# Eric's Trip

Eric's Trip is a Canadian indie rock band from Moncton, New Brunswick. Eric's Trip achieved prominence as the first Canadian band to be signed to Seattle's flagship grunge label Sub Pop in the early 1990s.
The band had a minor hit in alternative circles with the single "View Master", from the 1994 album Forever Again.

## History

Eric's Trip formed in 1990 when musicians Rick White and Chris Thompson joined Julie Doiron and Ed Vaughan (who was later replaced by Mark Gaudet). They took their name from a Sonic Youth song and developed a unique sound which fused elements of the distorted guitar of Dinosaur Jr., vocal elements of My Bloody Valentine, the folk leanings of Neil Young, and the lo-fi aesthetic of Sebadoh. White described their sound as "sappy melodic pop music on top of thick distortion." Gaudet's description was more succinct: "dreamy punk".
The band released their first full-length album, Love Tara, in 1993. and its follow-up Purple Blue in 1996. In between, Eric's Trip played the 1995 edition of the Tragically Hip's Another Roadside Attraction (festival) tour.
Eric's Trip went on indefinite hiatus in 1996 and reunited in 2001. They also played a series of shows between 2007 and 2009. These included a show at the 2007 Halifax Pop Explosion and the 2008 edition of Primavera Sound in Barcelona, Spain and the SP20, a 20th anniversary concert for Sub Pop Records that took place in Redmond, Washington.
They played at the Sappy Records Festival in Sackville, New Brunswick from 2006 to 2009, with their final performance as a band occurring at the 2009 edition of the festival. In 2010 both White and Doiron played separate sets at SappyFest.

## Post Eric's Trip projects & legacy

Doiron currently has a successful solo career; in 1999, she recorded the album Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars with the Ottawa band Wooden Stars, which won a Juno Award for Best Alternative Album of the Year, and from 2003 to 2007 she performed with Shotgun & Jaybird.
White and Gaudet played in Elevator until 2009, when White announces the bands dissolution at that years SappyFest. Since then, White has also released three solo albums under the name Rick White Album, The Rick White Album, Memoreaper and 137 during, and after Elevator. Gaudet currently plays in the heavy metal band Funeral Fog. Thompson enjoyed some fame as Moon Socket, and currently plays in The Memories Attack with Ron Bates of Moncton band Orange Glass, as well as the band Diamondtown.
White produced Doiron's solo albums Woke Myself Up (2007) and I Can Wonder What You Did with Your Day (2009). Woke Myself Up features three tracks on which the entire Eric's Trip lineup contributed to the recording, their first studio collaboration since the band's 1996 breakup, while I Can Wonder has been described by critics as directly revisiting the sound and style of Eric's Trip for the first time in Doiron's solo career.
A two-disc CD tribute album, titled Songs For Eric: A Tribute to Eric's Trip featuring Eric's Trip songs covered by artists influenced by the band, released by Gooseberry Rcords, in April 2009.

## Personnel

* Rick White – vocals, guitar (1990–present)
* Julie Doiron – bass, guitar, vocals (1990–present)
* Chris Thompson – guitar, bass, drums, vocals (1990–present)
* Ed Vaughan – drums (1990–1991)
* Mark Gaudet – drums, vocals (1991–present)

## Discography
### EPs/cassettes

* Eric's Trip cassette (Independent) – Dec 1990
* Catapillars EP cassette (Independent) – Apr 1991
* Drowning EP cassette (Independent) – Aug 1991
* Warm Girl cassette (Independent) – Jan 1992
* Belong 7-inch EP (NIM) – Apr 1992
* Peter cassette/CD (Murderecords), LP (Sub Pop Germany) – Apr 1993
* Songs About Chris 7-inch EP (4 songs) / CD5 (6 songs) (Sub Pop) – May 1993
* Julie and the Porthole to Dimentia 7-inch EP (One solo track by each of the four members) (Sappy Records) – Jul 1993
* Trapped In New York 7-inch EP (Summershine Records) – 1993
* Warm Girl 7-inch EP (Derivative) – 1993
* The Gordon Street Haunting 7-inch EP / CD5 (Sub Pop) – May 1994
* The Road South 7-inch EP (Sonic Unyon) – Aug 1995

### Albums

* Love Tara (Sub Pop) – Nov 1993
* Forever Again (Sub Pop) – Sep 1994
* Purple Blue (Sub Pop) – Jan 1996

### Live albums

* The Eric's Trip Show live CD (Teenage USA) – 2001
* Live in Concert November 4th, 2001 live CD (Great Beyond) – 2001
* Live at The Esquire May 1995 live archival digital streaming release (no label) – January 2020
* Live in Montreal - March 16th, 1993 live archival digital streaming release (no label) – October 2022

### Splits

* "Laying Blame" b/w Stove-Smother Split 7-inch with Sloan (Cinnamon Toast Records) – 1994
* Pillow (Red) b/w Payday and Don't Spook the Horse... Split 7-inch with Moviola (metoo! records) – 1996

### Compilations

* "Sickness" featured on Naked in the Marsh 10-inch Compilation of Moncton bands, 500 copies on green vinyl (NIM) – 1991
* "Understanding" featured on Raw Energy CD Compilation (Raw Energy Records) – 1993
* "Blue Sky for Julie/Smother" featured on Never Mind the Molluscs East Coast Compilation Double 7-inch set/CD (Sub Pop) – 1993
* "Blue Sky for Julie/Smother" featured on Sub Pop Employee of the Month Compilation CD/LP (Sub Pop) – 1993
* "Laying Blame" featured on Trim Crusts if Desired East Coast CD Compilation (Cinnamon Toast Records) – 1994
* "Evie" featured on Not If I Smell You First CD Compilation (Sonic Unyon) – Aug 1995
* "If You Don't Want Me" featured on Teenage Zit Rock Angst Compilation LP/CD/8-track (Nardwuar the Human Serviette/Mint Records) – 1995
* "So Easier Last Time" featured on More of Our Stupid Noise Squirtgun Records - 1996
* "Universe" featured on The Boys Club Soundtrack - 1996
* "New Love" (remix) & "We're Only Gonna Die" (live in Montreal '94) featured on "The Stareoscopic Scary Show - An Audiological View Of
Moncton N.B." (No label, SSSCD 197-2, released independently by Rick White)
* Long Days Ride 'Till Tomorrow (Sappy Records) – 1997

### Other

* Bootleg (No Label) – 2007
* Eric's Trip Demos (92-95) - 2023