Interview by Emily Lutz
Texas-based artist Eraste made her way into the music industry with her debut EP “crashing every party,” and we haven’t gotten enough of it since its March release. We recently had the opportunity to pick her brain a bit; we discussed the EP, what genre she feels she fits into, and beginning a music career during a pandemic.
Emily Lutz: How would you describe the music that you typically create?
Eraste: I think I would categorize myself in the “electro-pop” genre. Artists like Halsey and Lorde really inspire me, Halsey’s “Badlands” especially!
I really just love pop music, and I want to break the stigma that assumes pop music has no depth or complexity. Pop music is just as beautifully crafted and intricate as classical music!
I want to make pop songs that can be Top 40 and are meticulously crafted to be enjoyed, while also staying true to my experience. I think my song “forbidden love” is great at that, a pop bop while also telling a personal story people can relate to!
As an insult, someone told me my music was boring and sounded like The Chainsmokers, but I think that was the biggest compliment ever! If all my music sounded like “Closer” by Halsey and The Chainsmokers, I think I would accomplish my pop music goals; I want to make timeless pop songs that can be enjoyed by any and everyone.
EL: What is it about music that makes you feel passionate?
E: I’ve always connected really deeply to the music behind the words, the chord changes and melodies that create huge tear-jerking swells. I never had a “theory-based” background, and I hated reading music - it was so boring, I felt like it sucked all the life out of the song.
Because of that, I had to rely heavily on my ears. When I’m listening to a song and I hear the right note, the perfect synth lead, shouts of excitement to add texture in the background, a whispered vocal adlib, that’s what reminds me that I love music more than anything in the world. I feel really lucky to have a natural ability to understand music in that sense, and it makes me so excited to be able to share that gift with my fans.
I'm lucky to have the ability to make people feel something when I sing. I am so passionate about being a vessel to get people from hearing the music to really feeling it in their bones.
EL: Could you walk us through the creative process of making “crashing every party”?
E: I wrote and recorded these songs with my co-producers, over the span of like 11 days. "crashing every party" was the only song that I had written almost entirely when I got into the room with them, and we wrote the other four together!
It was so cool to write that way. We got to talk and be creative and I got to bounce my ideas off of other people, which is where I feel like I thrive the most.
I love to talk through my thought process and each idea step-by-step, it was a great experience in the sense that it was like a two-week therapy session. I'm beyond grateful for their collaboration, but I think in the future I would like to bring more songs I've written alone into the room.
Having that dedicated time was amazing because it taught me how to find my voice when it was influenced by collaboration, and it helped develop me as an artist. At a certain point though, it was important to hold my ideas and creative vision true to myself, and what I wanted my artwork to be.
EL: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your art, especially with your debut?
E: Oh goodness, well it's odd because I've never made music outside of a pandemic! I think one thing I'm struggling a lot with right now is getting people interested and reaching the people who I think would really love my music; I can't play shows, so it's hard to find my crowd.
On the creative side though, quite frankly, without this pandemic I wouldn't have this EP - it gave me the chance to slow down and figure out what I wanted to say with my music and build myself around that. It gave me the opportunity to hone in on that, and now I'm able to carry that with me into my next projects.
EL: What is one message you would give to your fans?
E: The most important thing I would say to anyone is to be as self-assured as you can be, trust your instincts and lead with your gut! Knowing yourself and your boundaries will do you so much good in anything you want to accomplish.
I always (maybe to a fault) lead with my intuition, and it's led me to some really amazing people and steered me clear of some people who didn't deserve my energy. It has already served me so well to listen to my gut when I meet people!
Trust vibe checks when you meet people. (laughs) You would be surprised how often you're right!
Thank you so much to Eraste for taking the time to chat with us; you can support her by following her on Twitter @_eraste along with streaming her complete discography available on all music platforms. Let us know who you want us to interview next by tweeting us @lgndsoftmrw!
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