Erase Eratta and Adult - Both Growing Up

Erase Errata hail from the San Francisco bay area, and are comprised of Singer/guitarist Jenny Hoyston, Drummer Bianca Sparta, and bassist Ellie Erickson. Together they create a sound that is dynamic, elastic and danceable. Their third release, Night Life out on the Kill Rock Stars label, is a dance-punk mix that confronts heavy issues such as war, poverty, and political disillusionment, while still maintaining the upbeat electro beats. In true DIY spirit, the CD was largely self-recorded, produced and mixed by the band.

Erase Errata chose Toronto to begin their tour, in part because of the convenient location close to Adult’s hometown of Detroit, and “also we greatly enjoyed playing Toronto Pride last year and met a lot of wonderful people who we hope to see again”, says Hoyston. The two bands first met when Adult went to one of their shows back in 2000. “We were honored to meet them and have stayed in touch over the years,” admits Hoyston.

What began as a two-piece with Hoyston and Bianca seven years ago soon grew into the four-piece it is today when the two gals met Ellie and Sara while touring. Their very first gig was back in January 2000 at a warehouse down in the Oakland marina where they rocked out with a full 5-song set.

The girls tend to do a lot of improvisation on stage and play variations of the original songs to keep the show interesting for fans, who they consider noise connoisseurs looking for a pop show. The crowd is typically a good mix of feminists, geeks, freaks, queers, guys with tight pants, girls with glasses, and older guys who love the Dead or Sonic Youth. To add to this eclectic collage, they just recorded a cover of an old Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band song called "Clear Spot". As well, the Japanese pressing of their new record includes live versions of "Black Time" by the Monks and "Hot Smoke and Sassafrass" by Bubble Puppy. In the past, they've also covered The Great Society and The Plastic Ono Band. “We like stuff we can jam on,” Hoyston muses.

The band relishes in the fact of getting to travel to new places and feels very lucky that their music has taken them so many places. “Leaving home and friends and family behind for months at a time is really rough, though. Your life is put on hold while you go experience ground hog day over and over again,” she laughs.

The band hasn’t quite jumped on the MySpace/YouTube bandwagon, however there is a fan MySpace site run by a loyal follower. “I've seen that some people have posted footage of our live shows on various video hosting sites. I appreciate all the people who support what we do. The fact is that we all work full time when we're home and have limited time available for our musical endeavors.” She continues, “Since, in all honesty we don't have lofty goals of world super-stardom, Ellie, Bianca and I spend all the time
and energy we have for the band creating in the practice room.”

Well not quite all of her time and energy. Hoyston also spends some of her free time working on her solo project, Paradise Island, which she describes as a vehicle to explore other varied musical inklings that don't fit in the Erase Errata scheme. She describes the sound as, “A bit electronic music here, folk and country there, and psych leanings everywhere.” Her second release is schedule for the fall with an international tour to follow.

Who would she want to meet if she had the opportunity? Buffy Ste. Marie

Fun Facts:

Vinyl/Cassette or CD? You know I'm going to say Vinyl/Cassette over CD. CD's last a few plays, Vinyl lasts for decades, sounds better, and looks and feels better.
Crunchy or Smooth? We say creamy.
Punk or Disco? Crisco
Black or White? Brown and Pink

Adult is a band from Detroit featuring Nicola Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller. With beginnings under the name Plasma Co. in 1998 has now grown into an electrifying force of nature. They delight in speaking about their humble beginnings, “We played a gig in 1997 in Berlin for about 20 people in a little café, which was totally weird. Luckily the next night we played in a Lesbian bar on the Reeperbahn (Hamburg's sex mile) for a great crowd.” However, their most memorable moment was, “Probably getting to go to Moscow and play live. It was so surreal!”

They actually had their own recording label, Ersatz Audio, since 1995. Their uniqueness was not only seen in their stage presence and music, but also in their production with primarily 12” vinyl releases and retro picture discs. In fact, they didn’t transfer to CD format until 2001, with their successful “Resuscitation” release, a collection of the previous 12” releases. Of course, this was followed by several limited edition hand-numbered 7” singles. 2005 saw more releases and worldwide tours, which brings us to their current release and North American tour.

The new album, “Why Bother?” was released on March 20th on Thrill Jockey. This latest release finds the group producing their darkest most political album to date. The beat sequencing continues and they’ve also released a trio of videos that are as off the wall as their sound. They describe their shows as, “A wake call for all freaks and geeks to unite and take over a small part of the world that nobody knows about and we can be left alone.” Can it be any other way with noted influences, The Reverend Jim Jones, David Koresh, and Marshall H. Applewhite?

What’s the fun part of going on tour? Just uprooting your whole existence and leaving all the normal routines. “Getting to know the other bands we play with/tour with, and playing live for energetic crowds.” How about the not so fun part? “Expensive car repairs, nasty bathrooms and playing live for non-energetic crowds.”

If you could meet anyone, who would it be? Nicola: John Waters - Adam: David Cronenberg What global message would you like to mention to our readers? “Why can't we just all get along?”

Fun Facts:

Vinyl/Cassette or CD? - None of the above. Cassingle
Crunchy or Smooth? Crunchy. And we like our Orange Juice with Extra Pulp.
Punk or Disco? Punk for sure!
Black or White? Black, like our hearts.

Erase Errata, www.eraseerrata.com
Kill Rock Stars, www.killrockstars.com
Adult, www.adultperiod.com
Thrill Jockey, www.thrilljockey.com