Black Pumas' Eric Burton Creates Music for a Universal Soul
In a time when live stages are few and far between, Black Pumas have still found a platform, performing on every late-night TV program (Fallon, Kimmel, Corden, Colbert, et al.), the Biden-Harris post-inauguration special Celebrating America, and featuring in a Super Bowl ad. The Austin-based band’s biggest stage yet, however, comes on March 14 at the Grammys. In addition to performing, the band is up for three awards for Best Record of the year, Best Album of the Year, and Best American Roots Performance.
Led by singer Eric Burton and producer-guitarist Adrian Quesada, Black Pumas has had major success over the past year. Their psychedelic, rock and soul sound is infectious and their hit “Colors” is often described as an anthem for America’s current moment as messages of diversity, unity, and inclusion are more important than ever.
Burton and Quesada formed the band four years ago, when a mutual friend introduced the two. At the time, Burton was busking in downtown Austin, something that was familiar to him as he would spend days singing on the Santa Monica Pier before he moved to Texas. Quesada, a previous Grammy-winner and Prince collaborator, was already an established musician and looking to start a new project. Black Pumas began performing weekly at C-Boy’s Heart & Soul in Austin, and soon became a local hit. The band released its self-titled debut album in 2019, which earned them a Grammy nod for Best New Artist (they lost to Billie Eilish). Now, their retro-infused soulful sound is gaining a national, and even international, audience. With tour dates booked across the U.S. and Europe, they’re anticipating a return to live stages soon, pandemic-permitting.
Burton, who asks about star signs and speaks about the “retrograde” period that the music industry has faced over the past year, is a spiritual guy who uses music to connect with people on a more empathic frequency. Here, the artist talks to L’OFFICIEL about this greater meaning that music has to him, making a home in Austin, and his personal style.
L'OFFICIEL: Your band has played a lot this past year considering live performances are on hold. What has having these stages open to you been like?
Eric Burton: It's been absolutely amazing. I've truly been humbled for the fact that I know very many people who are really good at this, way better than me and who I look up to, also don't have the opportunity and some of the open doors that the band is seeing. It feels like winning the lottery. It's a really big deal, especially being a part of the leadership that is aiding in a new sense of peace, unity, and equality in America. It's just so much to take in. I feel a little overwhelmed about it.
L'O: People have really connected with "Colors," which was actually released in 2019, in the past year—do you think its meaning has become even more important in light of the division Americans experienced in 2020 regarding the Black Lives Matter movement?
EB: There are external stories that we tell ourselves to come up with the belief that we are separate from the individual standing next to them regardless of skin color, religion, or sexual orientation—at the end of the day, we're all human beings. We experience different realities based on the social constructs we put on ourselves, and yes I'm affected by all that's going on, but most specifically, my music is driven by going back to that place of acceptance and love that is universal regardless of your walk of life or what you look like. That's how I write and make music with Adrian. That's how I ended up here in Austin, where I don't have any blood relatives. The music is more driven and inspired by my higher self. As I'm able to do that, people are able relate to me in that we're not as different as we think we are.
L'O: Have you always been interested in creating music that unifies?
EB: I come from what I'll say is a subculture—in how it's been treated in the way we divide ourselves as people—and so I'm affected by that. But in the way that I create, I operate from a place of inclusion and with a universal sense of myself and everyone around me. I know people come from different walks of life, as well as view ourselves differently based on the stories we tell ourselves, and so I go to things that are universal because that is all that really matters.
My future work will be reflective, or affected, by stories that I've put out thus far. I play to create music from a place that yearns to be in the moment, self aware and present with my relationship to time and equanimity. Music and making music is a vehicle for expression of my highest self regardless of what is going on. I realize that what I think about and what I create within myself is directly reflective of what my external world also looks like, so I've learned so much about staying in the space of observation.
L'O: You used to busk in California and in Austin—do you ever miss performing in those less formal settings?
EB: I miss that in the same way that I miss playing live shows. I miss busking on streets for the sense of urgency and immediacy of actually having a conversation face-to-face. It's how I perceive playing music live. It serves as a huge component to the quality of what's being made and put out there.
L'O: You're pretty adventurous with your personal style. What role does fashion play for you?
EB: I have a sister who is five years older than me, and she being the queen of the house would suggest that we put our parents clothes on and walk through the halls modeling them. So that's how I look at fashion—I look at it as a full-on expression of oneself, and thankfully I came up in a family that very much encouraged that. Anything that I feel good in, whether it's feminine or masculine, I'm going to wear it. I just do what I do and am who I am, and people are either going to accept that or they're not. Thankfully, I seem to relate to people that they come back to see what I'm wearing and see how that relates to music.
L'O: What's your favorite part about living in Austin?
EB: My favorite part about the city is in what you can't see physically. My favorite part is in what it feels—espcially as an artist and passionate musician, there's an uncanny level of a reciprocation of appreciation for self expression. When I first got here I felt that I was immediately received individually. Busking on the street was not that much money in my pocket, but I felt a sense of home where my style, my fashion, my music, the sounds I'm inspired by, were immediately adopted as part of the culture here.
L'O: Black Pumas have definitely been embraced by the city—I hear there's a Black Pumas Day in Austin?
EB: Holy smokes, are you kidding? [Laughs] Obviously it's a great honor to be hoisted up to this symbol of leadership and quality that is representing a community. To come from busking and experience some of the things that I've experienced, I'm quite amazed at where everything is. We have a day, and we have a beer, too. One of the breweries here have made a beer inspired by our record and it's been selling like hotcakes at the local grocery stores.
