mehan jayasuriya

Coming of age, as I did, in the ’90s, I had to rely mostly on pre-Internet mechanisms for music discovery during my formative years. Where we lived, this largely meant the magazine rack at the supermarket, the local “alternative” radio stations and MTV. And while MTV rarely showed music videos even in those days, there were a handful of shows on the network, “120 Minutes” being chief among them, that served as gateways to new music and largely unknown artists. It was through “120 Minutes” that I first discovered the Eels’ “Novocaine for the Soul,” a music video that ushered in both a longstanding love affair with the Eels and a penchant for wearing horn-rimmed glasses that has continued to this day.

So, as you might imagine, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to interview Eels mastermind Mark Oliver Everett (aka “E”) for PopMatters. Though it pains me to say this, at this point, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that E’s best work is behind him (a fact that I’ve written about on here in the past), though that’s not to say that his current work is without merit. In fact, his most recent release, Tomorrow Morning, might just be the best Eels record in 10 years. I chatted with E about Tomorrow Morning, his unlikely success in the music industry and his love for Neil Young—you can read the interview here.