Mikey Erg

Mikey Erg has played on A LOT of records. He has also toured extensively for the better part of two decades in literally countless bands. It’s possible that not even Mikey himself could come close to listing them all. To start with, there is of course the band from which he gets his namesake: The Ergs, New Brunswick, NJ basements’ favorite sons, in which Mikey played drums, sang, and was principle songwriter. Additionally, Mikey has played in, toured with, and performed on records with Dirt Bike Annie, The Unlovables, The Dopamines, Star Fucking Hipsters, House Boat, Worriers, and even sat in with Weston at their recent reunion shows.

Comedian and fellow Don Giovanni Records alum Chris Gethard pegged Mikey to play drums in the house band for his weirdo, fringe late night TV show, The Chris Gethard Show. Since the disbanding of the Ergs, Mikey has fostered a solo project that has kept him super busy performing Billy Bragg-style – just a mic and an electric guitar – all over the world.

Released July 27, 2019, Waxbuilt Castles is Erg's second full-length solo album. Recorded in collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Alex Clute -- who performed with Erg in The Chris Gethard Show’s house band -- it's a set of songs that takes its central inspiration from the melodicism and craft of ’70s pop rock. In their production and arrangement, the songs emulate Erg’s pre-punk musical heroes -- ELO, Elvis Costello, Phil Ochs, and especially the Beatles. “I really wanted to make my version of Paul McCartney’s first record,” explains Erg. “Homemade and very loose. Not too overthought.”

Getting there took a bit of adjustment on Erg’s part. As a singer, he had to reconcile with hearing his voice in a quieter and more vulnerable context. “It was funny to have to rethink the way I sang a lot of the songs,” says Erg. “Alex would say, ‘You’re singing too forcefully, calm it down a bit.’ I had to get used to hearing my voice without this white noise behind it, masking it.”

Lyrically, though, it’s a Mikey Erg record through and through. “They’re the same type of songs that I’ve been writing forever -- about relationships. Juts simple, personal songs,” says Erg. “That’s the through line, I feel. No matter what the record sounds like, it’s the same exact songs that I’ve been doing. It’s the thing that I’m most proud of. That I can make a different sounding record, but that it still goes together. That is can all fit in the same box.”