After spending the last few years building and cultivating his sound, emerging artist EPONINE is now ready to introduce himself as he delivers his vibrant debut single 'Pink Lemonade'.
As a self-described pioneer of the "grunge-soul" sound, 'Pink Lemonade' makes for a wonderfully fun and distinctive listen. Capturing a wonderfully smooth and alluring aesthetic for his initial offering, he is kicking things off with a beautifully warm and shimmering opening number here.
So with the new single available to stream now, we sat down with him to find out more about his origins and what has been inspiring him most over the years.
-
What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
My first instrument is guitar, its always felt the most intuitive to me. My mum has always had this old piano that her dad managed to finesse off of some movers or something like that, so I was always sat tryna’ play it but it never came as naturally as guitar did. I actually started playing quite late as well, I think I was already maybe 14 or 15 but I picked it up quite quickly. Then I didn’t even start singing until I was about 17!
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
We were raised on old rock and punk music, like Black Sabbath and stuff like that. I remember we used to make mixtapes to go into my sister’s old car but the music I really have a connection with from when I was younger is Band of Skulls. My big sister had that first album on CD and we would listen to that in the car whenever she’d get us from school and every time we had a long car journey.
What was the first album you remember owning?
You know what, I think it was the Bob Marley and The Wailers - Legend album. I still have it in my car. The job I had in 2019 meant I would listen to it everyday when I was driving in.
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
Hang Me Up To Dry by Cold War Kids. Something about that metaphor is just so mad to me. So simple yet so effective without being pretentious or too crude or anything like that.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
It would be cool if I did, wouldn’t it? I sort of just sit there doing nothing and wait for some kind of divine intervention.
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
I have been rinsing J Balvin, Gabriel Garzón-Montano, JMSN and Nathy Peluso recently. But I’m always listening to a heap of D’Angelo, Eyrkah Badu, Q-Tip and The Roots. Also in love with Timber Timbre, I think I discovered them at some point last year and became obsessed very quickly. AND my bro’s Dog Food, check them out!
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
Jeez, that's kinda tough. Maybe Hozier… I think that would be cool.
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
I love it when a song starts to come together in the studio and I get to hear my vision coming to life. But I think one of the most rewarding things for me so far is some of the people that I’ve gotten to work with and how much I’ve learnt from them.
And what is the most frustrating part?
It can be difficult to adjust to the industry stuff, sometimes you gotta think about business and not just being an artist. There’s a lot of learning curves but I’m surrounded by good people so its never too bad.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
Practice and don’t give up.
-
EPONINE's debut single 'Pink Lemonade' is available to stream now. Check it out in the player below.