Eric Douthirt doesn’t look much like he did 11 years ago when he first set foot on campus as an undergraduate.
His long musician’s hair has been cropped short, he wears a shirt and tie and there is a noticeable lack of earrings where there used to be some. For him, the changes have occurred almost imperceptibly.
As an undergraduate studying psychology, Douthirt was more serious about music than anything else in life. He played guitar in a band called Disfunktion straight out of high school.
“That’s really when I got addicted to playing music,” Douthirt said. “I realized ‘this is always going to be something that I’m doing.’ I started chasing the dream at that point. School was important to me, but I always had this what if — I’m willing to drop everything else if music takes off for me.”
Looking back, he considers Disfunktion a warm-up round that helped him to get to know the music scene and club owners.
Awhile after Disfunktion went defunct, he joined a more serious endeavor in 2003, when he was about halfway through his undergrad studies. The band was called Weak Sauce, and they were famous — at least in St. Petersburg.
With a sound that Douthirt describes as Sublime meets Incubus, they played sold out shows at State Theatre every few months, and toured around Florida some weekends.
“Weak Sauce was the big confidence builder. It was no longer that we were at the mercy of club owners,” he said. “We had a little more power, a little more say. As long as you have enough people, you have the power. That’s when as a local band you can do pretty well.”
A key strategy they figured out was not overplaying in the area.
“It’s almost economics. If you reduce the supply you can increase the price. It came to the point where we played only once every four or five months in town, but we would sell out State Theatre,” Douthirt said.
Myspace introduced the band’s music to so many people that they didn’t recognize most of the crowd at their shows. But they were singing along to every song. For Douthirt, those were the moments made it worth it.
The band remained incredibly busy, all the time. Douthirt wanted to give music a fair shot. After finishing his bachelor’s degree, he worked full time for a couple years to support his dream. The band recorded a full-length album, “Nightmares and Daydreams”, as well as an EP and a live album.
Eventually though, he and his bandmates ran out of steam. Despite their local success, they were either breaking even or losing money when they traveled, and their fan base had hit a plateau. The lead singer said something about calling it off and the others grudgingly agreed that it was time. Weak Sauce disbanded in 2007.
“We were just exhausted. We had our personality issues and whatever, but that’s ultimately what did it.”
Douthirt took some to recharge, and started thinking about a career outside of music a little more seriously. He never saw himself as the business school type, but started meeting people in the profession and realized it might work out for him. With expanded horizons, Douthirt applied and got into the MBA program, while continuing to work in the admissions department. “I took the leap to explore things outside of my comfort zone and found out that I really enjoy it,” he said.
Douthirt let music take a back seat in his life, but about six months after Weak Sauce broke up, he had a realization.
“Having a musical outlet is basically an essential part of me,” Douthirt said.
Along with Paul and Brad, the drummer and trumpet player from Weak Sauce, Eric joined forces with two friends from another band called Soulfound that had also just broken up. This time, everyone involved was on board just to have fun. They decided to call themselves Rise of Saturn.
“We’ve gotten together once this year, and it was just to rehearse. Everyone in the band has so many things going on, it’s turned into much more of a hobby. Sort of like our social life whenever can,” Douthirt said. “We’re not out there pounding the pavement.
Rise of Saturn has recorded one album, “Sex, Drugs, and Comic Books.”
“Rise of Saturn ended up being pretty weird,” Douthirt said. “I had no idea what it was going to turn into. We’re much more like whatever goes. We actually have two drummers, so that’s different.”
Music remains his creative outlet, but Douthirt has his mind on other things these days.
“I’ll always have music. Not having it is not good for me. But I just got married in October, and we’re talking starting family soon,” he said. “My focus has changed, and that is a big motivation for me now. I’m a completely different person than when I was an undergrad.”
Now, as assistant director of the MBA program, his job is to try and attract students to USF St. Petersburg. It is a very different place than when he started. As with the changes in his personal life, they were so gradual that he didn’t always realize they were happening.
“Some days I think about, and other days its second nature,” Douthirt said. “I prefer the bigger feel, I prefer the energy. I’m responsible for bringing in students, so it makes my job a little easier, too.”
For Douthirt, it doesn’t feel like so much time has passed. And he has some advice for students who are in a similar to position to the one he was in back then.
“My advice is to be willing to step outside of your comfort zone. You might be surprised what interests and energizes you,” Douthirt said.
“[Music] keeps me sane at the end of the day,” he said. “In any way, shape or form, and even if I don’t have time for a band. Just me, a keyboard, guitar and computer.”
For more about Rise of Saturn, visit riseofsaturn.com.
Photo by Ryan Ballogg.
