In Conversation with Erica Manzoli: Past heartbreaks, new projects and future plans.
After spending a bank holiday weekend in Paris with her boyfriend, we spoke to a loved-up Erica Manzoli about the past heartbreaks and hardships that inspired her recently released single, ‘Burn The Internet.’ Erica delved into the aftermath of betrayal and her complex relationships to social media and the internet with the same honesty and transparency that she uses in her songs lyrics. Not only does she expose the past, but she also looks ahead with an unfaltering cheeriness, excited for upcoming projects and optimistic for future live shows.
Emma:
Hey, I just wanted to start by saying I loved ‘Burn The Internet’! I found it so relatable and I can imagine most young people who have grown up alongside social media feel the same. Can you give us an insight into the songwriting process and its inspiration?
Erica:
Thank you, I’m glad you like it! The story behind the song was that during lockdown I was kind of dating someone who was a TikTok singer. Lockdown was the perfect opportunity for people to date online and I didn't really understand at the time that he was dating ten or more people as well, saying [to them] let’s move in together, [having] really full on relationships. When we officially broke up, he got into a really public relationship and videos of them as a couple would just go viral. I was really struggling because it was so easy to continually stalk them and look at them constantly. I got in a cycle of obsessively hoping that they would break up as I was really hurt in the process and it was upsetting to watch people get their happy-ever-after. Being unwell and feeling super hard done by whilst seeing people living happily was really tough and I basically wrote about that, like stalking. I’m sure not everyone can relate to that extent, but I’m sure everyone stalks their exes and their exes girlfriends.
It’s a little bit dramatic, it’s a little bit sassy but yeah, it was fun to write. I wrote it probably embarrassingly later after the relationship ended and I’m in a happy relationship now but sometimes it’s fun to approach unresolved feelings in interesting ways. It was an interesting perspective that I hadn’t really addressed. I have OCD so I have a very obsessive personality so I was like “why am I still stalking these people? I’m happy, there’s no reason to.” Luckily I’ve gotten over it now, but it does take a while sometimes.
Emma:
So it sounds like your relationship with the internet is complicated. How would you describe it in three words?
Erica:
‘I’d say addictive, inspiring and dangerous, probably. I think in some ways it’s really great. With the internet now, there’s a million kids in their room who could be producing music and actually have the opportunity to be heard which, I think, thirty years ago just wasn’t the case. So, I think in some ways, it’s really free reign and people have more equal opportunities but on the other hand, it allows you to kind of feed into your deepest insecurities and stuff’.
Emma:
If you could escape the Internet and technology to spend a day in a different era, what era would you go to and why?
Erica:
Ooh, well, that’s difficult. I will say that I love vintage and a common saying for people who like vintage clothing is “vintage clothing, not vintage values.” If we were putting values aside, then I love the 60’s purely for aesthetic reasons. I love 60’s clothing, I wear a lot of mod dresses, so, forgetting the values then I’d choose to go to the 60’s probably.
Emma:
Your recent tracks feel like the start of a new chapter for you. What’s been inspiring this evolution, musically or otherwise?
Erica:
‘Burn the Internet’ feels kind of like the evil twin of ‘Body Double’, they are actually kind of similar. Especially the chord progression, they are pretty similar. ‘Bunny’ and ‘Manic Pixie Dreamgirl’ are also like siblings, they have a very similar feel to them, they are pretty dreamy. I love those two and I think that I would love to return to that feeling eventually. But definitely for 2025, it’s the beginning of a project that I’m putting out so I’m really excited about that and this body of work feels kind of in an interesting space and I guess ‘Burn The Internet’ is the first single for that.
‘Manic Pixie Dreamgirl’ and ‘Bunny’ were a little bit more random for me, which, I still love that energy and really want to go there, but ‘Burn the Internet’ feels like a core Erica sound. It definitely has that 60’s twinge to it and probably, if I could sum up how I sound, it’s probably that song. This project moving forward has been a bit more experimental, there aren’t some obvious choruses or obvious bridges and there’s some interesting rhythms and I’m excited to see how it will be received.
Emma:
Your music doesn’t just sound good– it looks good too. What inspires the visual side of your work? Are there certain aesthetics or do you just go with your gut?
Erica:
Thank you so much! I feel like a lot of things I do, it’s just kind of just like trial and error a lot of the time. I love world building. For me, that’s just as important as being an artist. Sometimes I’ll even write the song with the visuals in mind before the song is a sound. My next single I just showed a mood board and was like “this is how it should sound.”
Yeah, so, for me, it’s all very interlinked. I do what I can within my own budget, I edit everything, I come up with all the ideas. To my own abilities, I just try to explain visually what I mean through the sound and hopefully it all connects and people get me better. That’s my aim, that people can feel that there is an energy to the music that's bigger than just the sonics.
Emma:
I bet it’s really fun to bring to life too! The cover art and videos alongside your music look like they are so much fun to make, especially the promo video for ‘Burn the Internet’ where you take the laptop in the sea.
Erica:
Yeah! I love it, I think it’s just part of the art for me. Some of them are so silly and weird. I was on holiday in Mexico and I brought an old laptop I found on eBay through security and they were like “I have not seen something like that in, probably, like forty years.” I did not think I was getting through security with it.
Emma:
What are your top three songs that you’ve been listening to recently?
Erica:
I have just discovered an artist called Goldie Boutilier and she has a sound that I kind of already make and she’s got a song called ‘Cowboy, Gangsta, Politician’ which I think is really cool. It has a western feel to it, kind of retro. It’s right up my street, it’s so perfect for me. The second one would be Djo’s song called ‘Basic Being Basic’ and I don’t know what was in it but I’ve probably listened to it like three times a day everyday. Then my last song would definitely be sombr’s ‘undressed’.
Emma:
In that same breath, if you could collaborate with any artist, who would you choose?
Erica:
I love the 60’s so my actual dream would be Stephen Sanchez, I think he’s really cool. I also really love Matt Maltese, I would love to write with him one day, he’s an amazing writer. And then, finally, Sarah Kinsley. Her music is incredible, she produces it and there’s a full on real orchestra she uses. Her album [Escaper] is so epic. I would love to do something like that. I’ve gone into a session before and been like ‘this [song] is AMAZING’ but producers can’t do it because it’s real instruments and she has a real orchestra doing it. You can’t really replicate that grandiosity.
Emma:
The release of ‘Burn The Internet’ is such a strong way to wrap up the first quarter of the year. What’s next for you? Any new music we should be keeping an eye out for?
Erica:
Yeah, so I’ve got a project coming out this year, it’s really exciting. I haven't announced it yet but I’ll be putting out some songs and I’m so excited to bring those songs to life. I have a million ideas so I would love to get started with those. Unfortunately, they are all quite sad but they address hard topics in interesting rhythms. So hopefully they are sad but you can still kind of bop your head to it as well.
There’s this one song in the project which is by far the most vulnerable song I’ve ever written in my life and I’m really looking forward to putting that out. My mum was even like “don’t put that out.” It’s not only sad, it’s a difficult topic. I’m on the spectrum of asexuality and I’ve got two songs coming out about that, and this one is about the difficulty of maintaining relationships because of it. One of the songs is like “AH! Horrible!”
Emma:
What’s the number one thing you’re most looking forward to over the next year?
Erica:
I’m excited for this project but I really would love to do some more live shows. That’s always an aim for me. I’m independent so what I’ve found is just DMing people is just the thing that gets me the most opportunities so I would love to do some more live stuff and a dream would be to do a headline gig this year, maybe, we’ll see.