I've been a musician since I was 7 years old, and I started playing guitar when I was in my late teens. I started with classical guitar, and flamenco. I had about 4 years of classical training, and 3 years of flamenco lessons. . Flamenco music still is an influence for me, along with near and middle eastern traditional music. I have always loved psychedelic music, and the first album I bought was Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band when I was 10 years old. I've been in bands, and making and performing my own music for 3 decades.

I have struggled with clinical depression for all of my adult life, and this has affected my art. I believe that my music is about all of the struggles with mental illness, and about finally finding some redemption after many years of bleak desolation.

I first formed The Light Gathering Lens in my mind in the early 1990's. I had been the guitar player in a band, (Weather Theater), since 1984, but I wanted to sing, and I had been interested in slower, experimental, and ambient sounding music for quite some time.

The experience with Weather Theater had me very discouraged and burned out, because of struggling with the music industry at that time. Seattle was in the midst of the grunge movement, and both my music and our music did not fit into that category. Also, the music industry was very centered around recording labels, and it seemed like the only way to become successful was to be discovered by a label. However, Weather Theater was a successful band, and we received airplay all over the world while we were active. Things have changed recently because of the rise of social media.

I became caught up in pursuing a career as a scientific researcher. Twenty-four years after I recorded the EP, I discovered it again. I listened to it after so much time, and I decided to release and promote it. My research was stagnating due to the drying up of funds after the 2008 recession, and I had time to do things like create music. I had been a wildlife scientist and my research had been aimed at conserving gray wolves in the western U.S. I had spent much time alone in the wilderness tracking wolf movements, and analyzing their kill sites, and I think that this experience also inspires my art.

My goal at the present, is to release a single of my most recent song, Sunshine In The Air, and then start pulling things together to release an album. I have the songs almost ready; they need to be professionally mixed and produced.

The music is mostly about the electric guitar, and my earlier music is very densely textured. It also has drones and recorded sounds that are sometimes non-musical. My vocal style has been compared to Syd Barrett and Leonard Cohen, and to more contemporary singers like Nick Cave, Thurston Moore, and Dead Can Dance. With three exceptions, I play all the instruments myself, and mix them at home on my computer. I use drum software to create the drum parts. Everyone who hears the music says that it sounds unique.

I released an 8-song album last summer called, High Low Songs. It was a great struggle for me to complete and release. I often didn’t have enough money to continue towards the next step, and this would get quite discouraging. The music reflects this struggle, and I went through many dark days trying to complete it. It was #12 in the non-commercial radio charts last summer.

Best regards,
Eric Burnham

1968 Gibson SG guitar, late 60s or early 70d Fender Twin Reverb amplifier, Shure SM7B microphone, Focusrite 18i20 third generation audio interface, Apollo Twin USB audio interface, Korg Microkey 25 midi keyboard, Digitech GSP guitar signal processor.