✪ amplifiedsd ✪

View Original

San Diego Emo on the Rise: Echinacea

Photo taken by @2headedgrrl on IG

Meet Echinacea. Leaning more towards the emo side of things, Echinacea is a versatile three-piece band that does not confine itself to just one genre. From San Diego, California, this band formed more recently than others and has been growing steadily, with members of the San Diego music scene taking much of a liking to their sound. Let's learn more about Echinacea: how the band formed, their past releases, and plans for the future.

Photo taken by @2headedgrrl on IG

BAND MEMBER NAMES, WHAT EACH PERSON PLAYS, WHERE YOU ARE FROM, AND WHAT GENRE OF MUSIC YOU MAKE.

"Our band consists of three members: Alexis (the bass player), Brady (the drummer), and Daisy (the guitar player/singer). We are based out of San Diego county, and our music is a mix of a whole bunch of genres, but most people just categorize us as emo-rock."

WHAT INSPIRED THE NAME "ECHINACEA"?

"This band started as a solo project, so Daisy came up with the inspiration behind the name. They are really fond of flowers and thought that the medicinal properties of Echinacea and the name were really cool and fit the project well."

HOW DID THE BAND FORM?

"Brady and Daisy played hockey together in elementary school, and Alexis and Daisy met in high school. Brady and Daisy had played in many bands together, but none of the other members stuck. So, when Daisy needed a drummer for their solo project, Brady was a perfect fit. Later, Alexis joined to play bass, and this project became Echinacea as we know it today."

Photo taken by @2headedgrrl on IG

YOU GUYS PLAYED AT PRIDE BY THE BEACH LAST MONTH. CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT HOW THAT SHOW EXPERIENCE WAS FOR YOU?

"It was all of our first pride, so we were all very excited to go and were even more excited that we were playing. The crowd was probably one of the biggest we have played to. We met so many amazing people and made many new friends at pride. It was a very fulfilling experience overall."

LET'S TALK ABOUT YOUR NEWEST SINGLE, "PUSHING DAISIES." WHAT IS THE SONG ABOUT?

"This song is about realizing that you are in a relationship that is already dead and accepting that it needs to come to an end for the well-being of both people. It is about realizing that the relationship has been 'Pushing Daisies' for a while and that you can't keep it alive all by yourself."

WHAT WAS THE RECORDING PROCESS LIKE FOR "PUSHING DAISES"? WERE THERE ANY CHALLENGES WHEN RECORDING?

"This was the first song we recorded fully as a band, so it was an entirely new creative process. Daisy created a demo version of the track with no drums and sent it to Brady. We then recorded the live drums at our friend Carley's (from Two Headed Girl) studio, which we had never done for drums. The major challenge for this song was mixing and getting the song to sound up to all the band members' standards."

Photo taken by @2headedgrrl on IG

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SONG TO PLAY LIVE?

"This question is very interesting because each band member has their own favorite song they like to play live. Brady's favorite song to play is 'Olivia' from our album 'In The Flowers,' whereas Alexis's favorite song is our crowd favorite single, 'Wake Up.' Finally, Daisy's favorite song of ours to play is called, 'Is It Too Much To Ask?' which is an unreleased song that will come out when our next album is released."

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE SD MUSIC SCENE?

"We've made so many friends in the San Diego music scene, and the scene is filled with so many great venues and people. Like anywhere, there are bad apples, but we are fortunate to be a part of a scene where everyone looks out for each other and does their best to create a safe environment at shows."

WHAT CAN FANS EXPECT FROM YOU GUYS IN THE FUTURE?

"We'll be playing as many shows as possible and hope to release an album by the end of the year! There will be another single off the album before the full release, so keep an eye out!"

Photo taken by @2headedgrrl on IG

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ECHINACEA, CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW.