Photo by Julia Dratel
Audio By Carbonatix
“I’m excited to make music that defies categorization,” guitarist Eli Winter tells New Times on the phone from the din of a New York City diner. “On recordings, I used to try to translate instruments that I couldn’t play on my guitar. All the things I don’t know how to do help me make the record I want to hear.”
Winter taught himself to play the guitar as a high schooler in Houston.
“I grew up playing various instruments: piano in elementary school, clarinet in middle school. I always wanted to play drums, but my family’s house was too small for a drum kit, which was kind of fortuitous,” he explains. “I feel connected to the guitar in ways I didn’t the other instruments.”
He started with the six-string, trying to figure out how to play the songs by alternative rock bands like Sonic Youth and Pavement.
“These songs were all on electric guitar, so I couldn’t figure out the tuneage,” Winter says. “Once I saw the tablatures, I realized I couldn’t play their songs on an acoustic guitar, so I started listening to acoustic songs by Elliott Smith and Nick Drake. Their quiet voices were good for me since I’m a shy singer – although I kept wondering why I’d keep waking up in the morning feeling sad.”
His self-titled, all-instrumental third album starts breezily, reminiscent of the Allman Brothers Band’s classic rock staple “Jessica,” before entering more experimental grounds and coming back sonically like the soundtrack of an unreleased Western.
“The impetus for the record was Cory Rayborn of Three Lobed Recordings [who] asked if I could make an album with a full band,” Winter remembers. “I developed the songs in the context of a band, which is something I’d never done before. I wanted to make the music feel genre-less, so there’s steel pedal, there’s synth noise, there’s a harmonium, and a banjo.”
Though the album was recorded with studio musicians, Winter tours alone.
“I tour without a car. I travel by bus, train, or plane with my guitar, a bag with my stuff, and as many records as I can carry to sell,” Winter says.”I borrow people’s equipment as much as I can. I don’t own a car, so I was shocked that not only could I tour without one but that I could actually make some money.”
His show at Sweat Records on Sunday, March 19, will be his first-ever sojourn to South Florida, during which time he hopes to catch a Grapefruit League game of his beloved Houston Astros in West Palm Beach. He does a lot of mental preparation for his live performances but also tries to keep things as loose as possible.
“I don’t work with a setlist. I spend a lot of time thinking about what music I’ll play and how I’ll play it while walking around living my life. I think of other ways to arrange my songs in a concert setting,” he adds. “I try to be intentional on stage but also fly by my seat of the pants, so the audience will understand what I’m going for.”
While Winter’s work is devoid of lyrics, he’s a fan of words, having studied creative nonfiction in college and published his writing in the Los Angeles Review of Books and the Economist. “I write essays and criticism,” he says. “For a while, I thought I’d pursue journalism instead of music, but I still hope to write a really good book one day and have it published in a reputable way.”
Eli Winter. With Ana Paz. 4 p.m. Sunday, March 19, at Sweat Records, 5505 NE Second Ave., Miami; 786-693-9309; sweatrecordsmiami.com. Tickets cost $10 to $15 via eventbrite.com.
