The bands' story starts in Dayton, Ohio, where Wennerstrom found the name on a multiple choice video trivia game at a bar.
As a songwriting teenager during a time when Guided by Voices and Brainiac were packing local bars and three of the Breeders were still in town, Wennerstrom used to sneak into clubs to check out the scene. "I would just see those people—my music heroes—hanging out at the bar like everyone else," she remembers. "I could see myself in them. It gave me inspiration to do my own thing."
After doing the usual business of playing local shows, the trio set out the following year on a regional tour. One of the first gigs of the trip took them to a bar in Akron, where the Black Keys' drummer Patrick Carney just happened to be one of only a handful of people in the audience. This chance encounter led Wennerstrom and the Heartless Bastards to Fat Possum Records, with whom they released their debut, Stairs and Elevators, in early 2005.
The band moved on with critical praise in their back pocket, including a four-and-a-half star review from Rolling Stone, which took note that, when Wennerstrom “opens her throat on Stairs and Elevators … she sounds like she’s wailing on the shoulders of giants; her sad and angry vocals channeling all the swagger and spit of a young Robert Plant”
By whatever yardstick you care to measure, it was high time for Erika to get out of Dayton.
In true ascetic discipline, she moved to Austin, Texas in 2007 for a change of inspirational scenery and a new recording project. With the help of producer Mike McCarthy (Spoon, Trail of Dead), she assembled a group of musicians with whom she gave the songs life and uncovered yet another layer of Wennerstrom and the Heartless Bastards. Two of the new Bastards aren’t Texas ringers, but fellow Dayton brethren Dave Colvin on drums, and Jesse Ebaugh on bass, who actually played on the original demo that hooked Fat Possum, throw in one Austin native on guitar, Mark Nathan and you’ve got a new unstoppable force that “Take the stage and literally knock everybody down” – NY Times review of the Bastards SxSW record release performance.
The Decemberists’ guitarist Chris Funk said, "It's been a few years since I've had a voice on repeat in my mind. This voice seems to arrive in my ears while sound checking, often before the shows on a pre-show play list and after shows too -- the songs are just perfect and the band has found their spots behind this incredible woman. A unique and enduring artist arrived into our world once again."
The album, entitled The Mountain, (released February 2009) delivers the powerful howl that fans expect from the Heartless Bastards, but also weaves in adventure with mandolins, banjos, strings and Erika’s transcendent voice.
Brimming with confidence and creativity, The album Arrow (released February 2012) sees Heartless Bastards pushing their distinctive sound forward with their most eclectic, energetic collection thus far. The album – the Austin, Texas-based band’s first release with Partisan Records – is marked as ever by singer/guitarist/songwriter Erika Wennerstrom’s remarkable voice, at turns primal and pleading, heartfelt and heroic. Songs like “Parted Ways” and the searing “Low Low Low” expertly capture the Bastards’ multi-dimensional rock in all its strength and spirit. Following upon the difficult introspection of 2009′s acclaimed third album, The Mountain, Arrow stands as a powerhouse new beginning for Heartless Bastards.
“The Mountain was me going through some things after being in a relationship for nine years,” Wennerstrom says. ”This album is kind of like me being comfortable again.”
Autonomy
Heartless Bastards Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With my pupils wide I'm under cast spell
I paint a picture for miles
And hang it on the wall
So if my memory fades I can still recall
Oh a sharp turn can change everything
Energy flows in every direction
And if did there's never enough time
Energy flows in every direction
And some day I hope to figure it out
To busy looking forward to begin in the now
I try to slow down and pace
But I don't know how
Sitting idle for hours has turned into days
Consumed by my thoughts of you
In another place
Someday I'd like to play a part in my life
I've waited to start
I bet I could live it well
If I take deep breaths and exhale
So little time what am I do to?
I want my cake and I want to taste it too
Is that really so much to ask for?
You got your head up into the clouds
You want to live in glorious autonomy
Oh that's what it really comes down to
The Heartless Bastards’ song Autonomy is a contemplative exploration of personal growth, self-discovery, and the challenges that come with it. The lyrics are introspective and speak to the universal human experience of struggling to find one’s way in the world. The opening verse suggests that those who know us well can see the signs when we are under a spell or fixated on something, as indicated by our wide pupils. The singer paints a vivid picture with his words and through this image can remember past experiences vividly. He reflects on how a sharp turn can suddenly change everything and how energy flows in all directions. With regrets the singer wishes to blur his past experiences using white-out. He wants to figure out his life but is too busy looking forward to start living in the now. He wants to slow down and try to pace himself, but he doesn't know how to stop being consumed by his thoughts of another place. Still, he remains hopeful that someday he can play a more active role in his life and live it well if he learns to take deep breaths and exhale.
Overall, the song speaks to a universal experience of feeling stuck, unsure, and restless in one's life. The singer here clearly wants to break free and live a more autonomous and fulfilling life, but he struggles to discern how to do that. The song's tone is melancholic yet hopeful, and its lyrics paint a poignant picture of the human condition.
Line by Line Meaning
You can always tell 'cause you know me well
I am easily predictable because you know me so well
With my pupils wide I'm under cast spell
I am so captivated that I can't keep my eyes from growing wider
I paint a picture for miles
I create an image that can go on for miles and miles
And hang it on the wall
And then I display it on a wall for everyone to see
So if my memory fades I can still recall
So that if I forget, I can still remember
Oh a sharp turn can change everything
A sudden shift can completely alter everything
Energy flows in every direction
Movement happens in various ways
And some days I wish I had some white out
At times it would be great to have some liquid paper
And if did there's never enough time
Even if I had it, there's never enough time
Energy flows in every direction
Everywhere and anywhere there is some type of energy movement
And some day I hope to figure it out
One day, eventually, I aspire to understand it all
To busy looking forward to begin in the now
I’m so caught up in looking ahead that I'm neglecting the present
I try to slow down and pace
I attempt to take things more slowly and evenly
But I don't know how
But it's becoming quite challenging to do so
Sitting idle for hours has turned into days
Staying inactive for hours has arisen into days
Consumed by my thoughts of you
Overwhelmed by my thoughts of you
In another place
In a different location
Someday I'd like to play a part in my life
One of these days I'd like to participate in my own life
I've waited to start
I’ve been waiting to begin
I bet I could live it well
I'm confident that I would be able to live well
If I take deep breaths and exhale
If I inhale deeply and exhale slowly
So little time what am I do to?
With so little time, what am I supposed to do?
I want my cake and I want to taste it too
I want to have it all, and not just part of it
Is that really so much to ask for?
Isn't it a reasonable thing to ask for?
You got your head up into the clouds
You have unrealistic expectations
You want to live in glorious autonomy
You want to have an independent and self-sufficient life
Oh that's what it really comes down to
Oh, so that's what it all boils down to
Contributed by Aiden B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.