Sounds | Emi Grace - Mr. Melodramatic

Mijn favoriete, hyperkinetische poprocker Emi Grace heeft haar eerste EP uit. En die staat als vanzelfsprekend vol met catchy popliedjes die veelal een stevige rock injectie krijgen wanneer het 22-jarige innemende talent begint te shredden en soleren. De invloeden van haar grote voorbeeld Eddie Van Halen hoor je duidelijk en vocaal lijkt ze wel een herboren Gwen Stefani. Sommige songs zijn mij iets te poppy, maar wanneer ze haar trahsy tones bovenhaalt, dan zit ik te genieten. In feite moet je haar bezig zien voor de volle beleving. Haar positieve energie is intens aanstekelijk. Check haar Instagram voor de vele leuke, korte video's bij dit nummer. Waarom ze deze niet integraal heeft gedeeld, snap ik niet.

Oh, Honey Isn’t It A Shame Now (EP) is op 17 oktober verschenen in eigen beheer.

Luister ook naar: Known Better (live)

Lees

“I love to push the boundaries, and I love when it sounds crazy!” begins Emi Grace, the self-branded pioneer of Trashy Tone Thursday. What began as a challenge to be more present on social media has become a weekly ritual to showcase frenetic fragments of the 21-year-old wunderkind’s yet-to-be-released material.

“I came up with the name because the sound is so dirty and crunchy, like a trashy junk hi-hat,” she says. Originally dubbed Sidechain Saturday thanks to her penchant for a certain plugin, it was the solo for her track Mystery Man that acted as the real tipping point into a recurring Thursday slot.

Last year’s #FenderFeature clip of Grace slashing on her Stratocaster boasts 10 million views on TikTok. Since her first Sidechain Saturday post, her short-form releases have repeatedly racked up hundreds of thousands of views.

She grew up two hours north of LA in a small beach town where the pace of life was a little more languid, with offbeat reggae rhythms ringing out across the wine country.

Grace recalls her parents encouraging her to pick up violin – she’s now classically trained in it – but she always wanted to practice guitar instead. Her introduction was a white Squire with a rosewood neck that she kept for six years. “I didn't want to get a nicer guitar until I was good enough to play it.”

Another pastime that fast-tracked her. “Skating introduced me to the punk scene, bands like NOFX and also classic rock,” she says. “I heard Eruption by Van Halen and I was like, ‘What is that?!’” She’d sit with her headphones on for hours, figuring out the chord shapes by ear, building up her finger dexterity for lead lines. “I had a Boss loop pedal. I’d lay down four power chords, find the root, and solo for hours and hours.”

Seven years in, she finally deemed her playing worthy of an upgrade, making the transition to a Mexican-made, single-coil HSS Strat. She believes the difference in sound was immediately noticeable. “It was a Player series, nothing that crazy – but even just the neck alone, my mind was blown.” 

Since moving to LA she’s also been fortunate enough to land a few discounts with Fender, and now owns a Professional II and an Ultra Stratocaster HSS.

(Bron: Guitar World)

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© Emi Grace