Looking back on high school, some would never want to relive those days and others might wish they could get out of 2020 and take a quick trip back. With his new acoustic version of his album, “Class of ‘98,” Eric Hutchinson will take you back in time to high school in the ‘90s.
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“I’m just obsessed with the ‘90s, I came of age in the ‘90s, I learned how to play guitar, I was in high school and I just love all ‘90s music,” says Hutchinson. “I thought it would be really fun to have songs like that and to write in that style.”
In order to perfect that nostalgic sound, he listened to bands such as Weezer and Green Day. Hutchinson even brought in Paul Kolderie, who would help him with both versions of the album to really “nail that ‘90s sound.”
“We just had conversations about what the recording looked like back then, the differences between then and now and how to capture that sound, but also be able to make it kind of rock in 2020.”
He chose to write about high school since that is where he was during part of the ‘90s.
“It became this high school time capsule and I realized after I finished it
that really I made the album that I would have made when I was 16 or 17 …
That’s what I wanted to sound like back then.”
The bonus track, “Never Ever Over You” almost made it on the original album, but instead it was added on to this acoustic version.
“In the end, I felt that it was looking back on high school and the other songs are in high school, so it just totally felt different.”
Along with the bonus track, this release will also feature a couple of raw music videos that will simply be Hutchinson sitting down and playing the songs.
“I sort of like that idea of just showing a full take of the song, there’s no bells and whistles, there’s no tricks, this is just the song and me singing it. I kind of just like the simplicity of that.”
“I’m such a big believer that if the song doesn’t work with just me sitting there and playing it on the guitar, then the song is probably not strong enough, so that’s always the ultimate test for me.”
For this album, the cherry on top is the cover. Hutchinson decided to use an actual photo of himself from high school wearing a shirt that has “Class of ‘98” written on it. Even the background of the cover represents everything that high school encompasses for a teenager.
Check out the acoustic version of “Class of ’98 – Deluxe and Unplugged” now:
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