Anna Erhard Talks Touring, Holidays In Cornwall & The Comedy Of Everyday Life

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Swiss artist Anna Erhard talks holidays in Cornwall, life touring the world, and how the comedy of everyday life influences her writing

Some artists write from the abstract and others from a perspective of a character, but artists like Anna Erhard are my favourite. They write from a real place, a relatable place, and one that is mostly grounded int he real world. Highlighting the sad, the wonderful, and most importantly the comedy of existence and the people you meet along the way. The Swiss artist Anna Erhard is one of those artists that firmly write from the latter perspective and does so in a way that is charming, fun, and delightful. Ahead of her extensive UK/EU tour we caught up with Anna to discuss life on the road, holidays in Cornwall, and much more.

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Kieran: You’re heading out on a pretty extensive tour, with a lot of dates across the UK, many places I imagine you’ve not visited before, such as Cornwall. When touring, do you like to get out and visit the local areas? What’s been your favourite discovery in a town you’ve played in? 

Anna: First I want to say, that I have been in Cornwall once on a family vacation. We got robbed on the first day and I remember being in a horrible mood on the whole holiday. What was cool though is that we went to see the Fawlty Towers Hotel in Torquay because me and my dad were big fans! Otherwise I am just genuinely happy whenever we play in a coast town, I get super excited about the sea because I was born a mountain person.

Kieran: Do you feel traveling and seeing so much of the world helps your songwriting?

Anna: Traveling in general definitely inspires me a lot, but so far I always had to be on a holiday for this to happen. Somehow when I am on tour, I can only focus on being on tour- I don’t write, I don’t answer emails, I forget to pay my bills. But if something really out of the ordinary happens this time, I will make sure to at least remember so I can write about it as soon as I get back.

Kieran: In general, what influences your songwriting? Do you make stories up or take influence from real life experiences? 

Anna: I find a lot of inspiration in series and films. As I mentioned I used to be a big Fawlty Towers fan, I love The Flight of the Conchords.. this speaks very directly to me. The musical influences are a bit more fluid and harder go grab because they keep changing, I’ve been listening a lot to the Roches, Deerhoof, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, Silver Jews.. but it never feels satisfying to just pick a handful, there’s too many.

Kieran: There is a level of comedy in some of your tracks, especially with ‘Botanical Garden’. I’m curious to know how you go about writing your music and how you approach it. Are you able to describe this to us? 

Anna: Yes this song for example was written on a holiday! I guess I often write when I feel stuck in a situation, like being stuck with that hater in the Botanical Garden. Of course I also exaggerate. You say it has a level of comedy and to me that’s just life, there are so many ridiculous things happening all the time. I find it very freeing to look for these elements, it helps me to break out of what could easily be moments of self-pity and instead I turn it into something tragic but funny.

Kieran: We will actually be at your Falmouth show as it’s our hometown.. what can we expect from your live show? 

Anna: Oh great! We will be playing in a trio, so it’s kind of reduced to the core of the songs, but we also play them a bit more freely than on the record. I wish I could tell you more but rehearsal starts only in a few days, so by the time we are in Falmouth anything can happen!

You can catch Anna Erhard at the following:

March

12 – The Cluny, Newcastle
13 – The Arts Club, Liverpool
14 – International Arts Centre, Leicester
15 – Where Else?, Margate
16 – MASH, Cambridge
18 – The Bullingdon, Oxford
19 – The Cornish Bank, Falmouth
20 – Cavern, Exeter
21 – Bush Hall, London

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