Emma Ghaemmaghamy has recently released her third studio single Superhero. Described as a straight-to-the-heart, raw and honest helping of acoustic rock, Superhero encourages audiences everywhere to choose love, compassion, and humanity, over racism, bigotry and conflict. Emma told Darryl from muzic.net.nz all about it:
How long have you been in the US and what prompted that move?
I moved to the States in May 2015 for a number of reasons;
1. I’d just gotten out of a toxic relationship and needed a change.
2. As much as I love New Zealand, I felt that I needed to grow and in order to do that, I needed to spread my wings and go back to the country that my mother grew up in to learn more about myself.
3. I knew that, in order to really make a go of my musical ambitions, I needed to increase my audience. My sound is relatively niche, so it made sense that in order to make a full time living from music, I needed to expand the number of people I could reach. America made sense.
4. I have a lot of extended family in America that I barely knew, and I wanted to! I needed to learn more about myself and my lineage.
5. The election in 2014 did not go as I had wanted, which made the decision to move even easier!
In saying all of that, I miss New Zealand, I miss my mum, my band Static Era, and I miss my friends, but I know I made the right decision for my growth, career and soul. Though, I’ll be honest, many Americans REALLY do not understand some of the Kiwi quirks that I bring to my career.
What’s your songwriting process?
It varies! Most of the time, I’ll be messing around on the guitar or piano, and a melody will come to me out of the blue, but lately I’ve also been working off of titles that have come to me either through conversations with people, or things I’ve been reading. I have to be honest though, the more cluttered my brain or schedules are, the less creative I tend to be. This past summer has been HECTIC, so I’m looking forward to stepping back a bit over winter and getting back into songwriting!
What are your current projects?
I’m released my next single Superhero on September 29th, which I’m MAD excited about! It’s been a long-time coming project, but finally, just in time for the midterms, it seems to be all coming into fruition. I’ve got several other singles coming out over the next few months (including my first ever commissioned song from a fantastic woman-owned, multimillion-dollar company (157th fastest growing in the entire country) called The Author Incubator. The song is called Together We Rise, and it’s gorgeous. I’m really excited to release that next year! And of course, start working on my next album!! I’ve got a few other secret squirrel things going on as well, but… well, you’ll see!
4 Where are you in the writing, recording, touring cycle?
I’m still gigging oodles here in DC, so have barely had time to do anything else! BUT I will be starting on my next album soon and am currently planning an East Coast tour in spring next year. So many things.
When were you in Aotearoa, and how did that go?
Practically a year ago EXACTLY today I landed in New Zealand! Well, mostly. I was a quarter way through my New Zealand tour (18 shows in 21 days!!) and having a blast. It was so good going home, playing music, catching up with friends and fans, and – most of all – seeing my mama on her 50th birthday.
Is your release through a label or entirely a self-release?
Totally self-released, so it’s been a lot of learning! But I’ve got a growing solid support network, which has made things a lot easier, and learning about organizations such as CD Baby and TAXI music. There’s a surprising amount of support for indie musicians here in DC.
Which bands did you listen to growing up, and conversely, who do you listen to now?
I’m really boring with music lately! I grew up listening to everything from Muddy Waters to Bone Thugs n Harmony to the Spice Girls and Iron Maiden. These days I get so busy with shows and writing that I barely get a chance to listen to music, and when I do it’s generally pop songs that I want to learn for shows! The benefit of crossfit, however, is that I get to listen to whatever the coaches like, so this morning I was lifting to Black Sabbath, whereas yesterday it was Drake!
Where do see yourself in five years’ time?
Still doing music, but not busking so much… My business model is in transformation stage at the moment, so I’ll be gigging a lot more, and releasing music, but the likelihood is I’ll be writing more as well and doing more collaborative projects or… goodness. Who knows? I’ve got some pretty high goals, but I don’t want to jinx myself just yet!
If there’s anything else you’d like to say, go for it here….
Keep an eye out on my website for all information and updates, and if people want to support me from a distance while also getting exclusive sneaky peeks, check out www.patreon.com/emmagmusic
