Local dad and scientist Eric Armour has a side gig: he’s the drummer for seven-piece indie band Hazy Jane, who just released a full studio album. Crafted in the spirit of Neil Young’s seminal work After the Gold Rush, Hazy Jane’s album “Half the Drugstore” (an anagram of Young’s album title) includes a wide range of musical moods and features musicians from all over New Jersey.
Armour, a longtime Pennington resident and research scientist at Veeco Instruments, got involved with Hazy Jane through playing the New Brunswick music scene with his band Billy. It was there he met Paul Milan, Hazy Jane’s songwriter and band leader. Milan, a church musical director, occasionally played shows with Billy (a band Armour describes as “cow-punk”).
“This album is Paul’s brainchild,” shares Armour. “In my role as drummer, I try to just listen carefully to his songs several times before thinking about my own contribution. It’s all about finding the groove, the essence of the song… to me, music should be emotional.”
Eric first got involved with music by learning percussion in his middle school concert band. He moved on to marching band in high school, garage bands with friends, and even went semi-pro, recording ad jingles. He continued to play with bands in college. By the time he was working on his PhD dissertation at the University of New Mexico, he got the opportunity many musicians hope for: joining a signed band and going on tour.
“Luckily I was working with an understanding professor,” says Armour, “because every year I would take off six weeks to go on tour. This was during the grunge era and we spent a good deal of time in the west coast/LA scene. Those were fun years… but I learned that lifestyle isn’t necessarily compatible with a stable career and raising a family.”
A father of two teens, Armour advises parents of the many budding young musicians in Hopewell Valley to be supportive of kids’ creative aspirations, because making music is its own reward.
“Whether it ends up being a profession or a hobby, you just never know where it might lead. I once mentored a drummer two years behind me in high school, and he is now the percussionist for Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas.”
Armour looks forward to playing live with Hazy Jane in 2025, in support of the new album. “Half the Drugstore” takes the listener on a journey through varied soundscapes. Not every song includes percussion; some are dreamy acoustic numbers featuring piano and guitar, some are hard-hitting rock songs. Recording began in Highland Park NJ during Covid, so there were plenty of challenges to navigate and gaps in time that allowed the project to evolve. Each song evokes a different mood, and multiple lead singers lend interest and variety to the sound.
“Half the Drugstore” will be streaming on Spotify and Bandcamp starting October 15. The album is also available on CD and vinyl. For more information, visit hazyjane.com.
