Emo Icon Jeremy Enigk Seeks to Leave the Ghosts Behind at Mac’s Bar

As the unofficial spokesman and figurehead of a music genre and movement, Jeremy Enigk has had a lot of expectations to live up to.

The former frontman of the highly influential 90’s-00’s emo band Sunny Day Real Estate (SDRE) and now solo artist is trying to reconcile his past and exorcize some of the demons, so to speak. His latest album, “Ghosts,” his fifth, seeks to do just that.

Enigk will perform at Mac’s Bar Saturday, April 13 at 7:00.

For the Seattle native, “Ghosts” was eight years in the making.

“I am always writing music, but not always focused on recording unless something comes along that feels right,” Enigk said. “’Ghosts’ is a collection of songs casually written over an eight-year period. I moved to the country and spent a lot of time reflecting on the past and pondering the future. Eventually, I had a decent number of inspired songs and ideas to pull from and it felt like the right time to motivate.”

Sunny Day was a mysterious and enigmatic band that once refused to tour California. After releasing two highly acclaimed albums, the band broke up for the first time in 1995. After this, Enigk became a Christian and released his first album, “Return of the Frog Queen,” which was a kaleidoscope of sounds complete with orchestration.

The band reunited for two more albums, 1998’s “How It Feels To Be Something On” and “The Rising Tide” in 2000, before breaking up again in 2001. Enigk quickly formed The Fire Theft with Sunny Day’s William Goldsmith on drums and Nate Mendel (also of the Foo Fighters) on bass. The Fire Theft quickly faded after eponymous one album and broke up in 2004, which allowed Enigk to re-focus on his solo career. “World Waits,” his second album, was released in 2006.

Sunny Day would reunite once again in 2009 for a quick tour, including a stop at the Coachella Music Festival, before quickly fading away once again. As of today, the band remains on a permanent hiatus.

According to Enigk, “Ghosts” is made up of all of these moments.

“During the writing of these songs I spent a lot of time reflecting on the past 20 years or so,” Enigk said. “I was at a stage in my life where I wanted to stop and take a look at my past choices and where they had taken me, good and bad. Personal and professional. It was hard coming to terms with some things, but I was really focused on creating a positive perspective of the future. The title ‘Ghosts’ to me is about that period. Holding on to old memories, habits, phantoms that don’t serve your greater good and striving to let go. Keeping the good things of course. That is where the hope comes in. Seeing that you can move on and that it is ok. So, yes, it is about past relationships, but also my own personal demons.”

Not only had Enigk moved on, but so had the music industry. Times were changing, and releasing an album through a typical record company was becoming harder. For “Ghosts,” Enigk found himself starting a crowd funding campaign through Pledgemusic to raise the funds for the recording of the album. Fans responded swiftly, and the first two pressings have long been sold out.

Enigk was skeptical of the Crowdfund, but was encouraged by the outpouring of support he received from his fans. He has plans to continue to release music this way, and preliminary plans are underway to re-release some of his back catalogue that’s been out of print for some time now.

“Yes as long as people listen and encourage me to continue releasing music, I likely will. I am always surprised the impact that the music has had on people’s lives when I go out on tour and talk to people. I usually underestimate it as I get trapped in my own critical opinions of my music. It is such a confidence booster. Hopefully, one day I’ll look past my own critique and just embrace it.”

Last year, “Frog Queen” was re-released through the Sub Pop label on special edition purple vinyl. Now, it’s “The Fire Theft’s” turn, as a special edition pressing of that album is set to be released this year.

He is happy to see both albums getting their proper acknowledgement.

“I talked about not always relating to older records but ‘Frog Queen’ is one exception because there is something timeless and special about it (same with the first three SDRE records). It is always great to celebrate, especially when the strings back it up. It’s an album that when I play it live it seems light and refreshing. I can still conjure the imagery that was in my head when I wrote the songs,” Enigk said. “With ‘The Fire Theft’ album, I love it. I think the artwork is one of the coolest looking albums in my discography.”

For the “Ghosts” tour, Enigk will perform songs from the album live with his band which includes Tomo Nakayama on guitar, Nils Petersen on bass and keys, and Pat Schowe on the drums.

Watching the songs from “Ghosts” live on stage has brought Enigk personal enjoyment.

“I think we are making an excellent representation of the album with just four members,” Enigk said. “It’s very powerful yet delicate and fragile at the same time. There are few old songs thrown in the mix from previous records, but I am mostly excited about ‘Ghosts’ because it represents where I am at now in my life. I don’t always relate to some of the old songs, but the beauty of having so many is that I can pick and choose the ones that feel relevant at the moment. Plus, you can just re-purpose them if they aren’t working in the modern setup.”

Tickets are $18 advance and $20 at the door. For more information, visit macsbar.com.