EMA (Erika Anderson) - Interview

EMA's (Erika Anderson) name is spreading like wildfire over the Internet (etherfire, can we have that, can we copyright that? Maybe even iFire or eFire), and when you take a few minutes out to listen to her track Grey Ship it's easy to see why. Lucy speaks to Erika to learn more.

Who inspired you to become involved in music in the first place?

90s rocker chicks like Kat Bjelland, PJ Harvey, Bikini Kill and Courtney Love. You can hate on Courtney, but she was the only woman I saw playing electric guitar on TV! made a big impression on a 12-yr-old me. On the other hand she is a terrible liability and liking her is a very controversial thing to admit.

Was there anything that particularly helped you get your foot in the door as a musician?

Not really. I didn't grow up "connected" in any way. I think just being brave and risking failure.

Has there been any particularly high points or low points in your music career?

I'm kind of a suspicious Midwesterner, so I don't let myself enjoy the high points as much as I probably should. One time I played "You Are My Sunshine" to a class of Oakland 1st graders and a little girl starting crying and she didn't know why. She wasn't sad, we were all just touched and shaky by the experience of singing that song together. It was on Martin Luther King Day.

Low points: sleeping on a dirty mattress next to a plywood-covered hole in the wall in New Brunswick, New Jersey in the middle of winter. Sucked. Also just feeling like a failure, which happens often.

Did you decide consciously that you wanted to be a self-taught musician, and how has it affected the way you make music?

Sometimes I really wish that I had studied music. I took cello for a year when I was 9 and then dropped it. I still kick myself! I think the important thing about music is just really being in love with the way something sounds, being really genuinely happy when about the way two chords sound together. If you know how it all works you can lose your sense of wonder.

What are you main influences, either musical or non-musical?

Jukeboxes, car stereos and magical thinking.

What motivated you to record your first full-length solo album, Past Life Martyred Saints?

Someone asked me to and said they'd put it out. Otherwise I was about to quit. I had worked on spec forever and I was sick of rejection.

How would you describe the sound of the album to a first-time listener?

The sound is really diverse. There is a lot of melody and distortion. Some people think it's really noisy, and others think it is way poppier than what I have done in the past. Both are right I suppose. There are lots of hooks but nothing repeats, very little in the way of verse-chorus-verse, but very singable.

Your song Grey Ship is made using just your voice and guitar, and is seven minutes long! What's the story behind that song?

Well, Grey Ship has more instruments actually. Kind Heart is mostly guitar and voice, and that's 17 minutes long! Grey Ship is a death trip. I thought it was just about fidelity, technicalities, but it revealed itself to be much more emotional than that.

What do you think has been the best decision you've made in your time as an artist, to get to where you are now?

I don't think there are any big decisions. All "big breaks" come as a result of lots of smaller acts. The best decision is one you make over and over again, and that is just to get to work. Staying in and working hard is how I got "where I am now".

Where can you see your music going in the future? any side projects or plans?

Beyond music I'd love to get back into film and writing. Just wanna do it all ya know? But musically I'd like to try something a little more minimalist :)

You can see her video for California here:

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Catch her on tour here:

see EMA live at these dates:

11 May London The Macbeth
12 May London Cargo (supporting Scout Niblett)
13 May Manchester FutureEverything @ Islington Mill (supporting Scout Niblett)
14 May Brighton The Great Escape @ NME Radar Stage (Horatios)

And if you miss all of that, her website is here: http://cameouttanowhere.com/

By Lucy