Head Shoppe is the brainchild of Los Angeles artist, Eric Harding.
Having drip fed his audience with a raft of singles over the past 12 months(for the full lowdown, visit Bandcamp), Head Shoppe releases his latest cut, Chapultepec Parque.
A gentle acoustic stroll across barren terrains, the accompanying video to Chapultepec Parque was directed by Studio Sparks, who was responsible for the design of Panda Bear and Sonic Boom’s new collaboration LP, Rest.
Ahead of our premier for Chapultepec Parque, Harding kindly answered some of our questions from the inspiration behind the song to working with ambient/country stalwart Kenneth James Gibson.
Sun 13: Can you tell us how Head Shoppe began?
Eric Harding: “This project really took shape in 2020 – insomnia, COVID, all that. I’ve been all over the map with psychedelic folk music and baroque country-rock bands, so I really wanted to do something breezier and minimal. During COVID, I dusted off my nylon string and started re-learning classical pieces to stay sane and the concept of using my guitar as a meditative instrument just started coming together. I tried it as a bedroom production project in the early mornings that I couldn’t sleep – recording on my phone, mixing it on a laptop. But I’m a truly awful engineer and the recordings were just sounding scuzzy and not the good kind of scuzz.”
S13: How did the collaboration with Kenneth James Gibson come about?
EH: “I badly needed help fixing the scuzz. I’ve been a fan of Ken’s for years and I thought he may be the perfect person to produce this. He has his feet in two really opposite musical rivers: buzzed-out ambient composing and down home country music. Not easy to cross those rivers! I also felt my indulgent leanings could use a strong music personality to check my bad notes.”
S13: What was the inspiration behind Chapultepec Parque and the video for the song?
EH: “Musically the vibe was really taking me back to Mexico City and walking around at night, staying up late and stoned. There are some neighbourhoods that are so surreal that it keeps inspiring me, years later.”
S13: Are there plans for an album?
EH: “Sure, I’ve been pumping out singles because it’s just easier to get it out but the goal is to comp them together in a cohesive LP.”
Sun 13 