Curtis, Tate, a Werewolf, and Your Mom
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I can’t remember how I first heard about Say Hi to Your Mom.
It was probably in the early 2000s when I was downloading songs from Stereogum and Music For Robots on my work computer in the dark basement of Salt Lake Community College.
I immediately fell in love with simple lyrics about vampires.
Over the next few years, I had the chance to interview Eric Elbogen, the mastermind behind the one-man recording band, a handful of times. Fantastically fine fellow.
His records kept getting better and better, even as the band name got shorter. In 2005, Say Hi to Your Mom became simply Say Hi.
Werewolf Diskdrive
After 11 albums, Elbogen tried something new — and entirely different. He announced that he was retiring Say Hi and creating a new one-man band called Werewolf Diskdrive.
With throwback synths and drum machines, detuned rap vocals, and lyrics about Aquanet, kale, and Beetlejuice, it wasn’t really meant for the masses. But it did find its way into the hearts of a certain demographic: The under-10 crowd living in my basement.
Hamburgers & Hotdogs quickly became a favorite in our house. Here are just a few of the lyrics:
“Wheat germ and flaxseed
Rhubarb and blueberries
No thank you, no thank you…
Shrimps in cocktail sauce and
Bacon, pork-a-chops and
Yes, please, and thank you”
The boys listen to it all the time. When they’re playing Mega Ball Smash in the basement. When we’re cleaning the kitchen (though stupid Alexa still can’t seem to find it, stupid robot). When we’re carpooling to soccer practice and introducing other U-10 kids to the band.
The House Show
After the Werewolf detour, Elbogen resurrected Say Hi and put out new record called Caterpillar Centipede. And with a new record came a new tour.
Over the years, I’ve seen Say Hi in a lot of configurations — Elbogen on guitar with a band, Elbogen on drums with a band, Elbogen as a one-man show with a laptop and electric guitar. But I was the most excited about this one — just Elbogen and an acoustic guitar at a house show.
A house show is exactly what the name implies. The artist puts up a list of cities and dates and asks if anyone wants to host the show at their house. The host gets to have the one-man band kick at their house plus they get a couple of free tickets for their friends.
Though the Salt Lake City show was supposed be at some girl’s house, there was a last-second issue and the event was relocated to Stefahn’s Barbershop.
From the moment we arrived (I was accompanied by homies Brian and Chase), we could tell it wasn’t going to be like a typical rock show. For one thing, Elbogen was standing at the front door, greeting everyone as they came in the door.
When he said hello to me, I replied, “Uh, hi Eric.” And then I gave him an awkward hug. (Why? I’m not sure.)
The Setlist
Before he started playing, Elbogen laid out the ground rules for the evening.
“When I was getting ready for this tour, I tried to figure how to make a setlist from 12 albums — it was a bit daunting,” he said. “So, here’s what we’re gonna do. I’m going to start with a few songs from the new album and then finish with a few more from the new album. But for the middle, it’s going to be all requests in the middle.”
Awesome.
“There are three different kinds of requests,” he added. “There’s ‘Yes, I’ll play it.’ There’s ‘No, I won’t.’ And then there are journey songs, where we’ll go on a journey together to see if I can play it all the way through.”
And with that, the show began.
Elbogen took three requests at a time. Chase didn’t wait to raise his hand (the excellent Dots on Maps). But I was a bit more hesitant.
Should I ask? Or not ask?
The next round of requests came and went. I remained silent.
Then I decided it was time. I raised my hand timidly.
“Um, would it be alright if I, uh, asked for a Werewolf Diskdrive song? My kids absolutely love Hamburgers & Hotdogs.”
There’s no way he’s gonna say yes.
“They must be the only ones,” Elbogen replied. “The record didn’t do so well.”
“Their friends love it too!” I blurted. “We listen to it with their friends on the way to baseball practice. All the kids love it!”
“Cool,” he replied.” Hopefully they’ll grow up, get great jobs, and hire me to play their corporate party.”
“I can’t really play the song,” he said, pointing at his guitar. “But I can do an acapella version, if you’d like.”
And with that, he began to clap and dance and I loudly sang along.
“But pizza, chicken wings
And many gluten things
Yes, please, and thank you
Yes, please, and thank you!”
I wanted desperately to film it for Curtis and Tate but it didn’t really seem appropriate, given the setting and the fact that Elbogen was singing right to me. So I took it in live, and it filled my heart with joy.
The whole show was joyous, really, as he played a dozen or so fan favorites, like Let’s Talk about Spaceships, These Fangs, and one of my favorites November was White, December was Grey.
He even played Blah, Blah, Blah with the biggest sing-along chorus of the night, “I-I-I am gonna drink your blood.”
“I like to think of some kid from rural Utah moving to the big city,” Elbogen said after the song. “He’s just walking down the street, feeling pretty good. Then he walks past this building, hears that song, and thinks, ‘What weird cult thing have I gotten myself into?’”
After the Show
The show ended like it began, everyone funneling through the front door, but not without first a chance to chat with Elbogen.
“Thanks for playing that Werewolf Diskdrive song,” I said, when it was our turn.
I told him about Curtis and Tate and how Werewolf Diskdrive is their favorite band, second only to Spongebob Squarepants.
“They’re going to grow up and start a really weird post-punk band,” Elbogen said.
I told him that for Tate’s last game of the little league season, we let all the boys on the team choose a walkup song, just like the pros. Not surprisingly, kids chose stuff like Metallica and AC/DC.
Tate choose Beepers & Beepers by Werewolf Diskdrive.
I could tell I had touched the Werewolf’s heart.
“Is there video?” Elbogen asked. “You should send it to me!”
We both left happy.