Introducing #266 - ERNIE
Let us introduce you to ERNIE - who has just supported Sam Fender at his iconic hometown show at St James’ Park Newcastle Stadium. He has released his debut single ‘Pink Headaches’ via EMI’s Gravity Records - which ticks boxes for fans of The National, Frightened Rabbit.
Part-time chef, full-time singer-songwriter, ERNIE serves up his own brand of heartfelt indie rock, stirring that hazy, nostalgic feeling in with layers of brooding vocals, fuzzy guitars and warbly synths; whilst touching on themes of adolescence, family, relationships and the trappings of being the “odd one out” in a small northern town.
He took a moment to talk to us about his music.
ERNIE how are you? So your debut track ‘Pink Headahces’ is out now - can you tell us what it is about?
I’m good thanks! I’m delighted to see my first tune out in the wild. ‘Pink Headaches’ is a song that is close to my heart…it’s about a visit back to my hometown (as a visitor rather than a resident) and the weird cluster of emotions that came in tow. I was out running, passing all of these places where significant moments took place in my formative years. It was funny and poignant and anxiety inducing and wholesome all at once and was ever-changing every hundred yards. Pink Headaches was my response to that experience.
Where are you from and what are your favorite things to do there?
I’m from Newcastle Upon Tyne, and when I’m not doing music stuff I’m mostly cooking and eating at Cook House, one of the many wonderful restaurants in the heart of Newcastle’s Ouseburn Valley where I am lucky enough to work as a cook. It’s a must visit if you’re in the area. There are also a number of brilliant independent music venues with amazing, diverse programmes of events that are well worth a visit; The Cluny, The Lubber Fiend, Boiler Shop…to name a few. I also like going to watch NUFC play at St James’ Park (where we just played a show with Sam Fender which was a dream come true) now that we’re winning games. We also have an enormous man made forest right in the middle of the city called Jesmond Dene which is a wonderful place to go for a stroll, and we’re five minutes away from the beautiful North East coastline too. It’s the best city in the world.
What are the key influences when it comes to your music?
This project as a whole was massively inspired by Ben Howard’s 2021 record ‘Collections From The Whiteout’. It has this lovely experimental, colourful freeform vibe to it, highlighted by Aaron Dessner’s amazing production, which immediately had a profound affect on me when I first heard it and inspired me to contact Josh Ingledew (producer, Blank Studios) and start bringing my songs to life. I also love a lot of American lo-fi alt-folk stuff, like Alex G, Pinegrove, Hovvdy etc.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never listened to your music before?
I think indie rock with some pop and alt. folk sensibilities would be an accurate description! I have this profound obsession with music, it makes me massively emotional and I try my best to convey that in my own music, so there’s a lot of sad lyrics, sad sounding synths, sad sounding guitars. Music for saddos like me, basically!
Now the track is out there, what next for you?
We’re constantly chipping away at more stuff in the studio, and will be releasing more stuff over the course of the year. We’re also playing a couple of festivals towards the end of the summer, and working towards a hometown headline show around then too. I’m just excited to get the ball rolling and see people responding to Pink Headaches, I’m so proud of everything me and Josh have done and I’m excited to see where it takes us!
