After a seven-year hiatus from releasing music, Salt Lake City-based singer-songwriter Richard Epperson released his six-track EP “Another Day” on Oct. 15. The EP blends acoustic tracks like “When I Build My World” and “Another Day,” with more electronic tracks like “Tonight (Wicked Lies),” creating hybrid songs with soul.

I had the pleasure of talking to Epperson about the EP and learning about his long journey in music in an interview. 

The Dream Is inside You

I asked Epperson about his hiatus from music and how it has affected his creative process. The explanation was simple and painful — music got away from him in the sweep of difficult life changes. “Everything in life kind of crashed down again … I always kind of thought I was on a roll, things were building up, and it just stopped,” he said. “A job gets more demanding the older you get — you’re trying to pay for your mortgage, you’re trying to balance things, be a dad, and I just kind of lost that music thing. I kept trying to start and I just couldn’t ever start, something was always coming in the way.”

Yet, the whole time Epperson was away from music, he was thinking about music. “You can do nothing to progress your dream or life, but you still have your dream the whole time … you felt that deep down inside that that’s what you are,” Epperson said. Ultimately it’s that clear, un-ignorable feeling that got Epperson into music in the first place and eventually brought him back to it — back into the recording studio to make “Another Day.”

Back for Round Two

Coming back to music with “Another Day,” Epperson had a different goal than his other projects. He set out for the EP to answer a question: Can I write songs that people want to listen to? “I just kind of need that for me as a growth, as a person, as a human, as an artist,” he said. This time around, Epperson would focus on a different approach to writing songs: “Try and focus on each song individually and try to condense it, try to make it simple enough. Try to make things listener friendly.” 

His dream is not to be a big rock star, Epperson told me. “I just want people to be like, ‘Hey, I want to hear that guy do another song and see what it’s like.’ That’s my musical dream.” 

The Cliché Is True

Many of us have taken a hiatus from something we love to do, whether we are college students swept up in academic responsibilities or have also experienced an unexpected life change. I asked Epperson what his advice was to someone who wants to get back into something they love. “The hardest thing is those first couple steps. It’s taking that risk and putting yourself back out into something you want. It’s okay to fail, it’s not okay to not try. It’s not okay to live with regret. It’s not okay to have to wonder in your life. You’ve got to strive to do things you love in your life.”

“Follow your dreams” is a cliché, but it’s a true one. “[At] the end of the day, you’ve got to be satisfied and happy with what you’ve done with your life and who you are as a person,” Epperson said. 

This is your sign to pick up something you’ve put down. To do the thing you love again, like your life depends on it. And put on “Another Day” if you need some help getting started.    

“Another Day” was released on Oct. 15 and available for streaming on Spotify and YouTube.

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