Sunday, April 01, 2007

Erik Voeks - Sandbox (1993)












What can possibly be done when one your favorite artists of the mid 90s is missing in action? Today's featured musician is one of the most elusive out there. Given a scale of 1 to 10 on the Alex Chilton-O-meter this is a definite 9. After an extended sift through some old shoe boxes in my closet, I decided to post this music on the blog to cough up some attention for a long time favorite. I originally found this artist after getting my hands on the first version of the Buy This Used Compact Disk compilation in 1993. For those who own a later copy of that CD, New Radiant Storm King was not the original lead artist. As much as I love NRSK, I am sitting here with the original and American Music Club was track #1 on this disk with the song "I am an Architect". Actually, this might just be a misprinted version I have which would probably make it one of the rarest CDs here in my collection. Now that I google around a bit it seems the lyrics of NRSK match the AMC song listed clearly on my CD?? I am completely confused now. Anyway, upon listening to track 19, I was instantly on a mission. Since the Internet was not an option back then, I ordered the 1993 release Sandbox at a local record shop in Athens, Ohio. Every year or so, I blow the dust off this gem for a marathon of sorts and this time I get a chance to share it with you.















From what little information exists out there, Erik Voeks is originally from Australia. He moved to the states and eventually ended up in St. Louis, Missouri around the time this album was released. It might have been a year after playing this CD constantly that I called a phone number listed on the inlay and left a message for his manager Susie Hopper to ask for updated info. She returned the call but had little info herself. As mentioned above, this album, Sandbox, was released in 1993 and, from that same CD inlay, I will list the musicians who took part in the recording in case anyone has an idea of who they are. Jay Bennett (guitar solo track 7 & 8), Patrick Hawley (drums, Percussion), Nick Rudd (anti-percussion), Steve Scariano (bass), Adam Schmitt (guitar, bass, backing vocals, keyboards) and of course Erik Voeks (vocals, guitar,keyboards) performed on this classic which was released on now defunct Rockville Records, a small arm of the Dutch East India/Homestead label. I could locate no current website or myspace page for Mr. Voeks but did find where he contributed his vocals to the song Look Up by North Carolina based outfit RC Flyer. This is one of the most intelligent and amazing guitar pop records of the 90s... a true classic. Enjoy.



















MP3s:
My Dentist
Finger Painted Cat
Hannah
Oh My Darlin
The Symmetry
Let Go Now
Desiree And I
Compass
Rhymes With Train
Maissie
Unwind

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Holy shit!!! and I thought I was the only... Just wow. Thank you

Andrew
Flint, MI

Anonymous said...

jay bennett was the guitarist from wilco
nick rudd was the guitarist in weird summer who did two superb albums for parasol in the early nineties..
adam schmitt did two superb but very different albums for atlantic in the early nineties before becoming a sort of in house producer and mixer for parasol records..he return with an excellent album a few years back....
erik voeks did a number of vinyl singles before the album and has had tracks on parasol xmas comps..
mick dillingham

Anonymous said...

http://www.theoctopusfrontier.com/history.htm
just did a sherch
this appears to be what voeks is up to now

md again

4casey4 said...

Thank you Mick!! I knew there was a good reason for posting this. I was never a wilco fan so would not have known it was "that" Jay Bennett.

Anonymous said...

http://www.sendspace.com/file/4ialoz

okay casey ive never tried this before heres a zip of the four erik voeks tracks from the early singles and one from the xmas album
let me know if this works
mick d

4casey4 said...

I can't open it for some reason. Send to my email if you get the chance. I would love to listen.

4casey4@gmail.com

Thank you!

Anonymous said...

okkedokes ive sent them..found the other christmas track in the meantime so sent that as well
mick d
oh my mail address is jaylia... so you dont think its spam

Anonymous said...

This CD is such a lost rarity. My old band The Sun Sawed in 1/2 was from St. Louis and we played on the same bill with Eric once a long time ago. I listened to this CD this morning and it prompted me to go searching for Erics current status. Happy to see there are others out there carrying the torch!

Doug

Unknown said...

Erik definitely keeps too low a profile, but he now owns a record store here in Kansas City, and he plays an occasional show. His MySpace page (which itself has been on again/off again) has some new stuff up.

http://www.myspace.com/erikvoeks

Anonymous said...

God damn this is a great album. Thanks for putting up the entire thing -- I listened to it as soon as I downloaded it.

m000se said...

Wow, totally forgot how incredible this album is. There's a special place in heaven for you for sharing.
I remember seeing Erik and his band in STL years ago. They were selling these Xmas themed cassingles that the band all handmade each cover. Still have it somewhere.

LAD said...

I'd love to have a reupload of that zipfile of those rare, early songs.

Anonymous said...

went to school with Voeksy :)

see 'Friends of Erik Voeks' on FACEBOOK

Unknown said...

Desperately seeking "Rhymes with Train" link appears to be broken. Thanks!

4casey4 said...

I'll try to fix that tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up!

shellee g said...

Interesting. Today I found my own CD "Sandbox" by Erik Voeks, and played it today at work. WOW - I still LOVE IT. It's an amazing piece of work. And I have Erik's autograph on it, from a 1995 concert in St. Louis.

Anonymous said...

You can now download the whole Sandbox album plus some demos on Bandcamp. https://futuremanrecords.bandcamp.com/album/sandbox