An Interview with Erin & The Wildfire
Written for Tongue Tied Magazine, April 2022
Virginia's Erin & The Wildfire started as four college students making music as a pastime, over a decade later this indie-pop band is celebrating the release of their sophomore album, Touchy Feely. Consisting of frontwoman, Erin Lunsford, Ryan Lipps (guitar), Nick Quillen (drums), Matt Wood (bass) and Stephen Roach (keyboards), this Richmond-based five piece is mixing deeply personal lyrics, funky bass lines, and feelings of nostalgia into their music. On April 1, the same day as their album’s release, Erin & The Wildfire set out on a seventeen-show tour, traveling through eight different states along the way. I was lucky enough to chat with the band after their stop at Florida’s Suwannee Rising Music Festival about their music over the years, what they’d say to those college students they used to be, and how Matt’s mom could be the band’s biggest fan.
Photo by Christina Swanson
When I spoke with Erin & The Wildfire, Touchy Feely had been out for just under a week. It’s filled with powerful vocals and a variety of songs that tell a different story on growing up, self acceptance, fighting the patriarchy, etc. through a variety of musical genres.
A few songs off of their sophomore album have been played for years during live shows and have just finally made their way to the studio - “Yours Anymore” being an example. Friends, fans, family, and the like have been reaching out to the band ecstatic about the album’s release and are just as excited for more. The majority of Touchy Feely was written during the midst of the pandemic, through many virtual sessions and online chats.
“More than half of [the album] came together after the pandemic hit. The second half of the record, to be specific, is the first half of the record … The second half of the record is more of our earlier songs.” - Erin & The Wildfire, for Tongue Tied Mag
Erin & The Wildfire have credited 80’s and classic R&B artists as their main muses behind this album - Steve Winwood, Chaka Khan, D’Angelo, Emily King - just to name a few. They created this album with the idea in mind that they wanted to pull from their influences and incorporate those into their own sound. Touchy Feely was made to include songs that were calm and contemplative, but also those that were dancy and fun, something they enjoy experiencing at their own live shows.
“Half the record came together pre-pandemic and then we sort of put these things on the shelf for a while. Then we started writing these newer songs with the isolation mindset and all the complicated feelings that came about while we were in the thick of COVID. … I’m still kind of surprised everything fits into the same space together as well as it did.” - Erin & The Wildfire, for Tongue Tied Mag
Going back to “Yours Anymore”, the seventh track of the album, this song was written around 2018 / 2019 and according to the band has stacked up perfectly among the new music and sounds just as fresh as it did when it was recorded almost four years ago now. Erin & The Wildfire have spent the better part of the last decade finding the smoothest past to solidify its five members as one, cohesive group. They mentioned that there has been some friction along the way, but this record has become a testament to their own maturity and to learning who each other have become. Speaking back on their college years, Nick (drums) mentioned that he would have practiced more, listened more critically, and even kept notes on things he loved about other musicians at the time. With the passing decade, a two-year pandemic, and finding their way through adulthood, Erin & The Wildfire have kept each other going and uplifted through many of the ups and downs.
“I hope that [people] listen to the newer music first. We’ve been kind of haunted by our very first recordings because we love them but they don’t feel super representative of us at this point. … We have a couple messages on this album that feel overarching and positive; self love, body positivity, family love, focusing on the self. Our last album was all about requited love, so definitely a topic shift.” - Erin & The Wildfire, for Tongue Tied Mag
Family love plays a huge role within Touchy Feely. Being able to allow yourself the patience and kindness of others to change and find their place in the world. As a band, they are finally doing this themselves - being able to lean on each other in a much bigger way. Earlier recordings of their music seem very individualized to each member, whereas the tracks off Touchy Feely really showcase what Erin & The Wildfire has to offer as a united whole.
If you’re interested in which songs are each member's favorites: Erin’s answer keeps changing, but continues to come back to “Shape”. Its message is so clear and connectable, resulting in an overwhelming positive response from audience members who needed to hear its message. Nick chose “Little Me”. From its conception to it being featured on the album, “Little Me” had a clear vision of what it was going to be from the very start. Next up, Matt is torn between “Wake Up” and “Yours Anymore”. “Yours Anymore” has one of the best vibes the group has ever come up with, while “Wake Up” is a personal favorite for its genre and the influence behind it. Stephen also agrees with Matt that “Yours Anymore” has a great synergy to it and has been the group’s show opener for quite some time. Last but not least, Ryan gravitated towards “Whatever You Like”. It has a lot of attitude, and is also the favorite of Matt’s friend Ben!
“We are already writing more songs, so hoping to get back to the studio by the Fall. We want to get another record recorded by the end of this year; we don’t want to have another five-year gap, if possible. We are going to do a bunch of touring for this record and hopefully by the Fall we’ll be back in the studio cranking something out again.” - Erin & The Wildfire, for Tongue Tied Mag
Erin & The Wildfire are currently on tour through June 2022. I would highly recommend checking them out if you have the chance - this group is just as lively and fun as their music.
Erin & The Wildfire
Listen to Touchy Feely here.