Eric Stuart Explained

Eric Stuart is an American voice actor and musician whose clients include 4Kids Entertainment, NYAV Post, and Central Park Media.

Among some of his prominent roles, he is best known for being the voice of Brock and James from seasons 1–8 of the original Pokémon anime, as well as voicing Seto Kaiba in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters anime series and Meta Knight in .

Early life

Stuart was born in Brooklyn, New York to a modern dancer mother and a criminal attorney father.^[1]

Voice acting career

He provides voices for English dubs of anime, cartoons, and video games. Some of his most prominent roles include Brock and James in Pokémon from seasons 1–8, Seto Kaiba in Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Gourry Gabriev in Slayers.^{[2] [1]}

Music career

As a stage performer, he and his band, Eric Stuart Band, have toured with Peter Frampton (1999, 2000), Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band (1997),^[1] Lynyrd Skynyrd (1997), and has opened for Jethro Tull (1997), Julian Cope (1995), Hall & Oates (1997, 1998) and Chicago (1995, 1997, 1998) as well.^[3]

In 2000, Frampton produced his album Blue, Dressed in Black.^{[1] [4]}

In 2007, he released his fourth full-length album In The County Of Kings as the Eric Stuart Band under Stuart's own independent label, Widow's Peak Records. The title of the album comes from Kings County, Brooklyn, where Stuart was born and raised. In addition, the front cover art depicts the Brooklyn Bridge and New York City in juxtaposition with the Great Pyramid, the Sphinx of Giza, and the Valley of the Kings, which are in Egypt. The musical style of In The County Of Kings is more country-sounding than any previous Eric Stuart Band album, and is described by Eric Stuart as "concrete country." With regard to this, Stuart writes,

I was trying to come up with a way to explain the type of music I play. Americana was too rootsy, folk-rock only touched on a part of my sound and county/rock made it sound like I wore a cowboy hat. I am born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, but I play music with a strong lyrical, melodic, story based approach. There are many country elements as well. I thought the combination of "Concrete" to connect with the sidewalks and buildings I grew up around as well as the rock connotations that word brings plus the "Country" would show I was touching on string songwriting and storytelling that went with country music.^[5]

In The County Of Kings includes a re-release of Stuart's songs "The Bottom Line" (1996, from the album Picture Perfect World), and "Paint the Town Tonight" (2000, from the album BombShellShocked). The album also incorporates more guest musicians than in previous ESB albums. Stuart sings with his sister Barbara Brousal in "The Land Of What Might Have Been." Not all the songs call in numerous accompaniments however; in "This Love," Stuart is only accompanied by band members Jenna Malizia (background vocals) and Questar Welsh (background vocals and keyboards).

Filmography

Film

Anime

Animation

Video games

Web

Discography

• Curiosity (1996)
• Picture Perfect World (1997)
• Eric Stuart (1998)
• Blue, Dressed in Black (2000)
• BombShellShocked (2003)
• In the County of Kings (2007)
• Empty Frame of Reference (2009)
• Falls on Me (2011)^[13]
• Lipstick and Barbed Wire (2013)^[1]
• My Kind of Danger (2018)

References

1. Web site: AniMinneapolis Announces Eric Stuart. animenewsnetwork.com. January 20, 2017.
2. Web site: BAAF to Kick off at J&R Music & Computer World. animenewsnetwork.com. January 20, 2017.
3. News: Merchant. John. MUSKEGON SUMMER CELEBRATION. Muskegon Chronicle. July 10, 2000.
4. Web site: ERIC STUART BAND – ERIC STUART. ericstuart.com. January 18, 2017.
5. Web site: Eight Questions With Singer-Songwriter Eric Stuart . 2008-08-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080601164204/http://www.movievine.com/news/article00836.shtml . 2008-06-01 . dead .
6. Web site: Dan Green, Eric Stuart Return for Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions Film's English Dub (Updated With Trailer). animenewsnetwork.com. January 20, 2017.
7. Web site: Funimation Adds Sengoku Basara TV Anime Series (Update 2). animenewsnetwork.com. February 16, 2017.
8. Web site: Supanova Pop Culture Expo Gold Coast on this Weekend!. animenewsnetwork.com. February 16, 2017.
9. Eric Stuart initially voiced Gold Roger before being replaced with Frederick B. Owens.
10. Web site: Crystal Acids Crispin Freeman Page. 2012-10-30.
11. . Pokémon Channel . . Ending credits, 7:17 in, Cast . 2003.
12. Web site: Teenage Pokemon: Brock, Mental Health, and Let's Plays. June 30, 2013.
13. Web site: THE SHOP – ERIC STUART. www.ericstuart.com.

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