SD: As promised, we are here with Emma Henry.
EH:I've never been live before... so I'm super excited!
SD: Welcome we are super happy to have you! Emma also known as Pheremona on Instagram recently released her first album, Waybright. We found her on Instagram as things in life just seem to gravitate energetically, we decide to invite her to Eye Dream TV tv to have a little interview with us cause we like her music and her vibe.
EH: Thank you for having me and finding me!
So your music is described as trip hop, you have been singing your whole life, you currently produce as well. Tell us a bit more about what inspires you and your process.
Emma: I think what inspires me most is inspiring a change in people and basically bringing out that light inside of themselves. I like trippy aspects pf life, I like thinking about things on a deeper level and I wanna hear more of that in music so I try to do that with my lyrics. I love producing music because it gives me the opportunity to hear sounds I have never heard before and its so much more , its easier and more fun then just guitar and piano (which I also play)
SD: You are from Colorado and growing up you have competed in America's biggest talent competitions- American Idol and X Factor tell us a bit more about that. What was that like?
EH: It was so long ago. I barely remember it - it was kind of like a dream. I basically remember going up there with my mom and getting a lot of motherly support and realizing for the first time in my life that I wasn't the best singer in the whole world, which sounds so funny but its true. I grew up competing in talent shows as a kid and my whole family just told me - you are the best, you are the best, you are gonna be a star...
EH: It got me really far but then when I got to American idol I was really young and in shock...
SD: How old were you?
EH: Fifteen. It was the first year that they changed the age limit and I drove up to Milwaukie with my mom and went through the whole shebang. It was not exactly nerve raking but major major shock.
SD: Tell me when did you come back to singing. You were 15 when you were competing. You were a little disheartened by it all. So when did you get back into singing? Even though you realized you may not be the best singer in the world?
EH: After American Idol and X Factor did I sort of gave it up. I moved to California to pursue fashion. And I basically committed myself to being creative and knowing that I always had a voice but just being one of those people that had a voice and lived their life, but then I actually stumbled upon producing through my boyfriend - he had Ableton on his computer randomly and one night in the kitchen I remember he was like "hey you should mess around with this and see what you can make and I don't know exactly what happened but it clicked...it was super easy and suddenly I could get all these songs out from my head that that I didn't even know were there.
SD: How do you write songs? What's your process?
EH: I'm still honing that in but basically right now I start out with finding a synth sound or base sound and then ill add drums and then in terms of a melody.. I sort of just hum that out or even just vocalize just mouth sounds - not necessarily words but anything that comes to me and the final process is adding the lyrics.
SD: What do you write about and what is your favorite song?
EH: I have so many in the works that I wanna tell you about. It's funny cause with any song that I make it's my new favorite. I'll come out of the studio and feel so stoked on that last one...and then come in a few days later and make a new one and that one is better so I can't pick one right now. They do all have stories. Some of them - the lyrics -I don't even know if the lyrics are mine - I feel like sometimes I am channelling something else. If I get in that perfect writing zone - the words just flow and it hits me on a deeper level which is the coolest feeling.
SD: What do you do in order to start the channelling process. Is there a place you go to get inspired or an activity that you do right before you write that helps you?
EH: Honestly sitting in the studio and listening to the melody play over and over again. I sort of loose myself in it and I'll just be singing different lines over and over again and seeing what sticks. I wish there was something easy I could do.
SD: Coming from Colorado, how has LA inspired your music and creativity?
EH: It was kind of like going to American Idol - going from a big fish in a small pond to like a little fish in a big pond, I guess. I am super inspired by LA - everything I see and all the experiences I have. It's a very unique place and I do love that. I miss Colorado because I miss the fresh air but I don't really see myself living there comfortably because I need to be out of my element to make something good.
SD: What are your plans for the future? What are you working on right now? Who do you wanna work with. Who do you wanna reach out to? Tell us a little bit about the future.
EH: I have big plans for the future. I am really working on growing my social media platform but I'd love to play festivals. I think that is a future goal that maybe I can get to happen this year. I really just wanna play more shows. I have a DJ set up right now and so I sing and I DJ simultaneously which is fun and a total learning experience cause I'm used to just singing its nice to have to do a lot of things at once. Yeah so I think shows shows shows.... and I do have a single coming up one month from today -March 8th.
I'd like to guest feature on somebody else's produced song and photographers too I like to work with photographers and do a bit of modeling/ shooting for my brand.
SD: We are looking forward to all those things Emma. Check her out on Spotify and Instagram also @pheremona. Good luck on all your future endeavors!
* Transcribed interview Eye Dream TV - March 2017