Music

Say Hi to Something New

Eric Elbogen sets the record straight.

By Michael Roberts 

Over the years, Eric Elbogen, who performs under the Say Hi moniker, hasn't always shared the straight dope about his music. The biography on his website, www.ilikesayhi.com, is a masterpiece of deadpan obfuscation (it begins with the claim that "Say Hi simultaneously defies and enforces physics" and gets more incomprehensible from there), and many of the answers he's given to past interviewers have ranged from mildly sardonic to blatantly so. But when talking about The Wishes and the Glitch, his latest recording, he offers to debunk any self-generated misinformation about his career — and strangely enough, he actually seems to mean it. "The older I get," he says, "the less facetious I've become."

The new album follows suit. On past efforts, Elbogen's dealt lightheartedly with topics such as androids (2005's Ferocious Mopes) and vampires (2006's Impeccable Blahs). On Glitch, however, he catalogues more recognizable human behavior on winning cuts such as "Northwestern Girls" — an approach he traces to his move from Brooklyn to Seattle and the lingering aftereffects of his thirtieth birthday. Granted, he stops short of sentimental autobiography, and his sense of humor remains very much intact. Still, he acknowledges, "I was just starting to feel like singing about robots and stuff like that didn't quite interest me as much anymore."

Elbogen wanted to make other changes, too. This time around, he decided to forgo synth bass, a previous favorite, as well as to avoid a vocal trademark he describes as "whisper singing." He found this last challenge tricky because "I have pitch problems sometimes." But even though a few moments on Glitch make him wince, he's pleased with the tweaks and knows they'll have practical advantages in concert. "It's really difficult performing songs live when you sing as quietly as I do on some of those records, because the soundman can never get your vocals loud enough in the mix," he says. "It's easiest for everyone involved if I'm singing in a slightly higher register and if I'm singing louder."

Of course, Elbogen's newfound forthrightness can't clear up all the confusion about his work. He decided to make Glitch available for download before releasing physical discs, but because his announcement came four days after Radiohead made a big splash with a similar notion, even some longtime supporters assume that he mimicked the idea. In addition, the shortening of his act's moniker from the original appellation, Say Hi to Your Mom, has been widely misinterpreted. "I've read a lot of stuff and gotten a lot of e-mails — like, 'That's really horrible. You finally got signed to a record label, and the record label made you change your name to something more mature,'" he allows. "And I'm like, 'Well, no, I just decided that myself.'"

That's giving it to them straight.

Visit Backbeat Online for more of our interview with Eric Elbogen of Say Hi.