Radiohead, in particular, proved a potent influence. “I went from being obsessive about Springsteen to kind of
flipping into Radiohead. I probably saw Radiohead 10 times in college,” he says. “That was definitely the band
that got me excited about playing.” He joined mostly guitar-centric indie-rock bands, such as The Diamond Club
(with future OK Go member Andy Ross), and the pop-punk band Fuzzy Suzy—“a good band for what it was,”
Then in 2008, Eytan rediscovered soul, which lent heart to his work. “Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’
had the biggest impact on me. I listened to it over and over,” he says. “It was such a huge creative leap from his
earlier songs and so powerful on both a personal and cultural level. He was also such an amazing songwriter,
entertainer, activist, and businessman. I would like to be that type of guy.”
He’s off to an enticing start. Everything Changes, featuring appearances from OK Go’s Ross and members of
Locksley, is collection of piano-and-horn-driven pop songs that focus on the sunny side of bummers. The
Strokes-turned-Elton John banger “No Reason to Cry” begins as a consolation until exploding into a dance song.
Meanwhile, the minor-keyed “Good Morning Marilyn” muses on interfaith dating while finding a blissful mean
between the late-Beatles sound and ’90s guitar pop. Oren’s lead single, the percussive “Everything Changes”
boasts sunny vocals from old friend Nicole Atkins and is, he says tellingly, “about having the guts to reinvent
yourself.”
Indeed, ever the music omnivore, Oren has already been plotting to switch up his sound by tinkering with a
Chinese violin called an erhu. The plan: to write pop songs using the old-timey instrument. No, he’s not
masochistic—just ambitious. “I’m always thinking about what hasn’t been done, what might be interesting on a
larger level than a chord change,” Oren says. “My favorite artists—Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Radiohead—all
share one common theme: They constantly experiment, take risks, evolve.”
Feb 19, 2013
