Where Else newsletter
I am now writing a weekly newsletter for Margate music venue Where Else. Each edition will feature and interview with an upcoming headliners, a focus on a support act, new music recommendations, listings and more. From the first edition, here’s an interview with Anna Erhard…
Following a sold out UK tour last autumn, Anna Erhard is back on the road and gracing us with a show at Where Else? this Saturday.
The Swiss-born, Berlin-based indie-pop musician released her third album Botanical Gardens last September. The record sees her plunder everyday stories of her life to pull out mischievous and witty lyrics.
Ratings and comparisons feature heavily across the album’s songs. Very specifically on the title track, which lists reasons for rating a botanical garden two out of five stars. Meanwhile, on Hot Family, she imagines how perfect a family’s life must be, based largely on their looks. On BMG Academy, she sings about not wanting to go and see a friend play with the Blue Man Group as a way to discuss the economics of music.
Filled with personality, her songs have seen her compared to everyone from Beck to Laurie Anderson. Here she tells us about her songwriting process, her inspirations, and - most importantly - why you should get tickets to see her rather than the Blue Man Group.
Do you start writing a song with a clear idea of what story you want to tell?
No never! I also write the music and lyrics separately most of the time, so the big reveal of what it's all about always comes pretty late.
Do you ever think ‘there’s a song in this’ while something is happening to you?
Absolutely! This is how it happens, basically anytime something slightly out of the ordinary and weird happens, I start writing down a few lines and go on from there later. I definitely process life like this, I make myself feel unstuck in situations where I'm stuck. And when I am in a songwriting phase I probably also look at the world through a special filter.
How has your sound developed over your three albums?
I wrote my first album Short Cut mostly at home on my guitar, in the bedroom. Then the pandemic came and me and Pola Roy - who produced all the albums - just started to hang out at the studio all the time. That's why on both Campsite and Botanical Garden we started experimenting more with modular synthesizers and drum machines at the beginning, to create interesting musical ideas, without thinking in songs. And at the same time I would keep writing my lyrics, sing them on top of some loops. And just in the very end make it all more song-y.
Do the songs change when you come to perform them live?
Yes they do change and I really enjoy this part a lot. In the studio the songs have been collaged together but on stage we're a band and I like the idea that the songs can go anywhere. So they usually become a bit longer and sometimes also bigger for sure.
Who or what do you take inspiration from, even if it’s not apparent in your music?
Mostly from daily things as mentioned. But in terms of maybe a style or certain details in how a story is told I also get inspired for example by films or series. I was for example obsessed with the series Flight of the Conchords for a long time and the rhythm and weirdness of this series would inspire my writing.
Will this be your first time in Margate? Is there anything you’re looking forward to seeing or doing while you’re here?
It will be my first time! I am very excited about the sea, so that's where I will want to go.
How does your live show compare to a Blue Man Group performance?
The thing is, I never went to see them. As I mention in the song, I just can't do it. So I wouldn't actually know. But we don't have much neon-colored paint flying around, no unnecessary banging on tubes either.
Anna Erhard will play Where Else? on Saturday, 15 March. There are still a few tickets left. Grab them here.