Biography
The eels (whose real name is "eels", no capital, no "the" before it) were officially founded when Butch Norton and Mark Everett (aka E) met Tommy Walter. The name "eels" was chosen so that the band's records would be close to E's solo records. eels became one of the first groups to sign a record deal with DreamWorks Records.
In 1996 the band released their debut album "Beautiful Freak", with the hit single, "Novocaine for the Soul". "Susan's House" and "Your Lucky Day in Hell" achieved modest national and international success, winning the Best International Breakthrough Act award at the 1998 BRIT Awards. In September 1997, Walter quit the band to pursue other interests, while E and Butch continued as the "eels".
Following the success of "Beautiful Freak", E experienced a difficult time in his personal life. His sister committed suicide, and his mother was diagnosed with cancer. These events inspired him to write "Electro-Shock Blues", which was released in 1998. Contributions to the album were made by Jon Brion, Lisa Germano, Grant Lee Phillips, Dust Brother Michael Simpson, and T-Bone Burnett. Still a three-piece band on stage, Tommy Walter was replaced by Adam Siegel. After the tour, Siegel left the band to focus on his own projects.
In 2000, eels released "Daisies of the Galaxy". The album was recorded in E's basement, followed by a world tour where E and Butch where accompanied by a six-piece orchestra, including Lisa Germano.
In 2001 "Souljacker" was released, and John Parish, previously of PJ Harvey's band, co-wrote most of the songs. John joined E and Butch on the first part of the tour, but after the birth of his child he left, and was replaced with Joe Gore. Koool G Murder played bass and keyboards, and soon joined the tour.
2003 marked the release of the album "Shootenanny!", and was recorded live in the studio in only ten days. After the recording, Butch and E parted ways, and E became the "eels". A multitude of other players join E in the studio, and on stage. In 2003, the live band consisted of E, Goldenboy (guitar), Koool G Murder (bass) and Puddin (drums).
