Interview & Photos by Keira Zhou
When did you start playing music?
Erin: Singing, there are home videos of me 2 years old singing. So always singing, but then song writing probably around 18. And for guitar, actually playing guitar in front people is relatively new, within the past couple years. So I’ve been learning guitar for the past 6 years. I always want to be singer. The first producer that I started working with in New York was like, “You should really write, because writing is where you can make money.” And it’s an import piece of it. Then I just realized how much I love writing. The second I started, I haven’t stopped since.
Who are the influences of your sound?
Erin: I’m a 90s baby. Brittney Spears is definitely my first idol, and then Spice Girls and a lot of 90s band, like Match Box Twenty, Third Eye Blind, The Goo Goo Dolls. Some women singers like Alanis Morissette. I’m stuck back in the 90s.
Could you tell us a little bit more about your debut album? When is it gonna come out?
Erin: It’s gonna come out on Nov 1st, but I’ve been releasing songs from it. I’m calling an EP but it’s more like an album cause there are 8 songs on it. So I released 4 songs at this point, and I’ll release another one this Friday. We are doing like every two weeks.
What is the idea behind your EP? What are the songs about? What inspired it?
Erin: So the EP is titled Apartment 101, which is my apartment in Los Angeles. The oldest song on the EP is called Your Mother. I wrote that like two years ago. So it’s been a while. It’s just a lot of changes are happening with me – moving out to LA, throwing myself into the world of dating (laugh). I’m from New Jersey and I moved out to LA for about a little over two years now. So I started writing these songs once I moved to LA. And then I actually visited London, mainly for vacation but also a little bit for music. There was a boy who inspired a lot of those songs. I ended up meeting the producer of the EP in London, so I kept going back. So I just fell in love with the city. That’s where the album was recorded.
What keeps you going when you feel down and discouraged?
Erin: It’s a good question. It’s a tough business. Honestly, I would say song writing, just being able to play my guitar and write songs, that is something that will continue to make me happy. When I’m having a bad day, picking up the guitar and just playing a little bit, is really something that can make you feel better. That’s something you pay all your attention to, you don’t think about anything else. It’s such a nice experience.
Who are the people who have helped you along your music career?
Erin: I guess it first starts with my parents. They were always super supportive of me. They were always on board, and I knew I wanted to be in music since early on. They are probably the first people. Then you met people along the way. I had a middle school music teacher, who was really supportive of me, singing. That made a huge difference. I met my manager working at my part-time job, through a friend of his. You meet those people along the way and they believe in the project. You need those people who really believe in it.
What's your favorite food?
Erin: Oh that’s such a touch question. I love all food.
Keira: What about top 3?
Erin: The first thing that pops into my mind right now is pizza, because I just walked down the street and I had a slice. We’ve been traveling for the past 3 weeks. We started in Long Beach, CA. We’ve been driving across the country doing a tour. I finally got to the East Coast; I had so much Italian food already. There were Chicken Parmesan, meatballs, pizza. I would say Italian as a whole is top on my list. I’m also a huge sushi fan. I also really love steak. You know some people who like salty food, some like sweet? I like both. I like everything.
"I’ve never put myself through so much hell before. I mean he was putting me through hell but I stuck around when I should have just walked away. I was thinking he was someone he wasn’t and wanting us to be something we were never going to be. You couldn’t call it a relationship but whatever it was it was drowning me. I see exactly who he is now and what I was to him. I’m just happy to have my head above water again"
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