By Greg Wong
Perry Eaton is many things: high school English teacher, creative force of the indie rock band Beeef, and founder of an obscure little award-winning Boston music blog called Allston Pudding. Now he’s put on yet another proverbial hat under the moniker Ivy Boy, and he is releasing his debut solo album of the same name on October 24th. We managed to catch up with Eaton on a break in his classroom to talk about his new project.
When asked about the genesis of Ivy Boy, Eaton admitted that the solo music had been simmering in his head for a while, predating the 2020 pandemic. In the intervening years, his band Beeef has remained active, putting out their third LP Somebody’s Favorite last year.
But Ivy Boy has remained separate throughout that time as the two projects thrived concurrently. “To me the only thing that really felt distinct about it is that [Ivy Boy] felt like it was designed for acoustic guitar, whereas Beeef feels very plugged-in, and to me–for some reason in my head–that made the world of difference.” He leaned into that acoustic sound as he continued to write for himself. “Simultaneously we were preparing a Beeef album, but I was also writing more songs at a rate where I was like, I’d love to just not have to wait for the next Beeef album cycle too.” Ivy Boy is the direct product of that creative overflow. During the recording process for Beeef, Eaton brings the main structure and lyrics to the table, but he credits his bandmates with adding their own creative flair and refining the final production.
On his own for Ivy Boy however, Eaton takes the practical limitations of a solo project and allows that to shape the Ivy Boy sound. The acoustic indie-folk direction is both an intentional exploration of a different genre and a logistically minded choice. “Because I’m getting older, in writing the Ivy Boy stuff I don’t even know if I knew enough people to recruit a band for it, so I was like, these are songs that I’m going to have to be able to play on my own with an acoustic guitar too.” Even so, he managed to assemble a surprisingly large roster of collaborators during the recording of his self-titled album. Stumbling upon Ryan Katz and Aaron Brown running their boutique studio and service, Hot Take Recording, Eaton was astounded by the versatility they offered his fledgling project. In addition to acting as the backing band, Katz and Brown recruited Noah Leong to add strings. To further flesh out the recording, Perry was happy to onboard his longtime friend Elio DeLuca to play keys. “It was awesome being able to collaborate with new people and old friends, and this album would be absolutely pathetic if it wasn’t for them.”
Also among the list of contributors to Ivy Boy: Henry “Cadillac Jack” Eaton – Perry’s father. “Yeah my dad’s a musician. He played in an old Boston band from long ago called Duke & the Drivers. They put out a couple records on ABC Records back in the day and they were a touring band, and yeah he dusted off the guitar.” The elder Eaton’s lead guitar feature can be heard overlaying the infectious final track “Olive and the Gibber,” an upbeat, funky romp to conclude the album.um.
When asked to describe his debut album in his own words, Eaton paused for a moment before arriving at a fitting summary. “Hooks and melodies that have kind of pop sensibility, but cloaked in kind of an indie-folk, sometimes even jazzy-folk sensibility. I think lyrically it may have kind of subconsciously been that in my role as a high school teacher, I’ve read so much writing of like 9th graders that I’ve developed this kind of literal, top of mind songwriting too. I think there’s a lot of similarity in the themes that Beeef has of nostalgia and getting older, and the beauty and heartbreak of that, but also just like a lot of poignancy of just saying things that feel less abstract and more just like literal of what’s on my mind.”
Expanding on the nostalgic theme of the album, he said, “I would say since the time that I turned 23, I’ve felt old in the Boston music scene because it is so young.It feels like looking distantly on what the old times used to be like, but hopefully not in like a grump ‘get off my lawn’ kind of way.” Indeed Boston’s vibrant music scene is fueled in no small part by the constant influx of young college students, including those attending Berklee College of Music. “It’s a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that we get so many good, creative young musicians. The curse is that it becomes so transient too; it’s like we get a little bit of them and then they go to Brooklyn, or they go to LA, or Nashville.” Comparing that to his own experience, Eaton mused, “I’m proud that Beeef has stayed together for so long and I’ve been able to make music in Boston for so long, because you don’t see as many bands with multiple releases and multiple years under their belt sticking around Boston.”
Being an “old man” is not all bad however, and if anything, it has positively colored his perspective on youth. That same positivity has lent itself well to his day job. Speaking on the ways being a high school teacher has impacted his creative endeavors, Mr. Eaton notes that it gets harder to set time aside as he gets older, but he takes it all in stride. “I do find a lot of inspiration from it. I think unless you’re actually doing it, you don’t quite know how creative a role teaching is. It commands a lot of thinking outside the box and you’re collaborating with people, young people who still have a lot of imagination left in them… they have a lot of really interesting, uncorrupted ideas still, and I think that’s been a big inspiration for me as I’ve continued to write music on my own.”
Ivy Boy was probably inevitable, for as much love as Perry Eaton has for his other work. His overwhelming urge to create, spurred on by inspiration drawn from past and present, was bound to extend beyond the confines of Beeef. While he considered the constant march of growing older contrasted by his steady exposure to youth, his ruminations seeded growth that manifested itself as his debut album. Even as he has remained self-conscious of aging and finding his own place within the Boston music scene, his optimism shines through in the reassuring lyrics and jaunty hooks of his solo music. Perry self-depricatingly describes Ivy Boy as his most “old man” work to date, but within it is a hopeful core that precludes any accusations of bitterness. Perry Eaton may feel older, but he certainly hasn’t allowed himself to become jaded. For the time being, it looks like we don’t have to get off his lawn just yet.
The Ivy Boy self-titled album release show is on Friday, October 24th at Deep Cuts in Medford.