I Had a Name

I Had a Name is the debut studio album by American rock/alternative musician Eric Bass. The album was released on February 28, 2025, via ONErpm.

Writing Bass shared that the idea for the album came to him in a hotel room in Milan, during a tour that Shinedown was doing in support of their album Attention Attention.SHINEDOWN's ERIC BASS Announces 'I Had A Name' Solo Album, November 13, 2024, Blabbermouth According to him, once the idea emerged, he sat down and wrote for two consecutive hours what later became a summary of the background story he tells in the album. Bass explained that when writing the music for the songs, he imagined the characters he created. He noted that the album does not tell the entire story in chronological order but rather presents moments and snippets from it. The album was written during the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed him to put all the pieces together, and completing the album.Brent Porche, Shinedown’s Eric Bass Goes Solo with ‘I Had A Name’ (Interview), November 13, 2024, 93.3 WMMR

Bass mentioned that after writing the album, he realized that aside from the fact that the album explores current real-world society through a dystopian story, it is also an autobiographical album that he wrote about himself, reflecting his battle with depression. He stated that this is not the central theme of the story in the album, which he described as a "silly rock opera"Chuck Armstrong, ‘We Just Want to Make a Rock Record’ – Shinedown’s Eric Bass Shares Plans For New Music, November 20, 2024, Loudwire and as an "epic odyssey", and that he does not want the topic of mental health to overshadow the album's narrative.

Recording Bass is the only musician featured on the album. Besides singing, he plays all the instruments and also handled the entire production of the album. In an interview Bass said that the album was fully finished, including post production, before the writing of Shinedown's album Planet Zero, but he didn't know at first if he wanted it to be publicly released.

Release On November 13, 2024, the lead single from the album, "Mind Control," was released.Shinedown’s Eric Bass launching new solo project with “Mind Control” song, November 6, 2024, 105.7 The Point The song was described as a combination of hard rock, glam rock and dance-punk.Jon Hadusek, Shinedown’s Eric Bass Announces Debut Solo Album, Unveils Lead Single “Mind Control”: Stream, November 13, 2024, Yahoo

The album was released alongside a companion graphic novel.

Track listing

Personnel Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.

Eric Bass – vocals, instruments, scoring, programming, recording, production, mixing, artwork, design, layout Eric Wayne Rickert – additional engineering Ted Jensen – mastering Julianne Moore – additional voices Dora Bullock – additional voices Anna Moore – additional voices Brooklynn Moore – additional voices Will Moore – additional voices Noah Bullock – additional voices Aubrey Bullock – additional voices Allison Forres – additional voices Tom Orth – additional voices Rob Prior – artwork, design, layout Mykela Bajari – artwork, design, layout Naomi Griffin – artwork, design, layout Faedra May – artwork, design, layout Cameron Prior – artwork, design, layout Kaitlyn DiDi – artwork, design, layout Sanjay Parikh – all photos

References