Chicago native Ezra Furman broke out on the indie-rock scene back in 2006 by fronting Ezra Furman and The Harpoons, making waves and records that brought his unusual voice and rock and roll songs to the people. Now he is back with a brand new record. Day Of The Dog, which he recorded with his band, The Boy-Friends. Day Of The Dog brings out a new side to Furman’s sound, which seems to have matured with every album. The record has an overall eclectic and manic feeling, though each song is thoroughly developed, leaving listeners fully satisfied with every track. I got to sit down with Ezra and pick his brain about the new record, tour, and The Boy-Friends. Read along and get to know Ezra Furman.
Brynn: What are some of your goals for the new record, Day Of The Dog?
Ezra: I got very vague about goals because they never helped me in the past. Non-artistic goals make me feel stressed out and disappointed. I just really wanted to put out a good record; that is what I worried about, and then it turned out good. (laughs)
Brynn: For your debut solo album, The Year Of No Returning, you had a running theme where each song represented a month of the year. Was there any driving theme or idea that fueled this record?
Ezra: The main idea was for it to be more manic; the last one was a little bit more depressive. I wanted this to be a manic affair. It is kind of the other side of the psychic coin.
Brynn: What were you listening to when you wrote the record?
Ezra: A lot of Howling Wolf and old things on test records with a lot of saxophone solos.
Brynn: I really appreciated all the saxophone solos on your album. What made you decide to incorporate that instrument into the mix?
Ezra: I guess we are just… I say “we” as in general fans of music… are sick of the guitar solo. Now every band has a guitar player in it that takes a lot of solos, but before, it seemed like there was a sax player in every rock and roll band that took wild solos. I was just looking for new avenues of mania. I wanted insanity.
Brynn: My favorite song on the album so far is “My Zero.” Can you elaborate on the meaning of the song?
Ezra: It comes from running, running around, running away. Many musicians will tell you a homeless feeling is developed, so it’s a song about that homeless and traveling feeling.
Brynn: Did you write in on the road?
Ezra: No, I wrote it at home, but I had just moved to another new place, another new home, and it’s like I’m setting up my tent and building my fire here now.