E (from Eels) Talks Art, Persistence in the Face of Tragedy, and Cookie Monster

“Me no cry because cookie is finished,” Cookie Monster once said. “Me smile because cookie happened.” Eels has been a band for 35 years and just dropped their 16th studio album, with the Cookie Monster-inspired title Cookie Happened. In that time, Mark Oliver Everett (aka E) has been the only constant, writing and perform songs that can be, at times, deeply moving, sly funny, and just about everything in between. E joins us to talk about the mental health component of his life and of his music. Along those lines, it doesn’t take long to arrive at Electro-Shock Blues, Eels’ 1998 album informed by the death by suicide of his sister, the sudden death of his father some years before, and the terminal cancer diagnosis of his mom. He tells us that while depression has been a constant visitor over the years, the hard times have taught him a kind of determined persistence. E also mentions that despite Cookie Monster inspiring the album title, the cover has a green skeleton dunking a basketball. He offers no explanation, nor did we seek one.

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