Erika Heynatz www.theinsoundfromwayout.com
ERIKA HEYNATZ
“Kingdom”
Music has always been an important part of Erika Heynatz’s life and the release of her debut single, “Kingdom” is an exciting and crucial step for the singer. Already a well-known personality in Australia thanks to her many years as a model and television host, it was Erika’s victory in the first season of Channel 7’s celebrity singing series It Takes Two that allowed her to turn a passion for performing into a new career direction – but it wasn’t something she wanted to rush into. Signed by EMI Music, Erika has spent the past few years working from the ground up on her first music release.
“I wanted to immerse myself in and enjoy the whole process of writing, recording and producing,” Erika explains. “So that’s what’s happened. I went to the UK and the US to work with as many different types of songwriters as I could to identify my own unique sound, the direction and the style of music I was good at writing and singing. That period of experimentation, collaboration and finding my strengths in a creative environment had huge value and was such fun.”
Even though the multi-talented Erika has dabbled in music for many years on the side of her successful fashion and TV career, her experience over the past three years was a revelation.
“It’s been a massive education! For someone who’s just started in the music industry, three years is absolutely nothing to learn the ropes. I felt strongly about being involved and putting my stamp on every part of this process.”
That development period was not without its challenges – and Erika faced a battle with nerves in the early writing sessions.
“The music industry came as a completely new ball game after having worked in an industry in which I was completely at ease, and could readily assert myself, instead I was shy in sharing my ideas which isn’t exactly conducive to good songwriting. It’s so easy to be critical and disqualify your initial ideas rather than seeing the potential in them. I learnt to steer the sessions in the way I wanted to and it’s an incredible feeling to see simple ideas slowly take shape and become songs I’m really proud of.“
It was towards the end of the process of putting her first album together that Erika discovered a song called “Kingdom”, which was written by Jim Irvin and Julian Emery and produced in Sydney by Bryon Jones.
“After I’d finished recording and we’d pretty much signed off on the album – we found ‘Kingdom’,” Erika says. “I just loved it! The theme and the energy of the song immediately struck a chord with me. The lyrics are about breaking out of structure, the liberation of opening yourself up to love and the desire to be heard and felt. There was a raw belief and determination in the lyrics that resonated perfectly with sentiments I wanting to express and that would marry back to the rest of the tracks on the album. So it felt like the perfect choice for my first single.”
Given her background in the fashion industry, for some Erika’s music style might come as a surprise.
“I think because so much of the work in the fashion industry is seen as contrived, some people assume my music will have a super slick or heavily produced style and sound,” she says. “People have asked if it’s going to be dance or electro-pop. While I enjoy electronic music, I’ve always loved music that has a very melodic, acoustic and organic sound.”
The guitar-based pop feel of “Kingdom” also sits perfectly with the type of music Erika references. “I’m inspired by really strong, spirited, and empowered women such as Suzanne Vega, Annie Lennox, Carly Simon and the Indigo Girls, their music captures the quality of honesty and earthiness I like”.
“With anything new you always feel the pressure to prove something, but I won’t let that overwhelm the thrill of doing something I’ve always wanted to do, sing. I feel really confident and really connected to the material on the album.”
www.theinsoundfromwayout.com
