Welcome to Eggybeats

It's the spring of 2007 in Toronto. I'm gearing up to do some more recording and it occurred to me that a blog would be the most sensible way to present what I call Egger. Egger is basically me (Dave Ullrich) writing, recording and releasing music. Although I used to play drums in The Inbreds in the 90's, and now I run the online store/label Zunior, Egger is definitely more of a hobby. I got to thinking how it might make a lot more sense to present this stuff in a narrative context as opposed to a 'big bang'...as in, record in isolation, produce a CD, play live, get press. Where I'm at now in my life, a simple ongoing story will probably be more interesting to you. So, my goal with this site is present the back story on Egger and try and tell an good story over time.

So, before I go back and start from the start, here are a few Egger facts:

- the first Egger album is called Force Majeure
- it was released on the Zunior label in 2005
- the primary players on the album were Paul Linklater, Doug Freisen and Don Kerr
- you can check it out here
- we made just one video for "Pixels", directed by Scott Cudmore

The concept for Egger really hit me in March 2005. Mike O'Neill and I had just played a triumphant show in Toronto at Lee's Palace. Although we had not played together in almost seven years, Tyler Clark Burke asked us and it just seemed right. Dave Bookman pumped up the event and the place was totally packed. It was basically the biggest Inbreds gig we'd ever played in Toronto. Given all the crappy shows we'd done for years, it was pretty cool. Anyway, the thing was great, people were so great and we had fun.

Of course, after all the props, cheers and compliments, it was still just Mike and I stuffed into a taxi at the end of the night, freezing cold, hauling our own gear. Pretty hilarious, really. On that ride home I really got it in my head that a) The Inbreds are/were an awesome thing b) The past is the past c) This amazing 'final show' was not an excuse to try to resurrect The Inbreds but an excuse to finally attempt to do my own thing. Given that I didn't write songs in The Inbreds, and I was thirty-five years old at this point, it wouldn't be that easy. Still, the time was right.

So, over the previous few years I had been starting to amass some cool gear that I'd always wanted to have, but couldn't afford. Grown-up toys basically. One of the first things I picked up was a classic Rhodes from Paul's Boutique. I don't really know how to play piano, but those who have ever touched a Rhodes know that it can basically play itself. They sound like everything great about music from Al Green to Radiohead to The Local Rabbits. Timeless.

The first riff I ever started working on was this one:

Egger - Rhodes Demo

I recorded the track directly into my computer layered over a drum sample. After the guitar, I pretty much left it as is for a few months. It's when I came back to it later that the feeling of early Genesis hit me. Odd yes, but I thought it had a weird Phil Collins thing going on. I've always liked this demo, and I thought you might like to hear it.

This song eventually turned into the first song on Force Majeure called Just Cause You Can. The track is basically my manifesto of yuppie restraint:

Egger - Just Cause You Can - 2005