What the hell is Erik Buell doing writing music? Why isn’t he doing motorcycles?
In Erik's words:
"Well, I’ve done a lot of motorcycle designs, and am proud of them. But I do love music, and it's time for that!
Regarding motorcycles, I'm still involved as an advisor to FUELL on electric motorcycles. So that's fun.
But many of the best designs I did in the past never made it to production. I’ve been tempted to write a book about them and the corporate politics and stupidity that kept them from happening, but what’s the point in hashing might-have-beens?
The reality is that it takes a crap ton of money to do production motorcycles. And raising that kind of money is just a nasty business. I’ve no desire to go through it again.
I do miss the creative part though. So much. For me in engineering there was a design muse that would come to me, and I just would be obsessed with bringing that idea to life.
But the other part I found myself missing from motorcycles was the human connection. I tend to be reclusive by nature, and motorcycling pulled me out and allowed me to connect and meet super nice kind and friendly people.
So during COVID, when that lack of connection was its worst, I started really writing songs. Kind of to record stories and emotions. Some of them were on topics that I would never bring up in any conversation. I found a different form of that creative muse, a floodgate release.
I’ve been fortunate to to have lived a lot longer than I probably should have, given choices I made, and to have had a pretty complex life. We all have joy, despair, love, anger, and more. So writing songs was about finding moments/times in my life when those feelings were the strongest.
Stopping to visit with myself at 12, 18, 23, 28, 35, 40, 50, etc. is intense. Also recognizing the different personalities inside me. I hope these songs connect with others as well. Because we are all human (well, most of us, I think) and at the core very much alike. Full of emotions that we keep to ourselves, while wondering if others feel the same.
There are many things I won’t get to do or see, including a lot of motorcycle designs and motorcycle people. That’s OK. Life is amazing. Such a gift to all of us.
Recognize that. Be kind to each other. Be grateful. The best of roads are ahead."