Who are you?
We’re Erik’s Dudes – the last word in country-crossover-hip-hop-death-metal-punk-bluegrass-pop music. Our membership is as diverse as it is talented and cutting-edge. Here’s the band:
Erik Finnsson – drums and, well, they aren’t so much “vocals” as they are “angry yelling about how the band isn’t ‘keeping it real’ enough. [Editor’s note: the plan is for the band to break up for a few months after Erik goes on a saucy bender, lands in rehab and then explores being born again. Stay tuned!].
Jon Cherry – tambourine and some triangle. Yup. That’s it.
Jim Clifford – bass; fun fact, during Erik’s rehab-hiatus, Jim will release a critically acclaimed three-disc solo album called Straight Pluckin’ with Jim Clifford – it will revolutionize everything.
Kurt Heinrich – vocals and free-stylin’.
John Horn – guitar and vocals.
Erik’s Dudes’s first album, which sold 10 million copies in 17 days, is called Country Road Drivin’. It includes the hit single, “Country Road Drivin’,” as well as some soon-to-be classics, such as “Raccoon Sex Machine” and “Ode to the Sun (I hate You).”
What do you do for fun?
Change the world by writing and performing the most diverse range of musical offerings since Hawksley Workman’s rap collaboration with Joaquin Phoenix. Erik and Kurt also like paintball. Jon Cherry dabbles in medicine and exchanges letters with John Horn. And Jim, well, he thinks.
What is your favourite community and why?
The country. Because it’s real.
What is your superpower?
As a group, it’s our uncanny ability to excel at playing any and every type of music. Have you every heard of death-metal-reggae? No? Well you will when we release our new single, “Spliff with the Devil”. No band out there can roll smoothly from a hip hop track to a 47 minute long bass solo to an angry heavy metal rant about the power of the Sun. Not even Coldplay.
Individually, here are the band’s superpowers:
Erik – dancing.
Jon Cherry – sustained and uncompromising seriousness at all times.
Jim Clifford – thinking.
Kurt Heinrich – ability to consume more butter in a 24 hour period than any other human in the galaxy.
John Horn – haiku poetry.
How do you use it to build community?
If a seriously thoughtful dinner party that involves buttery dancing and poems doesn’t build community then what the heck does?
Our Three Favourite Things About Erik’s Dudes Are…
1. Erik. Through the tantrums, binges, mis-timed drumming, and the thousands of ladies who keep throwing themselves at his taught, young adult body, there is a good soul and a positive force of humanity at the core. Sure, he causes a lot of trouble and tumult for the band, but there wouldn’t be any Erik’s Dudes without Erik. Or, if there was it would be pretty weird.
2. They’re real. Some of you might think that this is a joke and just a way for the blog’s team to fill a spot on a Thanksgiving Sunday, but that’s not the case. These guys are a real band with real songs and real instruments that they really play. Really.
3. How diverse the songs are. The critics talk about the big, swingin’ differences between, say, a soulful ballad like “Country Road Drivin'” and a fast-paced pop song like “Superawesome Ninja Cool Sex Water Fight” and a politically charged protest song like “High Fructose Corn Syrup” because no one else has the balls to put such different, diverse music on the same album at the same time. It’s what makes this band a creative legend in the making.
– As told by Rolling Stone* magazine
amazing.
Hey guys, did you hear. Country Road Drivin’ went triple platinum this weekend. And Erik through a bottle of vodka at my head when I tried to tell him about it. Gotta say, as a member of the band, I’m a little worried that pretty soon the binge/rehab stint of the story will soon by coming true.