In 1996, the year after his genre-defining emo/post-rock group Sunny Day Real Estate broke up (the first of several times), Jeremy Enigk released his debut solo album Return of the Frog Queen. It’s a gorgeous, sweeping collection of songs about love and heartbreak recorded with a lush 21-piece orchestra — we’re talking winds, strings, harp and glockenspiel. Despite being vastly different from what followers of Enigk’s band or most of their grungy, head-banging peers probably expected to hear, Frog Queen has inspired cult-like fandom.
Legendary label Sub Pop has released a remastered edition of the record, paired with a live recording from 1996. Enigk is also undertaking a 23-city US. tour (including Sunday’s show at The Basement East) on which he’ll play the album start to finish, backed by a rock band along with fellow Seattle musicians Taylor Rae Jensen on cello and Alina To on violin.
On a call during a break from rehearsals, Enigk tells the Scene he’s more excited than anything, though he’s not totally unfazed by the love that fans have for the album. “There is pressure,” he says. “I want to make sure that it’s delivered the way it’s supposed to be. It’s just very special, and I think it holds a special place in everybody’s hearts, and mine. It’s my favorite, most proudest moment out of all the music I’ve ever made.” Enigk also talks about the lasting effect of the album, his feelings about visiting the past and what we can expect to hear in his new music.
Return of the Frog Queen — it flourishes and it grows. It feels like there were no constraints on it.
No, and it’s because of Sub Pop. ’Cause of [label co-founder] Jonathan Poneman believing in me, for one. And anything that I asked for, he was like,”Yeah, I’m here to support you,” and he helped. He helped financially. That orchestra was very expensive, I’m sure. [Laughs] And he was like, “Yeah, I’ll do it.” ’Cause at one point I had recorded the record … without the orchestra. But I listened to it, and it sounded like a mediocre indie record from a solo artist who used to be in a cool band. I was like, “I’m not into this.” But at the time I was listening to Beethoven and the Popeye soundtrack by Harry Nilsson, and so it was a mixture of this weird sort of stuff — Beethoven, Mozart, Popeye, Tom Waits. And one day I just had this sort of awakening: “I want a fucking orchestra! I don’t care. Why not? This is what I’m gonna do. This is what I want. And I don’t care if it bombs. This is where I’m at musically. This is where I’m at spiritually.”
Did it feel at the time like you were making a record that was going to leave a mark?
I don’t know. No. I was just too in my head to really look up and think about the impact it would have. I just knew that it had to be dynamically different from Sunny Day Real Estate, or I would just be a solo artist who was once in that cool band. ’Cause that’s so easy. It’s such a cliché for the singer to leave, and do the thing, and blah blah blah. At the time I was hyper-aware of that, and wanted to make sure it was different, and just hoped that it would be accepted. But first and foremost, my job is to do what works for me, and then if I’m happy with it, it will more likely translate better to other people.
Has there been any inspiration from modern happenings and current events that have shined a new light on any of the songs for you?
Not really, honestly. It’s an album about love and heartbreak. And every single song has a very specific memory that I can tap into. Every single song, I know who it’s about, what it’s about it. And every time I sing it, I can see those pictures in my head of where, and what it is. But it’s also about my reaction to these experiences. ... Like with “Fallen Heart,” I can still feel that desire, that longing, that’s in that song. And, yeah, so it’s really true to its time. It’s timeless, you know?
Some people describe you as mysterious and enigmatic. Do you feel like you’re that kind of person?
No, not at all. But I love that reputation.
You do?
Yeah. I don’t know, it’s just kind of cool. I mean, just “enigmatic” is rad, and it goes with my name a little bit, so that’s kind of rad. But as a person, I’m pretty social with my friends. I like to joke around a lot. I’m a lot lighter and more open than the image might look. But I like to be quiet and private at the same time, you know?
You crowdfunded your newest album, Ghosts, and you gave fans a peek into your process. How do you feel about that?
It was one of the most pivotal and important experiences I’ve ever had. And also the most absolutely difficult. It was two years of near-hell for me. I went through such a learning process because of it. Because I took on more than I ever thought that I would have to. Every door that I knocked on, it just didn’t seem like it was opening. I couldn’t find the right producer. It took two years until finally I just had to make a decision, and I brought it to Spain with my friend Santi [García], who is a producer, an amazing producer. And he just walked me through it and just finished it with me. He had faith in me, and he gave me the confidence that I needed to just finally complete it.
And then it wasn’t just that, it was the fact that people had preordered it, they had essentially already paid for it, and I had to deliver this thing. And I was actually packing all the vinyl, and sending all the vinyl myself, with some friends. And all the CDs, all the merchandise, I did myself, and I made some errors, and that was really difficult. I got through it, and now I have all the knowledge that I should have had before I went into it. I’ve learned so much, it was such a powerful and important experience as trial by fire. Now I’m better because of it, and stronger and better at just managing my own life by taking on much more responsibility than I ever expected.
Wow, that’s a big statement, that it’s made you even better and stronger in your overall life.
Yeah, and it’s absolutely true. It was a most difficult time, and also it was huge. The past two years have been amazing.
So how do you feel about the end result? Does it feel like it’s what it needed to be and was going to be?
It wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. ’Cause it was over two years ago, so I had a completely different expectation for what the record was gonna be. Because I had a whole lot of songs to pick from, and by the end of it I chose the songs that are on the record because they seemed to be the best for the time. And with all the variables — producer, time and everything — it is what it is. And it marks the time. The next record will probably be the same. Whereas Return of the Frog Queen was a record that I had a bigger vision for, and it actually panned out, which is really rare.
