FROM ENDLESS SUMMER QUARTERLY – THE BEACH BOYS PUBLICATION OF RECORD

INTERVIEW

By David Beard

Introduction: This interview with Brian Eichenberger was conducted on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, in Spartanburg, SC. Throughout the interview, Brian was very open and candid. In this Q&A we get to know Brian, his influences, his love of deep harmonic arrangements, and what he enjoys the most in his new role as Music Director for Mike Love and the touring Beach Boys.

ESQ: What do you remember about hearing a Beach Boys song for the first time? Do you recall which song it was?

Brian Eichenberger: The first song I realized was a recording by The Beach Boys was “Good Vibrations” when it was being used for the Sunkist commercial.

ESQ: What led you to your pursuit of a musical career?

Brian: I began playing piano and drums in 5th grade, and over one summer, I saved up my allowance to buy a guitar. I was constantly experimenting with different instruments, trying to recreate the sounds I heard on the radio. The first time I heard Led Zeppelin IV, around 6th or 7th grade, I was hooked and played it repeatedly. My early guitar repertoire was mostly Led Zeppelin. I frequently formed bands with friends throughout middle and high school.

ESQ: What other musical acts got your attention?

Brian: I was drawn to The Police, Sting’s solo work, Jethro Tull, Steely Dan, and Stevie Wonder, among others. My involvement in school vocal jazz groups also introduced me to Manhattan Transfer and Take 6.

ESQ: What were the circumstances that led to your tenure with The Four Freshmen?

Brian: The Four Freshmen needed a bass player who could sing the second part. They contacted my college instructor, Phil Mattson, who recommended me. They flew me out to Las Vegas to audition, and I got the gig. I spent around six weeks learning the charts before hitting the road.

ESQ: What lessons did you learn during your tenure in that group?

Brian: I toured with The Four Freshmen for about 18 years, about ages 20 – 38, so lots of lessons over that time. One critical thing that came up a lot was the importance of listening. When singing tight harmonies like those, hearing and flowing with what the people around you are doing is just as important as getting your part right. The more we got out of our little worlds and tried to pay attention to the collective whole, the better it got.

The other thing I realized during that time was the importance of understanding the business you’re in. I started paying attention to our bottom line, and eventually took control of booking travel and making records and videos and other things. No one cares about your business more than you do, so realizing that along the way sort of helped me find areas where we could do things better for ourselves than count on other parties.

ESQ: I’ve heard that you performed for Brian when in The Four Freshmen. Is that accurate?

Brian: Yeah! Jeffrey Foskett brought Brian Wilson to a Four Freshmen show in Palm Springs, I think in about 2009. I met Brian and Jeffrey backstage, and Jeff and I were friends from then on.

ESQ: How did you end up playing with the Brian Wilson band?

Brian: Six years or so after meeting them, I heard that Jeff had left BW’s band and that they were looking for someone to sing those high parts. I had seen the band and met all the guys by then, so I made a demo of me singing all the parts on “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and sent it over to Darian. They said they already found someone, but thanks anyway. Then about a week later I guess the other guy didn’t work out, so before long I was out in LA rehearsing with Brian and the band. I was still playing with the Four Freshmen at that time, so for a few months I did both groups, but it was obvious that eventually, I’d have to pick one or the other. I found a replacement for my part in The Freshmen and went with Brian full-time.

ESQ: Although brief, what did you enjoy about your time in that band?

Brian: I love those guys! It was an amazing experience to be on stage with Brian and be able to perform the songs he wrote. They are very dedicated and have big ears and big hearts. It was nice to perform with them, and I was sad to leave them. I initially played acoustic guitar and sang in Brian’s band, but then I had the opportunity to play bass guitar for some shows because the tour took us to Canada and not everyone could be there.

ESQ: What elements of the vocal arrangements do you appreciate about The Beach Boys harmonies?

Brian: I’m not sure exactly how to say it, but it’s sort of like there’s a “thread” that is easy and enjoyable to follow through a lot of the songs. Brian would go for interesting harmonies and chord changes but always do it in a way that makes it easy to listen to. I really enjoyed learning all these songs and seeing the musical choices that he made way back when.

For example, “California Girls” feels like basic feel-good pop candy, but then you start learning it and it’s in B, which is not one of those most common keys on any instrument. Then when you get to the chorus it changes keys every two bars. But the key changes aren’t thrown in there to jostle the listener, the key changes just are the song right there. So picking that apart on the piano is cool; how your ear just follows the melody and the harmonies just flow through the changes underneath. There are a lot of moments like that where you can just picture Brian having a good idea and then working with Mike or whomever to turn it into a great song.

ESQ: When you became the music director for Mike, what was the first order of business?

Brian: The biggest hill I had to climb there was figuring out where all the vocal parts were going to be because Scott and John Cowsill had important vocal parts on almost every song. So I had to figure out what parts were still covered, and what parts the new guys would be singing. It was sort of like doing a jigsaw puzzle with like half the pieces missing. “Ok, here’s what it’s supposed to look like, and here’s what pieces you have, now figure out what the missing pieces should look like!”

So I made guide tracks for everybody because when John Wedemeyer and Jon Bolton came in, we had to hit the ground running. I think we only had three days of rehearsal before we went straight to performing.

ESQ: What have you enjoyed the most about working with Christian Love, Tim Bonhomme, Randy Leago, and Keith Hubacher over the last several years?

Brian: They’re a great group of guys. We all get along really well! There’s great communication, and ‘Bolt’ (Jon Bolton) and ‘Weed’ (John Wedemeyer) are fantastic additions to the group. There are some real pros in this group, so when we need to learn new songs quickly, which happens often, we can do it. Or if we need to play a song in a different key than we learned it, everyone is on it.

ESQ: Mike changes the setlist for every concert. What do you appreciate the most about the amount of thought and care that he puts into every show?

Brian: He cares about the transition between songs. Not just the topic, but things like “This is the song that you’re fighting with your girl, this is the song where you’re making up with your girl.” Sometimes he sequences the songs from the storytelling perspective as much as he does genre and tempo. Most days we talk a bit about how one song connects to another, or how the energy ebbs and flows through the show.

ESQ: What musical acts do you enjoy today?

Brian: Honestly, I’m not the biggest music fan. If you want to know more about a certain band, album, or song, I’m the last guy you should ask. Oftentimes, Keith, Bolt, Wede, or Randy are talking about records or groups that I’ve never heard of. I’m more likely to be listening to a podcast or a book. I think it’s because it’s hard for me to listen to music without paying attention to it, which can get sort of distracting or exhausting. Trying to have a conversation while music is playing in the background is sort of difficult for me.

 That being said, lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Jacob Collier. He’s a harmony wiz kid and does a lot of mind-blowing musical things – but also writes the sort of songs that just keep getting better the more you pay attention. These days I’ll also listen to Vulfpeck, Lake Street Dive, Ok Go, or Mute Math. When I’m at the gym I’ll usually try out whatever Spotify recommends, because there is just a ton of great music out there now. A ton of great NEW music. My family and I went for a long drive and listened to Scary Pockets the whole way. Just great, funk cover versions of lots of songs. Many of them are better than the original versions.

ESQ: What song from The Beach Boys’ catalog would you like to see added to the setlist that you haven’t performed yet?

Brian: There are a few. I’d like to add “I Can Hear Music” and “Their Hearts Were Full of Spring” to the set lists on a more consistent basis. I would love to do “Heroes and Villains,” but I don’t know if that’s going to happen, and I love “Keep An Eye On Summer.”

ESQ: What is your favorite part of performing during each show?

Brian: I think the thing I enjoy the most is how it forces you to focus on the present moment. Especially when you have new songs, you’re trying to keep track of a lot of new parts and chords, versions, and revisions. Like, “ok we’re doing Warmth in “D” today, and there are new endings on 2 of the car songs” etc., but when it comes to show time, the only moment that you can really control is the current moment you’re in. If you’re thinking about how the second verse goes, or the next song, you’re going to mess up THIS verse, on THIS song. So, it keeps you very present, very “in the now.” It can be stressful, but it’s a good kind of stress. It feels to get to the end of a show and feel like you did the best performance you were capable of, today. Tomorrow you’ll get a chance to do it again.

Catch Mike Love’s Beach Boys 2024 Endless Summer Gold tour shows this spring and summer. Purchase tickets through venues at MikeLove.com and TheBeachBoys.com.

©2023/2024 David M. Beard/All Rights Reserved