Meet Eric Wexler, a multi-talented singer and song writer originally from Long Island, New York. Eric is a former Kent State student and studied Entrepreurship and Finance until he graduated in 2015. Eric has already released his own single, Tall Sun, on various music platforms and is continuing to create and release music throughout 2017. Eric is the man behind the Alternative/Indie band,The 12th Human, and writes and produces the music created for the band all on his own. Creating music is nothing new for Eric, as he has been interested in the music scene for quite some time, with his first band being formed in 8th grade. Her Campus sat down with him to learn all about what inspires his music and how The 12th Human came about.
Name: Eric Wexler
Age: 24
Hometown: Long Island, New York
Her Campus: What initially inspired you to pursue music?
Eric Wexler: I think my first band was formed for the same reason every other 8th grade band is created, for the sole purpose of getting a girlfriend. The 12th Human has certainly come from some sort of resurgence of inspiration, though. After the breakup of my last band ‘Coorsborugh’ I decided to put the brakes on writing for a while. Throughout my undergrad I still recorded a few hip hop artists and stayed connected to the music scene, but I wasn’t writing much at all. As far as this new musical pursuit, I think the inspiration came out of the fact that I just had moved to a new city far away from anyone that I knew. It was a really quiet and secluded town and the only thing there was to do every night was to play my acoustic and write.
Check out Eric’s single, Tall Sun on Spotify today.
HC: How would you describe the genre of your music?
EW: I think it’s pretty much straight up alternative/Indie music. In the past I’ve always kind of frowned upon this style of writing and aimed to make songs that are as complicated and “impressive” as possible… and it would always end up taking away from the song as a whole. I think my music now is much more straight-forward. I focus more on just making songs that are entirely cohesive, rather than a bunch of cool riffs that are jumbled together. Both methods of writing are fun and have their place, but I’m really liking this new direction.
HC:Tell me a little bit about your single, Tall Sun. What inspired you to write this?
EW: I had just finished reading this book, “A Man’s Search For Meaning” by Viktor E. Frankl, and that book really inspired the creation of Tall Sun. The idea was to create something that I could care about immensely.
Check out Eric’s single, Tall Sun, on The 12th Human website, or at The12thhuman.bandcamp.com
HC: Are there any specific artists or people that inspire you while writing music?
EW: You know, I’m not sure. There’s definitely no specific artist that I’m trying to sound like when I write. I think that would end up being a disaster. Sometimes I feel like it’s inspired by that golden age of early 2000’s alternative-rock that always used to play on FUSE TV, and I have no problem with that at all. But to be totally honest, I’m really not sure.
HC: Where can people listen to and download your music?
EW: I have my music up as a free download on The12thhuman.bandcamp.com and it’s on all the major streaming services as well.
HC: What is the story behind the name The 12th Human?
EW: I’ve always been a big fan of sci-fi films. As I was brainstorming names I knew I wanted something with that classic dystopian feel to it. I was originally going to name the project ‘Furiosa’ as a tribute to Mad Max, but ultimately decided against it. I wanted the name to be in singular form to kind of hint at the fact that the band was made up of just one person. I eventually decided to go with The 12th Human. I think the name leaves room a great story to be written and gives the mind a lot of creative room to run with. If there were a sci-fi movie with that title I would without a doubt be in theaters opening night… unless it was starring Taylor Lautner or someone awful like that.
HC: Tell me about your journey to producing and releasing your single. What kind of work went into it, did you have help from anyone along the way?
EW: The song was actually supposed to be on a 3-way split with my other band Boa Constrictor that I play drums for, and this awesome band Ancient Hound but we ended up not following through with it. When we had this idea to do a split together I had gotten really excited. I went and booked studio time before I even had a song written. All I had was some lame hook that I ended up not even using in the final version of the song. I figured booking studio time would light a fire under my ass to get writing again and luckily it paid off.
As far as help writing the song, I’d ask some friends once in a while to play a certain beat while I played a riff to hear how it would sound, but truthfully I had absolutely no idea how the song was going to sound as a final recording. I had really only played the thing on my acoustic and just imagined it with distortion and drums behind it. On the recording, most of what you hear other than guitar was me playing that part for the first or second time. I probably could have been a little more prepared.
Check out Boa Constrictor here: boaconstrictormusic.bandcamp.com/releases
HC: What’s the next step for your music? What is something you’d like to see your music do in 2017? Any specific goals?
EW: I’m going to steadily release music over the year and keep trying to get my name out there. I’m also working on putting a live band together so that I can actually play shows that aren’t just acoustic performances.
HC: Are you currently working on or writing any new music right now?
EW: Ah, a perfect place to make a shameless plug. I’m in the process of recording a new EP right now titled ‘Inundated // Apparition’ and it’s set to release mid-april. I’m really really excited about this one. I really really put a lot of hard work into this one and it’s sounding insane with this new producer I’m working with. I plan on releasing new music every 2-3 months from here on out until I have enough people that will care about a full length album.
As far as finding the new EP, I’ll make a big stink about it on social media so if you follow me I’m sure you’ll be able to find it easily. It’ll also be on my website, Bandcamp, Spotify, and Apple music.
Check out this promo video with a clip for Eric’s new project ‘Inundated // Apparition’
HC: Tell me a little bit about the mini-documentary you’ve been working on.
EW: I’ve been bouncing this idea around that I’ve had for a web-series in my head for a while now, and I finally have the opportunity and time to move forward with it. I’ve asked my good friends in South Of Babylon Productions (Long Island Based Media Company) to partner with me on a very real and grounded mini-web series that takes place on the streets of various cities. For the first run we’re going to hit Pittsburgh & NYC. The goal of the project is to interview and record musicians who spend their free time playing to strangers on the streets of their city. Whether their performance is in pursuit of money, fame, or boredom, I want to find the most interesting individuals and learn their stories.
I’m not talking about interviewing some hipster and making him feel some long-lost sense of adoration. I’m talking about meeting real authentic individuals who may have never even had a decent recording of their music. We plan to give them a quality recording of their material by capturing them live on location with our professional grade audio and video equipment. I’m not quite sure where this little experiment will take me, but I’m pretty excited about it. Links to the series will be posted on our social media accounts and the first episode with be on YouTube by Mid April if you or your readers are interested. Around the same time as my upcoming release.
Head over to The 12th Human website to support Eric’s music, and snag one of these custom tee shirts:
For more music and to stay updated on all things related to The 12th Human, follow Eric on social media:
Instagram: @the12thhuman
Facebook: The12thHuman
Wesbite: the12thhuman.com