Erik Mut is a man on a mission, having broken the shackles of Western society and trailblazed his own path of rebellion, adventure, leadership and musical passion. His powerful Folk Punk project Erik & the Worldly Savages musically and lyrically reflects his manifest philosophy of seeking personal freedom, cutting ties with the past, reprogramming your mind and embracing life wholeheartedly. An expat since 2008, Erik left his home in Toronto, Canada at the age of 25 to let the cultures of the world wash over him, inspiring his life, work and music. Erik & the Worldly Savages formed in 2008 while Erik was in Belgrade, Serbia. While based in London and Belgrade, the band played over 250 shows across Europe with lineups of musicians from many countries.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Kamil) Hey Erik & The Worldly Savages, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What first got you into music?
My dad was an executive producer, A&R manager and concert promoter, working with acts like The Rolling Stones, Peter Gabriel, Black Sabbath and The Police. Growing up in that environment I was raised with an eclectic appreciation of music, from Turkish Pop music to Ramstein to 80's classics like the Pet Shop boys and Depeche Mode. At the age of 11 he taught me how to play Beatles songs on the guitar and my passion took off from there.
How do you balance your time in the studio with other commitments such as a part-time job, family, admin?
I am my own boss, so I make my own schedule and it takes a lot of trial and error to find a schedule that works. My favorite time to record music is between 10AM and 4PM when I've woken up, gotten coffee, caught up on emails and exercised. Then in the evening I go home and do whatever zoom calls and communication is needed to keep things going.
Your latest release is 'Break Free!'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
The whole journey was a retroactive look at what it is like to reject the rat-race grind of Western Society and design a life of living one's passion while travelling the world. It coincided with me starting my tech outsourcing business, Support Adventure which was my ticket to never being tied to an office and participate in the rat race again.
Where did you get the inspiration for this EP?
Being a free spirit, growing up in a society (in Canada) where I was watching people constantly being suppressed by normality and some very narrow definition of how one should live. Getting into psychedelics, esoterica, philosophy and psychology and seeing all the possibilities of the passion and the glory which would emerge for me if I dared to follow my heart. Eventually as I left Canada permanently and started making music abroad, it all came out.
How long did you work on the 'Break Free!'? Was it an easy process for you?
No, it was immensely long and difficult, recorded slowly spanning from 2016-2020 where I was full in on my entrepreneurial journey with Support Adventure. I never stopped going into the studio but at times, building a business was so stressful and all consuming that I would be sitting in the studio but so worried about some client or something that I couldn't focus. In the end it all came together in such a way that I felt that the EP represented everything I'd been through to ensure that freaks like me can work in environments that inspire them.
How do you know when a work is finished?
The basic track has to have a sort of "ghost power" meaning that the spirit that has been put into it is as close as possible to what you imagined, with few things that distract your attention from the overall vibe of the message and music you're putting out there. Then you need to get the mixing right, which is typically the moment when you can put it on in the living room and listen to it while cooking and dancing.
Can you write what was your best performance in your career? How do you remember it?
I think it was the Eurosonic Music Conference in 2016, Europe's biggest. We had a choice slot being the last band to play in one of the main venues for the showcase, we knew it was on. It was January and we had slept in an under-heated room the night before and I was starting to feel sick with a sore throat, but I did not allow myself to succumb. We got on stage and brought it in a big way, with a massive amount of energy, getting the European music industry dancing in a fury.
How do you find yourself in the music business? When you started out in music, did you know it would be like this?
My dad always gave me a mixed message of how being a musician was glorious as well as a very hard life. Through my dad's work I got a glimpse at the music business establishment, the world of major labels, big concerts and all of that and I knew I didn't want to be in that space, especially because as I started, it was withering due to digitization. Something was fake about the industry and the meat grinder it was. I was much more inspired by the indie-folk and post-rock scenes I saw happening locally, where anyone like me had a chance to go and spread their message on the stage, so I started making music like that. Overall, after you do your best to make an awesome release and awesome shows, the music industry is all about relationships and it's super important to maintain them, no matter how small or insignificant. I still feel like an outsider.
Who is your favourite musician?
It would be the Serbian 70's folk-pop singer songwriter Toma Zdravkovic. If I could go back in time, the 70's would be my thing and this guy somehow managed to make sadness the most absurdly and ironically poetic it's ever been and having learned the Serbian language living in Belgrade, I really attached to his ability to define the culture and era of former Yugoslavia in poetry.
Right now it's a reboot of the live act which is now in motion. We will be in Thailand until April playing local shows and then tour Europe. I want to find a way to make touring compatible with a somewhat stable, peaceful and healthy slow travel lifestyle. The movement of digital nomads, which I am a pioneer of, is still growing and the music scene in our favored destinations is still largely lacking. I want to change that and be the guy who brings quality world music and singer songwriter stuff to the places where we congregate. There's lots of work to be done there.
What are your plans for the future?
Right now it's a reboot of the live act which is now in motion. We will be in Thailand until April playing local shows and then tour Europe. I want to find a way to make touring compatible with a somewhat stable, peaceful and healthy slow travel lifestyle. The movement of digital nomads, which I am a pioneer of, is still growing and the music scene in our favored destinations is still largely lacking. I want to change that and be the guy who brings quality world music and singer songwriter stuff to the places where we congregate. There's lots of work to be done there.