Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
NIKKI: I play guitar and a little bit of everything else haha but I would say my primary role for Erro above all else is songwriter. My philosophy when writing music is to add instrumentation to serve the song. I think it can be easy for musicians to overplay because we all love to play our instruments! So when I approach a new song or concept I try to remember my job is not to overcomplicate the arrangement it is to give the song what it needs no more no less. I would have to say my childhood directly correlates with who I am as an artist. My parents had me later in life (mid 40s) so growing up I heard a ton of 60’s and 70’s rock at ALL hours of the night. My parents didn’t play any instruments but my mom loved to dance and it wasn’t unusual in the slightest to hear The Beatles or Zeppelin playing at 11pm on a school night. In fact, that’s usually the method my parents used to wake me up for school, very very loud rock music haha. At the time I hated it I mean what kid doesn’t want to sleep in? Looking back now it really shaped me not only as an artist but as an individual.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fanbase and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “Erro”?
EMMA: Lately, we’ve been focusing on just getting our name out there and trying to get as many people involved in our music as possible, you know? We’re trying to make music about stuff you don’t really hear about on the radio, and I think that’s why we sorta stand out from other groups. We spill our guts on these tracks and pour all we’ve got into them and while it is kinda like letting a stranger read your diary, it’s nice to be known and understood I think.
As for potential listeners, I would say that it isn’t just us. Erro’s for everybody and we’re all part of it.
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
EMMA: Right this second, I’ve been thinking a lot about artists like Florence Welch and Joni Mitchell and the way they write their songs. I like to write a lot of love songs, whether that love is requited or not. When I love, I fall completely, and so I like to write a lot about how the feeling swallows me whole and sometimes how it spits me back out again. But usually I take a lot of inspiration from whatever I’ve been listening to for the time being.
NIKKI: I listen to such an array of artists it really is hard to select a few. Most recent artist, I am really into Sabrina Carpenter rn I jam Espresso HARD. Overall, The Beatles will always be my biggest inspiration. When I write music it is to express a brief moment in time so song development for me happens quickly and I like capturing “the moment” the emotion hits. To reiterate Emma, I as well write love songs. This is where I think a lot of the magic happens for us working together too. What I write Emma understands, she relates so deeply that they become “our” songs. For me that’s the really cool factor in what we do, the way we can share stories and understand each other lifts the music to a higher level.
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the song, “Move Me”?
E: The way I see it, “Move Me” is about loving someone to the point of creation. Oscar J. Kambly invented Goldfish crackers because his wife was a pisces and he wanted to give her something for her birthday. William Stewart Halsted invented rubber gloves in 1894 for his wife after he noticed her hands were affected by the surgeries she’d perform every day. Baking soda exists because Alfred Bird’s wife was allergic to yeast and eggs and he wanted her to be able to enjoy baked goods too.
“Move Me” was written out of love for someone. And that someone was loved so much that it inspired us to create such an amazing song, and a lot of other songs too.
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners? –
EMMA: Freedom.
NIKKI: Epic
MIKE G: Honest
APARNA: Folkadelic
MIKE Z: Limitless
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “Move Me”?
N: As far as the music and lyrics go this is one of those songs that kind of wrote itself. I wouldn’t call the studio sessions a challenge it was more of an evolution. The first time I played it for Emma was very bare bones on my acoustic. As the song developed with the addition of the band it naturally gained more presence. To accompany that we went with clean electric guitar tones, added keys, new lead guitar lines etc that sort of thing but it was never a challenge the musical arrangement and lyrical composition actually happened very organically.
E: One thing I remember struggling with with “Move Me” was trying to find all the harmonies in the chorus. We worked just listening to the first chorus over and over again as I’d hum to myself, then be like “ok I’m ready hit record”, only to get in there and completely forget what I was gonna sing.
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an artist?
E: I think our main message is just to be yourself. Love what you love, feel how you feel, do what you want. That is where your freedom lies.
A goal of mine (as an artist) would be to inspire everyone I can to make art of their own; especially if it’s music. I always say that music is the rawest form of human expression because everyone can relate to one song or another. It surpasses language barriers and it can bring people together. Plus, I don’t think there’s ever been a single person who’s not liked music, so why not make something nobody’s heard before?
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (Dead or alive)
APARNA: Grateful Dead. I think it’d be awesome to play live alongside them.
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
MIKE Z: Playing and creating music is like getting on a yoga mat. It’s always available when you need it. You can practice alone or with others, as much or as little, as intense as you wish. It’s not always easy. However, the more you do it, the better you get, and it feels amazing. You have to ask yourself, be it a solo or group project, how much (creative) time and energy you or everyone is willing to invest in and at what pace towards what goals. Whether it’s starting out writing that first song, practicing, recording, a photo or music video shoot, setting up a show or tour, and it’s harder with more people, but you/everyone has to be ready to commit to some degree. There is no rushing art. There’s no secret formula for commercial success. There’s keys to success, sure, but it never happens overnight. You have to be ready to sacrifice, be patient, yet active while at the same time enjoy exploring sounds, different instruments, people, places, and venues. Especially if you’re trying to be a full-time living musician, protect your heart from letting your passion turn to poison. If life, if the music stays fun, you’ve already won.
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
MIKE G: The variety of different backgrounds and foundations that people naturally express through the way they play music is a huuuuuge strength to creating something original. When I was in middle and high school it was hard to find people who were writing and recording original music so I ended up doing a lot of solo work. Being more introverted, I found it enjoyable, but as I grew older and played with more original groups I realized how limiting one perspective is to the final sound. The way musicians express themselves with their instrument is extremely specific to every single little life moment they’ve had. It’s awesome when the collective life moments of everyone in a band get combined into a big bowl of new sound.
TLDR: Everyone brings something different to the table—mix it all together and make something new.
