Feature photo by Shaun Matheson @smphotography.7
Erin Hephzibah is a 25-year-old singer songwriter. Born in Paisley, raised in Southside Glasgow and now residing in Troon. If you’ve been paying attention to the Paisley music scene, you would’ve heard about her. Whether that’s her own original music (did you catch Erin’s show at The Bungalow as part of Paint and a Pint?), hosting jam nights across the town or singing with a whole bunch of artists including Frank’s House, The Ronains, Johnny Barr and Becca Starr, Erin brings her wonderful bubbly energy and beautiful voice everywhere she goes. I caught up with her in Kettle Black (munching on the best doughnut in town) ahead of her performance at Paisley Food and Drink Festival last month…
I first met Erin back in August 2023 when she came along to a Creative Renfrewshire ‘artist-meetup’ and since then I have been keenly following her on socials…which made me wonder, just how does she do all these creative things!? “People always say ‘make sure you’re posting social media content’…I don’t have to worry about that!” she says. Erin makes regular appearances singing at music venues across Paisley including The Bungalow and The Keg, ran an open mic night at Cottons Bar in Renfrew and has spent the last few months touring across the UK supporting Martin Stephenson. Not only does she do the work, but she is also great at posting about her gigs and events and documenting them to reflect on and share afterwards. It is this latter part that many creatives find hard, or exhausting. Social media becomes part of your job…because it has to be. “Having to be a million different things, a content creator, a videographer, a photographer, a booker…’ Erin smiles, clearly the list could go on! “I feel like I’m in a good space. I do find enjoyment in the other things, although I would obviously like to focus on the singing…I need another me!”.
Erin went to art school and studied sculpture so she is clearly a versatile person who can use different mediums as channels for her creativity. As well as writing and recording her own debut EP, ‘Harebrained’, Erin also designed the artwork for the EP (which is also featured on her merch!). “Something that I definitely learnt from art school, especially because I come from a working-class background…it’s all about being smart with your materials”.
The three hares on the EP cover represent the three songs, with Erin lying in the middle of them. “I wrote these songs a long time ago, and then I got distracted by…life”. Erin uses art (like many of us) as a way to deal and get through things – Erin’s younger sister, Georgia is chronically ill and has been suffering with M.E since 2015. It turns out Erin comes from a family of artists – her mum is a painter and her sister, Georgia, is a poet. Erin wrote ‘Raggedy Ann’ with her sister (it was adapted from an 18 stanza poem that Georgia wrote) and has dreams of writing more with her once she finishes university. Being a solo artist can be challenging with so many decisions to make by yourself. It’s often said that creatives should surround themselves with other creatives so it’s reassuring when Erin chimes “my mum is my harshest critic but my strongest ally. She always gives me an honest opinion”.
Erin started performing when she was 13 years old. There followed a stint of working with her friend Sabrina between the ages of 16 and 22 (first as folk band Mandolin Hephzibah and then later as pop duo Kodak Ghost), but they called it off during lockdown so that Sabrina could focus on her acting career. “It took me a while to figure out what I was going to do without Sabrina”. Erin has done so much already at the age of 25, so it is funny (and heartbreaking) that it can feel like there is such a rush to ‘get things done already!!!’. We laugh at how the ‘Overs’ category on the XFactor was for over 25s…a scary thought. “I’m glad I held off releasing things and didn’t just put them out when I was 18…The time and the space allows the songs to become what they should be”.
It is unsurprising that our conversation often drifts onto the topic of comparison. It’s hard to escape it full stop. But I get the sense that it is particularly hard to escape it as an up-and-coming female musician in this digital world. Social media allows you to see what other musicians are doing…and that can bring both positives and negatives! Knowing, as Erin says, that “There’s space in the music industry for everyone”, your brain can still leave you measuring yourself against other people. It’s funny, because you can also be on the other end of comparison. Erin continues, “People are like ‘oh you’ve got so much motivation’… but it’s literally because this time last year I didn’t have any. People are going through different things at different times”.
As we come to the end of our chat, it is heart-warming to realise that Erin is exactly what she says on the tin. Clearly a ‘people person’, you could chat away to Erin for hours. This is reflected so honestly in her stage presence, in her interviews, on her social media page and through her love of community work. Erin sums it perfectly as, “I love collaboration. Not just writing songs with people…just like working with people in general. Working with others is the best”.
…In answer to my first wonderings of how on earth she does so much, her answer? “I can’t sit still”.
Thank you so much to Erin for being so generous with her time chatting away to our Creative Networks Promoter, Jodie. If you’d like to hear Erin’s wonderful voice for yourself, make sure you check out her debut EP, ‘Harebrained’ on all the usual streaming platforms.
You can hear more from Erin and see when she’s playing live next here: https://www.instagram.com/erinhephz_/
You can also listen to a great podcast called ‘Soundcheck with Soph’ to hear Erin chat even more about her music here: https://youtu.be/TrpLthpqyfY?si=YqA2tT21SMu1-zia
Written by Creative Renfrewshire’s Creative Networks Promoter, Jodie Barnacle-Best.
May, 2024.
