I was doing experimental noise-based music and I learned a number of things about performance. I was playing small shows - sometimes without a PA - where people couldn't really hear me so I relied a lot on physicality and a sense of discomfort and risk.
I love karaoke; you have to wail when you do karaoke.
I like messing up the song, doing some improvisation. And I like running around the room with the mic.
There is a resentment and rejection of liberal culture. That culture is not available to many people in America. And the liberal coastal elite, who may never have been to rural America, just think everyone there is racist and homophobic and judge them to be terrible people. They think there is nothing wrong to be making jokes about 'meth heads', who are actually a group of people with poverty-related drug issues. They don't see their own hypocrisy. I think this is a huge issue and one that cannot be ignored.
I didn't want make art about the internet at all. It's a really hard subject to take on and I did not set out to do that. But, it was real and it was what was happening.
Back in the day, no one had digital cameras. They took these pictures of me, got them developed, and then mailed them to me.
I'm a Scandinavian Midwest girl who doesn't always know what's going on in herself emotionally, which is why I make music in order to figure it out.
What would I reclaim America as? I do want it to be a diverse country.
I'd been used to this idea of destructive performance art instead of a slick, good-sounding show. So, I became frustrated as I felt I'd been doing the shows wrong. That sucked.
Writing music is always really helpful for me. It always reveals to me how I am feeling.
When I like a musician I want to see a picture or a video of them.
The suburbs have always been like an American version of utopia and a reflection of their hopes and fears. Erika's version of American suburban utopia - which I am renaming the outer ring - is a diverse place, with affordable housing, the possibility for people to have small businesses, which is more realistic in the outer ring than in the city with its huge costs, decent public transportation and the ability to access art and cultural events. That's my dream for America.
I feel cool about making music and I feel secure pushing boundaries in my music. But things like videos and photos I find really difficult. I don't really like being in front of a camera - even though it is my job and I must act like I do.
I've made choices in my life to be somewhat broke to do art and I think it is going to be the same thing with online exposure. You have to be able to make the choices that can make you happy or it will make you crazy.
It was really bizarre for me to go from being a very private and obscure person and then to be in any way on the internet - like having my picture or videos online.
You can always accuse my records of being harrowing or dark or bleak. There is processing of trauma on my records and they contain a lot of healing. As a person who has been watching other's rage for years, instead of having my own tantrums, I keep the feelings inside until I can find a way of making them into music. The songs are like healing spells and it really works for me. When I really do a good job on a song, it gets rid of a weight. As far as hope goes, there is hope that you can heal through processing stuff and make it through to the other side. That's all I can hope for.
Maybe some people are better off in obscurity than trying to keep on expanding.
I've figured out that I don't want to spend all of my spare time trying to make money. But, with things like fame or internet presence - things you cannot cash in at the bank - there is still a sense that more is better and that your career should be following a certain trajectory.
I don't want to be in my 'interview zone' mode. I've been doing a lot of interviews and I'm very self-aware of how I'm coming across.
I think. I do know that I like connecting to people who really resonate with the music. I guess I almost wish I could just connect with the people who really need it.
I've been really lucky. People have been nice to me on the internet. That's the reason why I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me.
I was worried that I didn't have as many Facebook 'likes' as another musician. You can almost feel like a failure if you aren't building your fame in that way.
