We have been advertising Hooligans for Heroes events because we believe in the organization and their mission to put money back in the hands of wounded warriors. What we didn't know is that organizer Eric Abbey is a big time Detroit player who has done a lot in this city. He plays in the Reggae band 1592, has won multiple Detroit Music Awards, plays trumpet during Detroit City Football Club games, and has written two books about music in Detroit. He was willing to sit down with us and tell us a little about himself and all the great things that he has been a part of, including his second book that will feature a whole chapter on Hellmouth. The next Hooligans for Heroes show is this Thursday, March 14th at The Loving Touch in Ferndale at 8 p.m. Read what he has to say and come out this Thursday to hear some great music and support a great cause.
Hip In Detroit- How long have you been playing music in the Detroit area? What bands have you been part of ?
Eric Abbey- "I have been playing music in the Detroit area professionally since 1994. Bands that I have been in include: 1592, 1592 and the Hooligans, The Red Lights, Superdot. Bands that I have played/recorded with include: Sir Nose from Parliament Funkadelic, The Ryan Dillaha Band, Desolation Angels, The Elevations, there are more that I am forgetting I’m sure." Hip In Detroit- What instruments do you play ?
Eric Abbey- "Trumpet- Keys- Drums - Sing"Hip In Detroit- You have written a book about Detroit music. Tell me about that, what did you learn? Eric Abbey- "The book’s title is Garage Rock and Its Roots: Musical Rebels and the Drive For Individuality. It was published in 2006 and is available through McFarland Books. This book was the culmination of my graduate program and was a study on the music that I was witnessing in Detroit while I was performing. I chose to write on this scene as it was coming up because I was outside of the scene looking in. It was a great time to be in Detroit with the many clubs and bands just getting back to the music. The biggest thing that I took out of the research was that playing music doesn’t have to be technical to have feel and soul. I had always felt this coming up in the punk world, but doing academic research on it was interesting and great."Hip In Detroit- You are currently writing a second book, will that also feature Detroit?
Eric Abbey- "Yes, the next book will be out on Lexington Books and is an edited collection on Aggressive Music entitled Hardcore, Punk and Other Junk: Aggressive Sounds in Contemporary Music. This collections has chapters from all over the world on aggressive music. The chapter from me is on Hellmouth and features Cold as Life and the development of Detroit Hardcore. The website is a great place to read more on the book as it comes out. http://hardcorepunkandotherjunk.com" Hip In Detroit- You have won multiple Detroit Music Awards. Where do you keep them? What do they mean to you?
Eric Abbey- "I do not think I have ever been asked the where do you keep them question… That’s great. I keep them where I write and record music. They are on top of the studio monitors. They mean a great deal to me as they are recognition that the material that I write has been well received by the music community. There has always been discussion about the awards but for me it is the one night a year that you get to see a whole bunch of people that you are always performing with just hanging out. To have them recognize the work that is put into creating the music with 1592 is a great thing." Hip In Detroit- You play trumpet for the Detroit City FC. I have always wanted to attend a game. Tell us about that.
Eric Abbey- "First, I play trumpet in the stands for the Detroit City Football Club. They play in the National Premier Soccer League. Anyway, the team’s home field is at Cass Tech and the season starts May 12th and the first home game is May 17th. This is by far the greatest time you can have at a sporting event. The team is great and the fans are something else. We chant, drum, light off flares, have a great time all for the team and the love of soccer. The schedule and tix are available here http://www.detcityfc.com/ Everyone should come to a game." Hip In Detroit- Why did you start Hooligans for Heroes?
Eric Abbey- "I did not start Hooligans for Heroes. The supporters of Detroit City Football Club known as the Northern Guard, of which I am a part, began this charity. The short story of it is that Gene and Ken Butcher and Drew Gentry wanted to start a charity based on the soccer fans and a fan had a brother stationed in Iraq who was blogging about his experiences. Gene, Ken and Drew found out about this and got the idea to start the charity to donate all proceeds to the Wounded Warrior Project. Go to https://www.facebook.com/HooligansForHeroesDetroit.
As a musician and knowing a lot of people who have served I was drawn to the cause and wanted to help, so I organized the concert on March 14th at The Loving Touch to support the cause." Hip In Detroit- Tell us about the 7" that you are releasing.
Eric Abbey- "The 45 that we are releasing is all about the Detroit City Football Club and the way that you feel when you are at a game. I started writing punk songs to support the team because the songs just wanted to come out. My band 1592 is a reggae and rocksteady band so I decided to create 1592 and the Hooligans for the punk stuff. I wrote a song called “City Till We Die” and put it up on Youtube. It got a huge response so I wrote another one called “Saturday Night” which did the same thing. Then I had a discussion with Motor City Special records. We decided to release a 45 with 1592 and the Hooligans on the A side doing “Saturday Night” and 1592 on the B side doing a rocksteady tune called “Sunday Morning”
I really want to thank everyone who supported this project. We had people donating funds to help with the production and Motor City Special has been great.
It is at the plant now and should be done by the start of the season. All of the proceeds from the sales of this record will go to Hooligans for Heroes as well."
Hip In Detroit- Favorite local band, bar, restaurant?
Eric Abbey- "My favorite local band right now is Hellmouth. The power and writing ability in this band is beyond compare. Favorite local bars are Harry’s and Corktown Tavern. Restaurant is Imperial."Hip In Detroit- Anything else you think our readers needed to know?
Eric Abbey- "The main thing for anyone is to do what you love and make sure that you are doing it for you. Come out to the benefit concert on March 14th, see 1592, come to a Detroit City game, have fun. There is so much in this city that is great. You just have to look. Cheers!"
~S
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