I was a bit nervous for this one. Erika M. Anderson, the South Dakota-based artist otherwise known as EMA, has an uncompromising tendency that’s clear in both interviews and her current and former bands. But, throughout the course of our conversation (which EMA was kind enough to extend beyond its planned 15 minutes), it becomes clear that Erika is concerned with clarity over confrontation, substance over style. Anderson repeatedly shows a knack for unconventional, playful banter: she (for reasons still unknown) asks me—the 20-year-old journalist—questions, dishes out words of wisdom like a veteran of the music industry, and is down-to-earth throughout our chat.
EMA’s fantastic sophomore LP, The Future’s Void, came out in April. A thematically rich album, The Future’s Void sheds light on much of the anxiety-inducing elements of modern society, namely the increasingly unclear relationship between technology and daily life. “You’re making a living taking selfies / you’re such a new millenial baby,” Anderson spits on “Neuromancer.” In addition, she asks important questions about what it’s like to be a musician in 2014. Dissecting the grueling press cycle supporting EMA’s 2011 debut album, Past Life, Martyred Saints, Anderson talks about blowing her “soul out across the interweb” in album highlight “3Jane.”
Returning to Madison after a show in early May, Anderson is set to open for Spoon this Thursday night at The Orpheum. If last month’s Late Show with David Letterman performance is any indicator, this is not a set to miss.
The Future’s Void came out last April and you’ve played a good amount of shows since the release. How have the album and the shows been received, in your opinion?
“What do you think?”
Well… I like the album and I thought your performance on Letterman was cool, but people are probably less concerned with my opinion…
“I think live we’re turning into the tightest band that we’ve been so far, so I’m happy about that. We’ve been able to add some stuff. Leif [Shackleford] built these cool LED walls to use at shows. Leif was born in Madison, actually. His mom was teaching at the university, I think, and they lived in a weird log cabin on the outside of town.
“As far as this record goes, it was a bit of a departure from the last one. Trying some new things and trying more electronic stuff. And I think when you make the second record and do something different, there are some people who are more into it and then some people who want to hear the old record again. But when we tour we play a mix of old and new. It’s almost half and half.”
Do you find that in setlists you’re able to blend the old and new material pretty well?
“Yeah, I think it almost makes more sense live than listening to the albums back-to-back.”
You use quite a bit more electronic instruments on the new record. Was the new palette of sounds helpful in the songwriting process?
“Definitely. When I initially sat down to write for the new record, I’d sit down with a guitar like I had done for the last record—and it just didn’t feel right. It felt like a lot of the things I was writing were kind of ‘stock,’ like I wasn’t as inspired.
“So getting electronics in the equation was inspiring. I needed to take a break from the guitar-based, confessional songs. I upped my game with a lot of stuff, as far as working with MIDI and electronic drums. We would have our drummer play with electronic pads, so he was actually playing but it would generate a MIDI note that we could later mess with. It’s funny because I’ve been around [electronic instruments] a ton, but I’ve always left it to other people since I didn’t know much about them. This time, I was able to come at it from my own speed and it was really fun.”
In an interview with Face Culture, you mentioned that what you’re doing now, at its core, isn’t much different than what you were doing at 15 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. What are the main ways you have changed since then?
“I think over the years, after playing in bigger and nicer venues, people expect things to be more ‘pro.’ When I was 15 and even until recently, to me a good show was chaotic, punky, noisy and dramatic. Over the years, I’ve been working more on actually having it sound good—like, ‘oh, I should actually tune my guitar maybe…’ (laughs)
“I’ve tried to keep some of the punky spirit alive but also make it appealing to people who aren’t interested only in shock value. I could still do something as nuts as what I used to do back then, but it wouldn’t be appropriate for the sort of venues I’m playing now. And that’s hard for me in some ways because there’s a part of me that still likes this chaotic, weird, risk-taking thing but it’s not always appropriate, you know?
“Although now that I’ve gotten things to sound OK, I want to bring some of the craziness back. I’ve matured and now I want to revert.” (laughs)
When you say “craziness,” what sort of things do you mean?
“Well, in Sioux Falls, I’d do things like spoken word or droney bits in my sets. And I didn’t have words for those things when I was younger. It was just something I’d instinctively lean towards. I like to do those things when they’re appropriate but I don’t want to totally alienate the world.”
You seem super perceptive of the business-y elements of music. As you learn more and more about the industry, does it attract or repel you?
“I think the most important thing to always remember is that you can do whatever you want, and that’s true for not only musicians but everyone in life. Everyone forgets it. There are always things that pull on us this way or that way and we always forget it. People forget, in the music industry or outside of it, that you always have choices.
“As far as the industry goes, there are a lot of really subtle things, or even not so subtle things, that will push you toward stuff, you know? Things like becoming more sexualized than you’re comfortable with or writing songs with cleaner production that you don’t really…like. The one thing to remember is that you can choose what you want to do and it’s always better when you make the choice you want to make.”
What helps facilitate making the choices that you want to make? Is it a matter of surrounding yourself with people you’re comfortable with?
“I guess maybe I should surround myself with more people; I’m kind of a loner these days. I think that’s the thing with being any sort of artist—part of your job is constantly figuring out what you want to do next. That’s a question you have to constantly ask yourself and it’s not always an easy one. I’ve noticed particularly, coming from the Midwest, it’s hard for people to talk about what they want and their emotions. I’ll ask someone how something makes them feel and they’ll say, ‘Well, it should be OK because…’ and they’ll immediately externalize it, talking about outside circumstances.
“In my experience, being honest with yourself is the best way [to make artistic choices]. But it’s not as easy as it seems.” (laughs)
Switching gears a little bit—you’re hopping on some shows with Spoon and they seem to be some of the biggest you’ve played.
“I don’t actually know because I’ve been practicing my ass off and I haven’t looked at the venues or anything. I guess I probably should be thinking about that…”
How do you change things up, if at all, for the bigger gigs?
“Scaling a show up and down can be so difficult! We have these homemade LED walls that we’re bringing with us. They look awesome in small clubs but I have no clue if they’ll look ridiculous in these bigger venues. I think the first couple ones will be a bit of a learning curve, but by the end we’ll have a better sense of what it’s like to play on these stages. Every stage is different, you know? Some people adjust their whole sound to fit the stages they play. U2, for example, writes songs that will work well, that will sound good, when they’re playing to 20,000 people.”
Lastly, we need to know – what are three of your favorite sci-fi movies, TV shows or books?
“Everyone should read ‘Neuromancer’ by William Gibson. ‘Kindred’ by Octavia Butler. I’m a reader, but for a movie… ‘Blade Runner’ is obviously a classic. It’s crazy to think—I was reading on Wikipedia that it just recently broke even on its budget! It’s considered such a classic, but it was commercially in the red until just a few years ago.”