goes by “E”) got married, had his first child — a son — and got divorced, events chronicled on EELS’ comeback album, “The Deconstruction.”
EELS is also touring for the first time in years; the group plays Thalia Hall on Wednesday. In a recent phone call, Everett, best known for his highly literate songs of optimism and self-loathing, talked about his tumultuous break, first-time fatherhood and Jon Hamm.
The following is an edited version of that conversation, which was a lot friendlier than a transcript makes it sound:
Q: Did you always know that you would come back?
A: No. Four years ago when I decided to take a break, I was just worn out from so many years of working so hard. I didn’t know if I was ever going to come back, and I didn’t care. At the time, I thought maybe I was done. So it’s a nice surprise to be back here talking to you.
Q: What would’ve happened if you hadn’t stopped working?
A: That’s a good question. If you do any one thing for too long in your life, it catches up to you and makes it clear that things are a little too lopsided, and you’ve gotta pay attention to other things. I kind of hit a wall where I was exhausted physically and mentally. Normal people would take little vacations during the last 20 or 25 years, but I never did.
Q: When you did decide to come back, were you looking forward to it or dreading it?
A: I didn’t know I was making an album for a long time. It was done very piecemeal over a couple of years, and then I started to see, Oh, this is turning into an album. The same thing with a tour. It’s a mix of excitement and trepidation, because it’s such an undertaking. I’ve never gone anywhere near four years between tours. It’s a little daunting, it’s such a different lifestyle than what I’ve become used to.
Q: You’re a dad now. Do you have to factor that into touring?
A: One reason I’m doing it now is because he’s only a year old. He won’t know the difference.
Q: Are you glad you waited til your 50s to become a dad?
A: Well, I wasn’t waiting. He was made the old-fashioned way, by accident. But I was very excited and happy to know that I was going to become a dad. There’s a poignant aspect to it in terms of my family story. I wrote an (autobiography) called “Things the Grandchildren Should Know.” The title was supposed to be ironic, because at that point I didn’t even have children. Now it’s like, the title might become literal.
Q: You got married as well. Are you looking around thinking, “That’s what everybody was talking about. I’ve joined the rest of the world”?
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A: Talk about a full life experience. Just in this four years, I married, had a kid, divorced. I’ve lived every experience.
Q: And you’ve got to portray it on an album in a way that’s sensitive to your (ex) and your son. Is that going through your mind when you’re putting together an album: “I can’t say it like that. He’ll hear it someday”?
A: Yes, and it’s rare for me to put any kind of filter on, but you do have to think about that. I don’t want to say anything that would upset him or his mom, but that’s all worked out pretty good. We’re all friendly and we have a good situation going.
Q: The album is surprisingly optimistic for somebody who’s had the crazy period you’ve had.
A: I didn’t want to get divorced. It wasn’t my choice. I wasn’t given a choice in the matter, but I can honestly say I’m, like, a happy person. I like my life. I wouldn’t have seen it turning out that way in the early days of divorcing, but it’s a good reminder that you just never know what’s around the bend. When things seem awful, it might be for the better, for all you know.
Q: There was always an optimism in your music —
A: Thank you for noticing.
Q: That’s not a common opinion? You’re the professional sad guy?
A: Yeah. I’m just trying to reflect life, and it’s not always my life I’m reflecting. It’s someone I know, or a fictional character.
Q: Was your autobiography harder to do because there was no hiding behind a character?
A: Yes. Yes. Yeah, definitely. If someone stops me on the street and says they read my book, the first feeling for me is discomfort, like, Oh, they know all that embarrassing stuff about me.
Q: It’s like someone seeing you naked.
A: Yeah, but I made my bed. I’ve gotta lie naked in it.
Q: They’re talking about making it into a movie. You must have thought about who you’d want to play you.
A: Whoever the latest Hollywood handsome actor is, obviously.
Q: It could be Jon Hamm. You know him a little, right?
A: Yeah, I’ll get the most handsome man on earth to play me.
Q: You met him and (fellow “Mad Men” star) John Slattery at a show.
A: Yeah, that was one of the great moments of my life. My tour manager and I, we don’t have a lot to talk about (on the bus to a show), but the one thing we could always talk about was “Mad Men.” Then one year we were doing a show in LA and … he said, “Don Draper and Roger Sterling are here!” I was like, “What?”
Q: You (and Jon Hamm) both live in Los Feliz. I can picture you hanging out, going to (local restaurant) Little Dom’s.
A: What, have you been following us? That’s exactly right.
Q: Does he get recognized, and you’re like, “Hi, I’m in the EELS. I’m famous too”?
A: Once we were having lunch at a sidewalk cafe, and there was a car crash right in front of us, and I said, “That’s because they recognized me. They weren’t paying attention to the road because they saw me.”
Allison Stewart is a freelance writer.
Twitter @chitribent
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