Energetic, honest, and just plain fun, Eriel Indigo’s tunes bring the party to you. Fat beats over iconic melodies spell success for the rising dance pop artist. With big tracks and more on the way, we broke down the life and times of Eriel Indigo.
Current Single: “Electrify”
How did you get your start in music?
To be completely honest I feel as if my relationship with music came far before I began pursuing it as a career. When I was a small child I remember having experiences with sound and color alone in my bed at night. It would be a difficult thing for me to explain to many people, I think. The best I can do is to say that sound and color would lash out at me from places unseen. I have my beliefs and ideas around what and where I was interacting with, but I truly feel that in this life/body these interactions were the first that I had with sound vibration and music.
As for getting my start in music in a more traditional career sense, I began to realize that music was a medium that I felt I could express myself in many artistic ways which is something that I had been looking for, perhaps my entire life. In music I can express myself textually, vocally, physically, politically and spiritually through song, art, design, film, costume, dance and beyond. Once I realized that for this reason music was the best cumulative medium for me and also that it was the best way for me to effect change and growth, it became not just about a career but about my mission in life.
From there I decided to begin making music professionally and leaning towards the pop arena in an attempt to infiltrate the mainstream music machine and offer something honest, pure and full of love and feeling. I linked with my partner in crime JOHNNY WHAT to develop the sound and connected with my mentor and manager Nick Jarjour who I consider a spiritual and musical revolutionary in his own right, who I believe will have a profound effect on the music industry and how it functions.
What would you like to accomplish within the next three years?
I would like to continue to express myself in the most genuine voice possible. As much as I want to expressed positivity, I do not want to become trapped within any rules or regulations about what I allow myself to say. I have so much light to share but at the same time I am still experiencing some anger and frustration with the state of the world. There is a vast landscape of emotions we all experience and it’s important to have cathartic expression with all of them.
I would like to build a bigger team around me so that I have support in accomplishing what I see as my mission. I would love to be able to create far more videos and immersive performance experiences than I have the resources as an independent, self-funded artist to bring into being.
I would like to build as big an audience as possible so that I can share my own journey from darkness into light and raise as many spirits as I can, while using my fan base as a platform to bring attention to important issues that we need to deal with as a global community. Ultimately the goal at the front of my mind right now is to be able to build a new kind of show to tour the world with, that takes tens of thousands of people into a space and blasts them full of light, sound, scents and high vibration, that indigos will then hopefully bring out into the world and do their own good work in their own way.
Talk to us about your writing process and environment, what are some of the factors and influences behind your instrumental and lyrical content?
My writing process varies. I write a lot in my home alone or driving in the car alone. Sometimes a whole song will come to me like a download and other times I will listen to instrumentals that JOHNNY WHAT or other talented producers have made and write from a place of collaboration.
As for my lyrical content, sometimes I write to express a certain message or evoke a certain emotion from the listener. It isn’t always meant to be joy. Sometimes I want to rile up or open the heart to vulnerability or ask people to rebel and question everything. Sometimes I write to trick listeners into chanting positive affirmations with me that will hopefully help them in their lives and of course sometimes I write simply to process my own emotion and share my own experiences of joy, fear, hope, love etc.
If you could collaborate with any artist or group, living or dead, who would it be and why?
This is a difficult question for me to answer because I am such a music freak and connoisseur. I love music in almost all genres and respect so many artists. It would be an honor, obviously to collaborate with any artist who has been at the top of their craft or had a great effect on the world.
The answer that really pulls at me as my truth though is that I have tremendous respect for Michael Jackson and Madonna; Michael for his extreme love, light and positivity, his ability to affect crowds, to bring people together and his desire to heal the world. Despite what the media says I believe that he was an absolute angel with pure intent and that in the end he sacrificed himself and his own comfort and life to speak his truth. Madonna because of her fearless button pushing, her professional shit stirring, her supreme, sacred expression of sexuality, strength and vulnerability. And both for their prolific creation and presence in the industry and completely epic performance abilities.
I also have to shout out Diplo and the Mad Decent crew as a more musically current example. I believe what they are doing with content and vibration in their music is revolutionary and extremely important. I would LOVE to work with them.
Tell us about your day-to-day life, discuss the role of music either as a full time job or the time it shares with your other obligations in life.
Music is definitely a huge part of my day-to-day life. I also have to hustle a lot to be able to create the level of videos that I’m comfortable releasing. My life is a continuous balance between tons of energy put into music and tons of energy put into creating resources so that I have he ability to continue making music. I am independent and really just getting started so I do not have a team or someone else’s bank behind me right now and obviously that can be a real challenge at times.
I do look forward to a time when I have more support, however there’s absolutely nothing else that I would rather spend my money, time and energy on, so it’s really a joy and a blessing that I am able to create my art and share it with the world, regardless of what a struggle it may be sometimes.
Other than being seriously committed to making music, I try to make time for filling my cup back up, shall we say, and dancing hard to dirty bass seems to do the trick hahaha
What has been the Highlight of your musical journey so far?
I would have to say that creating and releasing my first video INNOCENCE and GALACTIVATE EP 1.5 was a big milestone for me. Visual accompaniment to music and words are so important to me, so those were really wonderful pieces to complete and share. Releasing my next video WONDERLAND, my EP ELEVATE and album GALACTIVATE are the things I’m most excited about coming up.
Describe your gear and/or live setup.
As of late I’ve simply been performing with a DJ, dope dancer Goddesses and mermaids hahahah but the set up that I see myself moving towards involves live drums, an assortments of fun electronic toys, some beautiful siren lasses and environments where I can provide a more immersive performance experience.
Tell us what artists/bands you’re listening to at this moment in time and why they appeal to you.
Kid Cudi, Kendrick Lamar, J Cole, Macklemore, Big Sean, Lupe Fiasco, Wiz Khalifa, Schoolboy Q, Ab-soul, Big Krit, Jay Electronica and all of the dope rhymers and wordsmiths that actually have something to say, who I consider the leaders of the new school, because hip hop is my heart and my soul and speaks to me so deeply.
Diplo/Major Lazer/Mad Decent and their crew and collaborators because I feel most connected and in-line with their content and vibration.
Florence and the Machine because she and the band’s music is such a powerful expression of the Divine feminine.
BRÅVES because just as Florence is a powerful expression of the Divine feminine, BRÅVES strikes me as a powerful expression of the light divine masculine. The music is unique, moving and angelic and I believe them to be one of the greatest bands coming into the arena at this time. I also respect their activism efforts and I believe that they can have a great effect on human emotion and the world.
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