RICHARD ERIC
ANXIOUS TO ARRIVE
THE DEBUT EP
Planet X
http://www.sendspace.com/file/n0xzvx
Red Light
http://www.sendspace.com/file/vuswk4
Brisbane, June 19, 2010
http://www.sendspace.com/file/vouts7
We’re The Silence
http://www.sendspace.com/file/g1spmy
Memory Of You
http://www.sendspace.com/file/1pbefy
Planet X, Red Light and Brisbane, June 19, 2010 written, produced and performed entirely by Richard Eric.
We’re The Silence is a composite of two songs: We’re The Pet Shop Boys, written by My Robot Friend, and The Sound Of Silence, written by Paul Simon.
Produced and performed by Richard Eric.
Memory Of You written by Brian Higgins, Girls Aloud, Giselle Somerville, Miranda Cooper and Tim Powell.
Produced and performed by Richard Eric.
The Anxious To Arrive Maths + Science Jacket designed by Allanah Sarafian and Richard Eric. It was brought to life by Allanah Sarafian.
WHO IS RICHARD ERIC?
At the end of his final year of high school, a drama teacher told Richard Eric that a theatre owner would be a great future career, because then Richard could still be “around creative people”. Well known among his family and friends for caring more about music than school, this came as a vaguely insulting surprise, but it would not be the first time Richard’s creativity has been underestimated. While other kids were learning the rules of long division, he was learning the rules of pop watching worn out VHS tapes of Madonna and Michael Jackson.
“They had so much power over their audience, with a turn of the head they could transform a stadium of people into a screaming mess. No matter what they did they were always electrifying.”
Born Richard Eric Clifton Croft in Brisbane, Australia during the winter of 1990, Richard decided to take on a slightly different name for his music projects as it means he has “a chance to bring out a more courageous personality, a version of Richard Croft that hasn’t been seen by many people before”. Writing songs since he was eight years old, Richard spent four years in a stage school, where he learnt the basics of stage performance, then took that knowledge and used it to become an impressive self-taught dancer, moving beyond the confines of amateur theatre to create something different. From listening to the ARIA charts on the radio as a child and copying them into a giant notebook to launching a massive year-long blog project to write about his 1001 favourite songs of all time, music has been the key factor of Richard’s life, and with his adventurous debut EP Anxious To Arrive, he steps out with his own work, three original songs and two cover versions, all home recordings.
“Anxious To Arrive is about escape, from the literal in Planet X to the undercurrent of dissatisfaction in Red Light, right through to the title. To arrive somewhere you have to depart somewhere else, be that a physical place or a state of mind.”
As for his influences, aside from Madonna and Michael, Richard lists Simon & Garfunkel and Pet Shop Boys as lyrical inspirations, with Kraftwerk, Janet Jackson, Bjork and Eurythmics teaching important lessons about production and overall sound. There are a myriad of other influences coming in from all directions, from country to hip-hop to world music, including artists from Richard’s home, Australia.
“Darren Hayes is a hero of mine, not just because he’s from Brisbane, but because I know so many people, myself included, who say his music changed their lives. Kylie Minogue is another massive inspiration because she was never afraid to change her image and take her music into unexpected, strange places. Her story is just phenomenal.”
The three tracks that make up the heart of Anxious To Arrive each showcase a different side of Richard Eric’s vision. Written in early 2008, lead track Planet X contains a story that you would expect to see in a 1950s B-movie rather than in a four-minute pop song, wherein a boy takes a homemade rocket to the sky in search of the mythical title planet, leaving behind logic and reason to find that outer space holds more secrets than he bargained for.
“Of these three songs Planet X has been with me the longest. For two and a half years now I’ve worked on getting the story just right, and I spent so long creating the track itself that it was sometimes frustrating trying to get it right, I was ready to throw my Macbook out the window. As it is a home recording, I still have a vision for a more epic version, but I think this incarnation gives a good idea of what the song could become in the future.”
Red Light is next, a disco/hip-hop hybrid about the connected concepts of sex and dancing, and how they fight for attention, aware that only one can win in the end. Featuring an infectious chorus, an unexpected rap and endless pop culture references, Red Light is lighter than Planet X but just as important to the story told in Anxious To Arrive. The final original song, Brisbane, June 19, 2010, named after the day it was written, is a slice-of-life ballad that seems to explore a new theme with each verse, taking a minimalist approach but never losing sight of melody, a personal song that will still appeal to anyone who has dealt with the uncertainty of growing up.
Two low-key cover versions serve as an appendix to the EP, each chosen to showcase elements of Richard’s sound that may not be obvious in the originals, and to prove his diverse influences. First is ‘We’re The Silence’, a lyrical mash-up that takes Simon & Garfunkel’s sixties classic ‘The Sound Of Silence’ and mixes it with My Robot Friend’s ‘We’re The Pet Shop Boys’, a song which was subsequently covered by Pet Shop Boys themselves and then Robbie Williams. Creating a haunting juxtaposition of styles that works better than it should, Anxious To Arrive then closes with an a capella version of Girls Aloud’s hidden classic, the 2009 b-side ‘Memory Of You’.
“My music is electronic pop but it’s not electropop, there’s rap elements but it isn’t hip-hop, there are big beats but I don’t think it entirely fits into dance music either. I don’t have one genre and then shoehorn songs into it, instead the song dictates the sound, but I think it still all sounds coherent.”
Having recently completed a Diploma of Music Business and having spent years watching the industry and learning about music, Richard Eric is finally stepping out as a participant rather than an observer, ready for anything and anxious to arrive.
LYRICS + INDIVIDUAL SONG ARTWORK
‘Planet X’
Written, produced and performed by Richard Eric
So I packed my toothpaste and a shirt
And I went hurtling into space
I said goodbye to Australia
And to my human face
My country got smaller as I got further away
It was nice while it lasted
But I couldn’t stay
I sent a message to my mother from the orbit
I threw it out the window so I hope she caught it
I told her I was okay, but I must admit
I hadn’t seen her in a while ‘cause I built my own rocket
From the day I left back to the day of my birth
I’ve been haunted by thoughts that are so complex
I thought it was time to say goodbye to Earth
I’ve gone to live on Planet X
So a meteor hit me at a million miles an hour
But my rocket stayed still, it became a meteor shower
I didn’t ask why my contraption was so strong
I was anxious to arrive where I knew I would belong
Another few hours, I could see it very clearly
It looked like the Earth I had loved so dearly
When it came to humans I would be the only
But I brought my vinyl records so I never get lonely
From the day I left back to the day of my birth
I’ve been haunted by thoughts that are so complex
I thought it was time to say goodbye to Earth
I’ve gone to live on Planet X
So I’ll tell you what I found on Planet X
I found the second shooter and the bones of a T-Rex
Meaning of life and secrets to love
I found mysteries of the universe and Michael’s other glove
I found God and Allah but they looked exactly the same
I found a box for an Atari game
It was called Planet Earth and had a picture of a man
My mind exploded, Earth was in X’s hands
The microscopic beings who lived in outer space
They’d been controlling the entire human race
The virtual reality created in this game
Was the Planet Earth from which I came
And then it hit me like a ton of bricks
I was a simulated being and I did not exist
From the day I left back to the day of my birth
I’ve been haunted by thoughts that are so complex
I thought it was time to say goodbye to Earth
I’ve gone to live on Planet X
From the day I left back to the day of my birth
I’ve been haunted by thoughts that are so complex
I thought it was time to say goodbye to Earth
I’ve gone to live on Planet X
If you’ve always lived in virtual reality
Leave it all behind, come and live with me
If your life story has been someone else’s reflex
Leave it all behind for Planet X
Leave it all behind for Planet X
Leave it all behind for Planet X
‘Red Light’
Written, produced and performed by Richard Eric
R-I-C-H-A-R-D-E-R-I-C
One, two, three, four
Five
You got a feeling it’ll be a good night
All I see is the red light
I bury it away, I try to fight
All I see is the red light
I have to do, what I have to do
All I see is the red light
You disagree, but it’s calling me
All I see is the red light
Heading out to do the night work
I don’t feel like dancing
Try to get into the groove
But an emotion is advancing
A red light flashes
My defence crashes
It’s that greed
That human need
You got a feeling it’ll be a good night
All I see is the red light
I bury it away, I try to fight
All I see is the red light
I have to do, what I have to do
All I see is the red light
You disagree, but it’s calling me
All I see is the red light
You wanna burn this disco out
But what it’s really about
Is satisfaction, the need for action
Everybody burning up, physical attraction
You got a feeling it’ll be a good night
All I see is the red light
I bury it away, I try to fight
All I see is the red light
I have to do, what I have to do
All I see is the red light
You disagree, but it’s calling me
All I see is the red light
You meet your new friend, you think they’re a keeper
5am out with the street sweeper
Up out your face like Nicki Minaj
Migrate like Mariah, take a moment, recharge
Lego blocks? Ripped apart
They can’t put us back together if we never even start
I know you want to dance and I know you want to sing
It’s just that my mind is on a whole other thing
I hear the 808 but all I feel is heartbreak
And I know that I am making such a stupid mistake
99 problems, getting none ain’t one
I’ll do the walk of shame in the early morning sun
No Britney, don’t want the touch of my hand
Won’t beat again like JLS, do you understand?
Can I have it like that? Yes you can
Modesty was never part of my plan
I can’t help but feel I am not to blame
Don’t cry for me, Evita, ‘cause I feel no pain
I have a drug but it is not love, Ke$ha
No comedown, no side effects, I feel much better
No strings attached, no crying, no mess
And Rihanna, the answer to your question is yes
I don’t want to treat you like sex objects
But it was really lonely out on Planet X
I’ll break the habit some other night
For now I’m running head first into the red light
For now I’m running head first into the red light
You got a feeling it’ll be a good night
All I see is the red light
I bury it away, I try to fight
All I see is the red light
I have to do, what I have to do
All I see is the red light
You disagree, but it’s calling me
All I see is the red light
A red light shines
I follow the signs
Crossing the street
I leave behind the beat
You got a feeling it’ll be a good night
All I see is the red light
I bury it away, I try to fight
All I see is the red light
I have to do, what I have to do
All I see is the red light
You disagree, but it’s calling me
All I see is the red light
All I see is the red light
All I see is the red light
‘Brisbane, June 19, 2010’
Written, produced and performed by Richard Eric
They think they’ll live forever
That they will never grow old
Then as the years go by
They turn into their fathers and fold
I see fighting in the street
But I hear a different beat
I walk in the night with the freaks
Then I turn and walk under the sheets
Like the blood running from his face
We will run, we will leave this place
Do you remember how high we were?
And it felt like we could fly
We talked of London, New York City
Then we looked out and wondered why
I had just turned twenty, but I wish I’d turned away
I wish I’d said everything I couldn’t say
I know I must live only for today
Dreams get lost if you go too far astray
Small town funeral, small town life
The world barely paused for a small town wife
Is ten minutes all she meant to this place?
And is a small town life such a deep disgrace?
A big time girl sails for many nights
And thousands march for equal rights
Which event gets all the press?
If you guessed progress I wish I could say yes
Like the government trying to play us down
We will run, we will leave this town
Do you remember how high we were?
And it felt like we could fly
We talked of London, New York City
Then we looked out and wondered why
I had just turned twenty, but I wish I’d turned away
I wish I’d said everything I couldn’t say
I know I must live only for today
Dreams get lost if you go too far astray
Do you remember how we always said
We’d help the other out of this city?
Yeah, it might not be the centre of the world
But it’s home for dreamers like you and me
Yeah it might not be the centre of the world
But it’s home for dreamers like you and me
I had just turned twenty but I wish I’d turned away
I wish I’d said everything I couldn’t say
I know I must live only for today
Dreams get lost if you go too far astray
‘We’re The Silence’
‘Memory Of You’
A NOTE ABOUT SOUND QUALITY
These five songs are unmastered home recordings, and they are best experienced in a closed listening environment. My serving suggestion is to listen through headphones. They don’t transform into a distorted mess if played through big speakers, the music might just sound a bit quiet.
THANK YOU
Thanks to everyone who listened and gave feedback, Allanah Sarafian for making the jacket in the photos, my sister Libby and my mother and father for being amazing and sitting through loooong conversations about all this, everyone on Twitter for sitting through endless EP-related tweets.
Extra special thanks to my BFF Kylie Minogue who tweeted me once. Me, you and Dannii have got to have that movie night we’re always talking about.
All music should be dedicated to someone because that’s the nice thing to do. Dedicated to Eric Wood and to Michael Jackson – Michael, I’ve got your other glove. Let me know if you need it back.
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