Erik Williamsen is a guitarist, singer and songwriter based in Denver, Colorado. His new album Part Machine is inspired by ‘90s shoegaze and indie rock and expresses his struggles and frustrations managing lifelong chronic illness within the American healthcare system.
Erik also records instrumental music as Big Big Pop. He played guitar with Reba Fritz in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Procession in Annapolis, Maryland.
Part Machine was released to digital platforms on January 13, 2023:
Part Machine was written and performed by Erik Williamsen. Additional guitar by William Lang on Healthy Pretend, Keep It To Yourself, Self Inflicted Wounds, Withhold, and So I Tell Myself. Will also mixed and played bass on Withhold. Cover art by Wes Stitt. Released by Organization Game.
I ate
the avocado toast
that was left on
the counter
which
mommy made for lunch and
you left
uneaten
Forgive me
but you barely eat
and daddy eats
everything
Organization Game releases The Lion In The Living Room on SoundCloud (click each image to navigate to SoundCloud).
The Lion In The Living Room, “Revenge Body” (2021)The Lion In The Living Room, “The Devil’s Eyes” (2021)The Lion In The Living Room, “Paper Tiger” (2021)
The Lion In The Living Room is Wes Stitt. He played guitar in Procession.
PRESS RELEASE: Organization Game releases new Big Big Pop album Monster to SoundCloud and Bandcamp
Big Big Pop, Monster (2021)
The ever prolific Big Big Pop aka BBP aka Erik Williamsen released his second Organization Game album Monster on Halloween 2021.
BBP explains how the album presents the story of “a cartoon monster who has no idea that they’re a monster, then starts to realize it and how awful they are and doesn’t know what to do with that information. I never really developed that story, but that’s the basis of this whole thing and the reason for the album title.”
100% logical. Recommended for olds who love their NES. You know who you are. Enjoy!
On the album Still, he writes, “‘Ginseng’ has a seriously captivating symphonic prog sweep that endures despite the lo-fi production’s glaring inability to do justice to the banks of celestial synth atmospherics engulfing the piece.”
In contrast, Fatherland “takes a more guitar-led approach, with hints of Slint’s post-rock blueprint,” and “Post” on Living in Between suggests the “proggier direction they might have expanded on had the crushing indifference of their peers not caused them to split soon afterwards.”
Can’t See The Time is the second album by electronic musician Big Big Pop. It is his first for Organization Game.
Big Big Pop is Erik Williamsen. He is a legal aid lawyer in Denver, Colorado, USA. Many lawyers at legal aid burn out within a few years, but he’s still at it, 15 years later, working to keep people in poverty from being evicted.
Although instrumental music is inherently abstract, Erik explains how he tries to make sense of the world through his music. It’s a setting where he feels comfortable, a place where he has the space to discover the little melodies and rhythms which carry his songs, which bring us to life. The result expresses his compassion and curiosity.
What does it sound like? Crunchy synths and electric guitar weave tunefully around melodic clatter reminiscent of Aphex Twin and Califone. (Remember Califone? Imagine Yo La Tengo banging on auto parts with Tom Waits.) It’s organic and intuitive, inventive and clever, and permeated with tunes.
Can’t See The Time was released to digital platforms on February 5, 2021:
All songs written, performed and recorded by Big Big Pop, except guitar on “Bit of Tension” by William Lang. Mastering assistance provided by Jordan Thiam.
In Los Angeles, I met a classical music scholar for coffee at an upscale coffee shop in Silverlake. They blasted AC/DC and Judas Priest the entire time. I apologized to my guest, but at that moment I realized this is the coolest music in the world.
In this spirit, I submit to you a Balls To The Wall New Year’s Eve Spotify playlist. Made for you, with love, by your brothers in metal, the Srokas.
If an AP English class started a band, it would be Procession.
In 1995, when we recorded our first album Still, we were earnest freshmen in college. Unlike our musical peers, we struggled with irony. In our hearts, artists were studious and serious, not like the brilliant wiseasses of alternative music. If your definition of a great rock band proceeded from punk and post-punk rather than art and progressive rock, we were not your idea of cool.
But we had a spark and we captured our moment beautifully. Unlike rock archetypes at the time, we were raised in the comfortable suburbs of Maryland, attended good public schools, and got good grades. We tried our luck at a liberal arts college rather than in the big city. Our music–dramatic, ornate and sincere–expressed that perspective of the world.
Unfortunately, as a female-fronted and keyboard-driven rock band in the mid ‘90s, our career tanked. The music business seemed impenetrable. We naively assumed good bands were simply plucked from obscurity. Though we believed deeply in our art, we were too timid to promote ourselves. Eventually, we broke up.
Twenty five years later, we are older, wiser, less timid, and fresh out of fucks. Life in 2020 will do that to you.
We realized that not everyone has the opportunity to create something meaningful and share it with others. And not every artform is so easy to distribute globally through multiple digital platforms. We remain proud of our work and thank you for giving us the opportunity to share it with you.
On December 11, 2020, Organization Game released the complete recordings of Procession to digital platforms:
I wrote this poem in 2011. At the time, I was nervous to call it “Fox News”, so I settled for “Nasty Bitches”; at the time, it still felt controversial to suggest Fox News peddled propaganda rather than news. Not anymore!
Mike Birbiglia had this great tweet in July; he wrote “It’s the 38% that I may never understand. The 38% who see this president watch hundreds of thousands of Americans get sick & die for MONTHS and do nothing and, even worse, LIE that the virus is mostly harmless— infecting more. Yet Somehow those 38% still think, ‘Yeah, I approve.'”
Dear 38%, this one’s for you.
The dogs of war Patrol their borders So beware! Keep order!
Outside their purview They bark and snort Pacing the perimeter Back and forth
Look at those teeth Nasty bitches But these dogs’ owners Have bigger britches
High-minded fuckers Like talking to a wall Clinching deals Hogging the ball
They set the tone The dogs follow Promising steak Tomorrow
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