Inward Eye: Breaking Down Doors Across North America

Sometimes, the best way out is through. Dave Erickson certainly found that to be true when his punk rock band, Inward Eye, was trying to get out there in the music industry.

“We started out as a bunch of naïve kids who didn’t know that much about the world,” the bassist admits. “I think we had some preconceived notions about what this industry was like and all those illusions have been shattered, for better or for worse. Sometimes the best way to get in there is to break down the door.”

Even the title of Inward Eye’s debut full-length album, Throwing Bricks Instead of Kisses, represents the band’s determined mindset to make their music heard. “It basically sums up our change in attitude through making our record,” explains Erickson, who signed with J Records in 2006 along with his brothers Kyle and Anders, Inward Eye’s guitarist and drummer, respectively.

According to Erickson, the recording process for the record was lengthy and often stressful. “We’ll never make a record like that ever again,” he laughs. “We would record for maybe two weeks, then head out on the road and kind of lose our heads. Over the course of two years, the record came together. Then it sat around for a bit, [because] the label didn’t know what to do with it. Our lives were totally on hold. It was agonizing.”

The album was finally released in September 2009, much to the relief and satisfaction of the band. Says Erickson, “[It] is definitely a studio quality record, [and] that was the intent. Some people might be a little bit surprised we went that route, but it is what it is and we’re happy with it.”

Despite their past struggles, Inward Eye is not looking back. “We’re just looking forward to promoting this record and getting it out to as many people that want to hear it,” Erickson states simply.

The band that so many people want to hear began when Erickson and his brothers were in high school in Winnipeg, Manitoba. “We were so incredibly unhip to what was going around musically,” recalls Erickson, “[which] made us develop our own sound and our own style. We just did our own thing.”

Unhip or not, the guys of Inward Eye have proven that they have both the drive and the talent to stay ahead in the industry, regardless of any challenges that might stand in their way.