Eric Drew Feldman (born April 16, 1955) is an American composer, keyboardist and bass guitar player. He is known for his work with a diverse list of artists, including Captain Beefheart, Fear, Pere Ubu, Snakefinger, The Residents, Pixies, dEUS, Katell Keineg, Frank Black, The Polyphonic Spree, Tripping Daisy, Reid Paley, Charlotte Hatherley, Custard and PJ Harvey.
Since the retirement of Hardy Fox from The Cryptic Corporation in 2016, Feldman has been the primary producer of The Residents' music (alongside the group themselves). His first album in this role was 2017's The Ghost of Hope.
History with The Residents[]
Eric Drew Feldman was born in Los Angeles, California on April 16th 1955. For much of his early life he studied music, in particular bass guitar and keyboard.
At age 21, he joined Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, a group which had been active since he was 9 years old. The Residents were fans of The Magic Band, and may have first encountered Feldman when the Magic Band played three nights at The Keystone Korner in San Francisco in December 1976.[1] Feldman himself did not hear of The Residents until three years later in 1979, when he was given a copy of the compilation album, Please Do Not Steal It! and became interested in "Ship's A Going Down" and "The Spot".
In 1981, he moved to San Francisco and decided to visit 444 Grove Street, which had been listed as The Residents' address on many of their albums. Once there he was greeted by the group, who were aware of his work. Wanting to find a new collaborator for their friend and collaborator Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman, The Residents introduced the two, with Feldman joining Snakefinger's live band shortly thereafter. The following year, Feldman would act as performer, producer, and co-writer on Snakefinger's Manual Of Errors album.
The Vestal Virgins, 1982, Eric Drew Feldman (Left), George B. George (Centre), Snakefinger (Right)
Eventually Feldman was grandfathered into The Vestal Virgins, a live band fronted by Snakefinger which performed many of the songs co-written by The Residents and Snakefinger live. He toured with the group until Snakefinger's death in 1987, and co-produced their only studio album, Night Of Desirable Objects.
In the years following Snakefinger's death, Feldman joined Pere Ubu, and later worked extensively with Black Francis of the Pixies.
Feldman as he appeared on stage during the Demons Dance Alone tour.
Around 2002, The Residents' then-current keyboard player was beginning to feel dissatisfied with touring and invited Feldman to replace him on the Demons Dance Alone tour. Shortly after this, Feldman worked with them on their Internet MP3 download series The 12 Days of Brumalia. For their next tour, The Residents' regular keyboardist returned, with the group deciding it would save cost.
In 2016, the group's long-time producer Hardy Fox retired. At this time, The Residents had been working on their long-gestating concept album The Ghost of Hope, and invited Feldman to act as producer in the way Fox typically would have, engineering the sessions for the album, as well as playing keyboards and bass guitar.
Since then, Eric has acted as a primary collaborator with the group; mixing, producing, and occasionally performing with them both live and in the studio.
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- Snakefinger - Manual Of Errors (1982, Keyboards, Synthesizer, Co-Producer, Co-Writer on 'Beatnik Party')
- Snakefinger - Against The Grain (1983, Keyboards, Synthesizer, Co-Producer, Co-Writer on 'Beatnik Party')
- Snakefinger's Vestal Virgins - Live In Chicago (1986, Player, Co-Writer on 'Beatnik Party')
- Various - Potatoes (1987, Co-Producer on 'The Ballad Of Sawney Bean / Sawney's Death Dance')
- Snakefinger - Philip Charles Lithman AKA Snakefinger 1949 - 1987 (1992 Keyboards, Synthetics, Backing Vocals, Bass on 'It Hurts Me, Too', Co-Writer on 'Hidden Treasure')
- The Stinky Puffs - Toot: Sweet! (1999, Producer)
- The Residents - Demons Dance Alone: Director's Cut (2003)
- The Residents - The 12 Days Of Brumalia (2004)
- The Residents - Demonic! The Residents Live In Oslo! (2012)
- The Residents - Rushing Like A Banshee (2016, Co-Producer, Keyboards, Bass & Computer)
- The Residents - The Ghost Of Hope (2017, Co-Producer, Co-Mixing, Additional Instruments & Computers)
- The Residents - Loss Of The Lizard Lady (2018)
- The Residents - Intruders (2018, Co-Producer, Co-Mixing, Guest)
- The Residents - In Between Dreams Live (2019, Mixing)
- The Residents - Dreaming Of An Eyeball Beaming (2019, Co-Mixing)
- Various - The Godfather Of Odd - A Hardy Fox Tribute (2019, Co-Producer & Co-Mixing on 'If Only')
- Snakefinger - Who Do You Love (B-Sides & Rarities) (2020, Keyboards)
- The Residents - Metal, Meat & Bone (The Songs Of Dyin' Dog) (2020, Co-Producer, Co-Mixing, & Guest)
- The Residents - God In 3 Persons (2020, Co-mixing, Performer)
- The Residents - Duck Stab! Alive! (2021, Co-mixing)
- The Residents - Nobody's Nos (2022, mixing)
- The Residents - Triple Trouble (2022, Co-Written, Co-arranged, Co-produced and Co-mixed by)