Guitarist Eric Howk of Portugal. The Man joined Gregr at 107.7 The End in Seattle as the group begins to fire up the machine once again -- a literal "get the band back together" period.
LISTEN NOW: Erik Howk of Portugal. The Man with Gregr
Portugal. The Man have a new album arriving in June, called Chris Black Changed My Life, the first single for which, "Dummy," is out now. Chris Black, it should be noted, was their hype man who tragically passed away in 2019. “Larger than life. The best hugger I ever knew," says Erik. "We miss him everyday… He taught me that you don’t always have to have a well-formulated Twitter response. Sometimes you can just say, 'Shut up.'"
Fans can expect the band's ninth studio album to hit shelves and streaming services, "on June 23rd," Erik revealed. "I've been holding my tongue for a while now; I've had to be intentionally vague and a little veiled. But today... today, today: 'Dummy.'"
The band is once again working with producer Asa Taccone, who helped with their 2017 hit "Feel It Still." "He's one of our favorite people," says Erik. "He's such a joy to work with... Asa's really good at hearing the background noise and being like, 'wait, go back to that.' Asa listens to the murmurs and the background sounds. With 'Feel It Still,' that was our singer, John Gourley, playing an instrument that he doesn't necessarily have in his hands on stage. He was just plunking away on that bass line. Asa was like, 'hold up, that's great!' Put a beat to it, kinda brow-beat some lyrics out of him and all of a sudden the song came together."
"So, he's got that track record of hearing a gem in the rough and kind of shining it up," Erik continues. "The hook of this song ["Dummy"] is all [drummer] Jason [Sechrist] trying to sing us a bass line on microphone... and that's what you hear!"
"We got the gang back together... Working with Asa and Jeff Bhasker... it feels good, it feels like something that we had inside of us that we absolutely had to get out and put onto a plate. I think it's a jammer. I think the good people at Taco Bell have given us a nice little boost... I'm an enthusiast and a fan, but they did use the song in a commercial and it feels like a good match."
Listen to the full chat with Gregr and Erik Howk above, and stay tuned for more conversations with your favorite artists right here on Audacy.
Listen to more of your favorite music on Audacy's Emo Kids, Alt Now, Rockternative, Drivin' Alt, New Wave Mix Tape, 90s and Chill, Alterna 00s, and ALT Roots stations -- plus check out our talent-hosted Kevan Kenney's Music Discovery, Megan Holiday's My So Called '90s Playlist, and Scott Lowe on the Go's Post Modern Music Box!
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram