Subtle, quirky, folky, upbeat; all simple ways to describe Fruit Bats to the uninitiated. But anyone familiar with their sound will tell you you're simply scratching the surface. Melodically mixing elements of AM gold with in indy-folk, Fruit Bats principal Eric D Johnson manages to craft bright, sunny tunes without sounding contrived, or silly. Currently touring in support of last year's excellent The Ruminant Band, the convivial Johnson talked to us about his "other" band (The Shins), festivals, and why Anvil rock.


Reax: There seems to be a pretty large time-gap between (2005's) Spelled In Bones and (2009's) The Ruminant Band. How difficult was it for you to get back to writing and recording after so much time off?
EDJ: Well, the gap always looks a lot different on my end, which I guess is always really the case. The last Fruit Bats record came out in 2005, I think in the fall, so we toured on that all the way through 2006. Then, I was in The Shins in 2007, which was pretty much for the whole year, like, 9 months. Then I started working on the new album in 2008, and it came out in 2009. So, for me, it took no time at all. Playing with The Shins is really like a big time commitment, but I was always working on stuff. I think, if anything, the wait was kind of helpful in way. We've (Fruit Bats) have always been considered kind of a "sleeper" band to people, and I'm noticing now the crowds are a bit bigger and more into it...no one seemed to forget us in that time.

Reax: You're still active with The Shins, yes?
EDJ: Oh, yes, definitely. That band is kind of on a break right now, which I'm happy about. It just gives me more time for Fruit Bats.

Reax: You guys are hitting several festivals this year, including Harvest of Hope. Any other festival news, and who are you looking forward to seeing?
EDJ: Well, I've been noticing with Harvest Of Hope is that they still do things in a really low-key, DIY kind of way. They still deal with people one on one, which has much more of a down-home feel to it, compared to some of the other festivals. I mean that in a totally good way; I've been dealing with this one person there, who's dealing with everything, but always gets back to me right away. Sure, it's a big festival, but it hasn't turned into this convoluted, slick thing.

As far as bands, I don't know who else is playing the same day as we are. From the lineup, I'm excited not only to see, but to meet, Anvil...

Reax: Me too!!
EDJ: ...I loved that movie, it was just incredibly inspiring, and I think those guys are just awesome. I'm hoping we're playing the same day, so I can meet them.. I just think the story is really cool. I'm stoked to see Dr. Dog, I've never seen them live, and I'm always hearing these raves, and I like the record. Port O'Brien, they're friends of ours, and are great. Rouge Wave?, they're pals of ours, too. So we'll have friends there. It's a really good looking festival, with a pretty diverse lineup.

To listen to more of our talk with Eric, the entire interview is featured on The Sweet Spot Reaxcast. Click here to listen.