layer

ERIC LAYER – BIOBorn in San Francisco a few years too late for the Summer of Love, but definitely amidst its influence.From an early age, he loved writing stories and comics, often working on several projects at once, & even began a novel in junior high (never finished).He started performing onstage at the age of twelve, alongside other notable San Francisco stage vets like Annette Bening.At 13, he was taught to beatbox by current beatboxing champion Yuri Lane. He taught himself the piano, and bought a few keyboards. He started writing songs and recording them on his four track under the moniker, “Difficult Listening”. Highlights included tracks like “Maniac Pervert” and “Eaten Too Much”.He went off to art school in Seattle, just as Nirvana & the “Seattle scene” was blowing up.After school, he formed the own punk rock theatre troupe Piece of Meat Theatre.Piece of Meat’s main drive was to “destroy every pretension and stereotype associated with the idea of theatre”. They performed in music venues, art galleries, house parties, and, yes, the occasional theatre, all along the West Coast.Settled in LA after getting tear-gassed in the Seattle WTO riots, living through Y2K, and surviving a triple-roll over car crash in the New Mexican desert. Spent two nights in LA county jail for reckless bicycle riding.Joined the band Setting Sun, with Gary Levitt formerly of Inner and Kung Fu Grip, playing bass, keyboards, and backup vocals. They went on several national tours.He also wrote, recorded, and self-released his own music under his own name.Piece of Meat split after nearly ten years together. With fellow Meat founder Chris Goodson, he started Magic Beans Productions. Their first short, entitled “The Second Death”, a hallucinogenic & comic take on the apocalypse, won accolades at several film festivals including Cinequest in San Jose and the DNA Film Festival at Atom Egoyan’s Camera Bar in Toronto.He started theLionSpirit with Erica Garcia, and has continued to play with her in several bands.For over ten years, he has taught art, music, theatre and writing to children of all ages. He teaches at the Barnsdall Art Center in Los Feliz.Currently, he plays with Mountain Party, Hecuba, Anaam, and his own band.He recently completed an album entitled “Fall”.He just gave birth to a new alter-ego, Uh.He lives in Echo Park, Los Angeles.