Photo: William Rahilly
When California “noise-folk” band Gowns disbanded in early 2010, lead singer Erika M. Anderson — who plays as EMA — wasted no time getting her solo act together. Her debut, Past Life Martyred Saints, was released in May and finds her exploring a curious blend of lo-fi guitar, raw emotion and even orchestral moments. It’s an album about love and death and vitality that shines through nuanced melodies and some irresistibly inflammatory lyrics. Hive recently spoke with EMA, who was chilling in a friend’s backyard in cozy Pomona, Calif., about her new record, the commonalities of Courtney Love and Charlie Sheen, and the commodification of musicians.
Gowns broke up in January of 2010 and then a year later EMA is born. Since it was such a short turnaround, relatively speaking, from one musical project to another, did you have time to decompress between the two? Or was this just a natural outlet for you?
It was pretty natural. Even though Gowns broke up in January, I think we knew for awhile it was done … just waiting for the other shoe to drop. We tried to keep it together because we loved the project and thought it was really unique. When I look back, I’m surprised it took as long as it did to totally implode.
Do you think your overall artistic voice has changed since you’re speaking for yourself now and not a group?
I mean, I actually feel I’ve pretty much had the same artistic voice since I was like a teenager. That’s not something that’s ever been a challenge for me, not knowing what my voice is. My biggest challenge has been having faith in that voice.
What’s your songwriting process: lyrics first or melody?
My process, for the most part, is really subconscious. I remember reading an article when I was teenager about “trephination” – a really ancient procedure where people would drill holes in their skull in order to get more blood flow into it. That’s my biggest goal, is to get something straight out of my subconscious. So when I am writing, I don’t really think a lot at all – a melody will come into my head and then I’ll scribble down some lyrics. And then I get really, really obsessed with production.
The sound varies throughout the record. Who are you listening to right now?
Honestly, I spent so long not listening to pop radio that I’ve gone back to it and am having my mind blown. Same with hip-hop. I mean, I’m from South Dakota and growing up was like, “What is this? I don’t get it!” Totally digging it now; [I'm] on a Kanye, Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj grind.
You grew up during the grunge era. Who was the bigger influence on you, Kurt Cobain or Courtney Love?
Oh, Courtney Love for sure! The one thing about her – she’s a completely polarizing figure who generates strong reactions. There was a time where I wanted to be a Courtney apologist for awhile and you just can’t do it, it’s impossible. Her antics overshadowed what is important to me. Seeing a woman playing guitar when I was 12 years old opened up this world of, “Hey, I can play guitar!” It was really unfortunate that the couple great albums like Pretty on the Inside and Live Through This were overshadowed by antics. We let so many other people get away with horrible stuff, like Charlie Sheen and Roman Polanski, but people really hate her.
The industry will build you up … As a relative newcomer, what’s your take on the music industry?
Well, on the one hand, the access to technology has given someone like me – with no training, resources or access into that world – the ability to create my own vision and then put it out. On the other hand, we’re moving into this era of where the concern is how to sell things, and people’s attention is treated as a commodity. Like, “I spent the time downloading your record, isn’t that good enough? I paid attention to you in a sea of 10,000 voices – should that be good enough for you?” This TV and radio model is forcing musicians to take endorsements and advertising money as their big revenue, which is really weird and iffy for someone coming from an underground noise scene. Paying attention is valuable and it’s going to force artists to partner up with commercials, ads, etc. It’s a weird thing to me. Fortunately, I love where I’m at right now with [my record label] and they’re not necessarily on that tip. And I can’t really imagine [my song] “California” being in a Honda commercial!
Past Life Martyred Saints is out now on Souterrain Transmissions.
