Zine 50: Ergo Bria
ERGO BRIA LINKS
Red is the color of rage, of passion, of intimacy. It’s a color that holds duality in sentiment. It’s red hot romance and rich ferocity. It spans every emotion from “the way I’d do anything to put a smile on you🥰” to “kick a nazi in the face🤬” Both of which are lyrics from Ergo, Bria - an artist whose music is red-soaked and unapologetic. Whether it’s the anti-bigotry anthem “:)” or the lo-fi rock bop “Teeth,” Bria combines the feral punk of the 90’s with the grungy indie rock of the 2000’s. As a child of Metric and The Smashing Pumpkins, I was immediately drawn to the eclectic-ness of her rock. As an adult who has since found a home in the age of the unhinged girlies, I was kept close in Bria’s unwavering commitment to saying fuck you whenever she wants. Like the color that so often graces her album artwork, Ergo, Bria envelops both ends of the love/hate spectrum authentically.
Baby Ballou: I know I’m starting out of left field but is there a song you loved as a kid that’s taken on a new meaning for you as you grew up or that you’ve come to love in a different way?
Ergo Bria: This is a super hard question haha. I’d have to say this song called “Day After Day” by Lyndzie Taylor. When I was a kid this was the first song I bought on my iPod and I didn’t even know what the song would sound like. I only bought it because it was like 69 cents and I ended up loving it because of its fun melody. After all of these years I look back on this song and realize that it’s supposed to be a lot more uplifting than what I originally had in mind. It’s about no matter how hard you try, sometimes you’ll fail but that doesn’t mean you can’t win through all of that trial and tribulation. As someone who is more on the pessimistic side I try to be as positive as possible and that song just means a lot more to me now than it did back then.
Baby Ballou: I love that mindset of being a blank slate to music. Like just trying out a song to try out a song. My perception of music was very elitist as a kid so I shut myself out to so many things I now enjoy so I love that you just got a song cause it was cheap and let it be an experience. What’re some ways you try to lean yourself into positivity?
Ergo Bria: I have a hard time with very negative and paranoid thoughts so recently I have tried to cope with them by countering them. I try to explain to myself why I shouldn’t be worried rather than feeding in to those thoughts. I also try to go on walks, do volunteer work, and crochet to ease my mind when I get anxiety.
BB: Ooo do you listen to music/podcasts or watch tv while you crotchet?
Ergo Bria: I do all three depending on how I’m feeling. I have a mathrock playlist that I listen to all the time while crocheting. The podcasts I usually listen to are: On Wednesdays We Wear Black, Small Town Murder, or Under the Influence. And sometimes I’ll watch anime too!
BB: At first I thought you meant you crocheted while watching TV, listening to music AND podcasts at once and I honestly heavily related because I actually do need like four screens going at once for my attention span to work. Does crotchet flex a different creative muscle than music does for you or do you go into the same headspace for both?
Ergo Bria: Honestly not really. I kinda suck at it right now, I’m like trying to make a skirt but it’s kinda ugly. It’s just something I use to disconnect from the real world. It’s quite a peaceful hobby.
BB: Haha crafts as catharsis is just as valid and important as crafts made for perfection. So how would you describe the headspace you go into when making music?
Ergo Bria: When I make music I don’t think I’m usually in a good headspace. I tend to get really intense emotions and it just erupts into the songs I write within a day or so. Even when I’m writing lightheaded songs like “Slow Burn” I’m always feeling something super intense for like no reason other than the complete chokehold music has me in. I’m literally obsessed with the sounds music makes me feel if that makes sense. I probably should get that checked out to be honest.
BB: Hahaha it’s hitting you on every cell and in every vein. I get you! What kind of sounds make you the most feral? Like a good reverb or a deep synth, etc?
Ergo Bria: I love myself some fuzz. Like a good chunky fuzz is doom metal really does it for me. Also completely in a different realm, I love the way cellos sound. Cellos are like my favorite instrument next to harps it’s just such a beautiful, lovely sound!
BB: Ooo fuzzy distortion and classical string instruments both tickle my frontal cortex in a similar way. Despite one having heavy production and the other being ‘acoustic,’ they’re both very overwhelming in a good way. Like there’s some electronic dance hits out there that hit the same scratch as a string quartet without vocals. Which instruments do you play and how long have you been playing guitar?
Ergo Bria: I play violin (6), viola (7) piano, bass (3) and guitar (4). I’m pretty bad at playing guitar, but I somehow get by live shows.
BB: Wow, so you started with more classical instruments and then branched out. What got you started with the viola and violin?
Ergo Bria: For some reason in middle school my parents wouldn’t let me join band so I joined orchestra instead and was first chair in both violin and viola which made my slightly competitive spirit very happy.
BB: How was that journey from structured, as you said slightly competitive, group experience to creating original music by yourself with various instruments? Was it a weird transition at first or did it happen really naturally?
Ergo Bria: The transition was pretty easy because I’ve always worked terribly in group settings because of my bad anxiety so it happened very naturally. One day I just decided I was going to make music and just went with it.
BB: I love that. Again, you seem very good at letting yourself experiment, both as a consumer and a creator. Once you decided you were going to make music, what was your journey to making your first original song?
Ergobria: I made my first song when I was like 12, it’s actually coming out this year which is Ergo Bria. I was just messing around on the piano and decided to write some cheesy lyrics to it. It honestly was very simple, very cutesy.
BB: Oo we were talking about songs taking on new meaning over time, what is it like releasing a song you wrote when you were young? Has it stayed relatively the same or have you been working on new aspects over the years?
Ergo Bria: It’s definitely a weird experience, I feel like I grow as a person like every six months so releasing something I wrote years and years ago is kind of a crazy feeling. It feels like another persons song. I have tweaked the song to make it make sense (because 12 year old me was not making ANY sense at all) but for the most part it’s been kept the same to keep the innocence I felt back then before the real world hit me haha
BB: Wow that’s really beautiful honestly. I think that’s so cool that it’s like a little time capsule almost. What was 12 year old you inspired by when writing the song?
Ergo Bria: Sleeping with Sirens was like my favorite band at the moment so I was listening to “Scene One - James Dean & Audrey Hepburn” on repeat and I was like “I wanna make a song that amazing” so I attempted it and it came out to be a cheesy love song. But I still really like it, it just has good vibes all around.
BB: Yes “with ears to see and eyes to hear” was a vibe. The song is from 12 year old you but I’m thinking the album cover and imagery is coming from current you? Did you try to tune in to that original inspiration for the vision board or did you have a new inspiration for how it should be represented?
Ergo Bria: I have a new inspiration for the song so I will be using it as “current” me. I want the song to still have the same light feelings that I had back then though!
BB: You’ve been playing shows recently, what’s it like playing that song live?
Ergo Bria: Usually I get stressed out for shows because I’m super picky about how things sound and want everything to be perfect but recently I came to the realization that that’s not how live music works and I should try to have more fun and so far it’s had a positive response. I haven’t played that specific song live yet though.
BB: I hate to bring it to a downer note but life is tense right now, it always has been, but public spaces aren’t safe, marginalized people are under an extra enthusiastic wave of harassment, how does that affect you playing live? Does it make it all the more important to you? Does it help you drown out those aspects or can you sometimes feel that heaviness in the crowd?
Ergo Bria: Mentally it affects me a lot because I always have in the back of my mind that if I looked a different way maybe people would respond a different way than they do. But for the most part I am met with positivity and i haven’t come across a dense crowd yet, only cool people haha.
BB: How do you know when it’s a good crowd? Like what about the energy or people in the room do you love most when performing?
Ergo Bria: It’s always a good crowd because at least people showed up lol. But I definitely love it when they mosh. Once instead of a mosh pit they made a conga line and i thought it was the cutest thing ever.
BB: Hahaha I love that, are you a fan of mosh pits? Like when you’re a concert goer, do you jump in
Ergo Bria: I will always mosh if there’s a pit. I’m always in the pit :) I love the pit :)
BB: Hahah I’m personally just that bitch who is too skittish to remain calm in a pit but I love watching them. They’re seen as violent or scary a lot but I’d argue they’re just like when a singer screams a lyric, it’s like a raw invitation into rage but it’s not malicious. How would you describe the euphoria of moshing?
Ergo Bria: It’s just lovely it’s a bunch of people you don’t know bonding over liking cool music. I remember I went to a pup show and I was absolutely drowning in the pit (because it had been a while) and my shoe ended up in the front where Stefan (lead singer) had to make an announcement to get my shoe back. Moments like those or when people pick other up after they fall is just a cute community thing I love and feel super accepted in you know.
BB: To close it out, what’re you most excited for on your horizon?
Ergo Bria: I’m looking forward to more people taking me seriously and a tour next year hopefully. And I’m just looking forward to meeting with and connecting with new people who are good and nice people who happen to like my music !