OnStage Press: First of all, thanks for your patience and giving us the opportunity to chat with you. 🙂
Anne Erickson: Thank you so much for the opportunity! Really appreciate it. 🙂
OnStage Press: For people that have not heard Upon Wings, how would you describe your sound? What bands might you compare yourself to?
Anne Erickson: Upon Wings is a rock and metal band with more operatic vocals. Even though we’re out of the USA, we kind of have a European sound, with the gothic undertones and operatic vocals. People often compare us to Nightwish and Evanescence, which is very nice, because both of those bands are incredible and the best at what they do.
OnStage Press: How do you sound different from bands you’ve been compared to?
Anne Erickson: Great question! I think we sound different from bands we’ve been compared to, because we just have our own unique style. I’m always so curious to see what bands we’re compared to, because some I would have never thought of, while others totally make sense to me right away!
OnStage Press: What was your inspiration for Upon Wings? How did you decide that you wanted to utilize your classically trained vocals for Rock music?
Anne Erickson: I used to want to be in a rock band, but thought it wouldn’t work because of my classically trained voice. I thought that I needed to have a gritty-sounding “rock” voice. Then, when I saw Bruce Dickinson and Iron Maiden perform, I was blown away. Here was this incredible operatic vocalist with heavy, metal backings. I loved it, and that set the stage for me wanting to create music with Upon Wings. Upon Wings has also been an outlet for me to write music about difficult things that I’m going through in life, and what’s wonderful is that some people have said the music has helped them through dark times.
OnStage Press: Which bands/artists would you cite as your biggest influences?
Anne Erickson: So many! As I mentioned, Iron Maiden is a big one, as well as Judas Priest. Rob Halford is one of my favorite vocalists of all time. He’s such an inspiration. Early on, musical theater and opera was a big influence, and Colm Wilkinson is another favorite. Some bands that might surprise people that are influences include Tool, A Perfect Circle, AFI, Alter Bridge, Five Finger Death Punch, Shinedown, Papa Roach… and, of course, the many great female musicians who have brought women to the forefront of rock and metal music, such as Amy Lee from Evanescence, Lzzy Hale from Halestorm, Maria Brink from In This Moment, Joan Jett and so many more.
OnStage Press: One of the things that I often see when being introduced to a new band is that for bands such as your own, the term “Female-fronted” is brought up, or emphasized. Do you feel that it’s important to make that distinction, and why/why not?
Anne Erickson: That is certainly a hot topic right now, and that’s a great question. I see it both ways. You never hear a band introduced as a male-fronted band, but there’s no denying that women have been a minority in hard rock and heavy metal music for years, so it’s something that people might want to bring out as a distinction.
OnStage Press: In your music, there seems to be a lot of Christian influence. Would you classify your music as “Christian Rock”?
Anne Erickson: There is! I’m Christian, and some of Upon Wings’ music reflects that, since the lyrics are about what I’m going through, so themes of faith and believing in an afterlife are bound to show up. But, we write about plenty of other things, too– especially with the new music that’s coming out. I hope people of all faiths find hope and comfort in Upon Wings’ music.
Do you currently have a “formal” band, or are you primarily working with session musicians?
Some of the people who help make Upon Wings fly are Kevin Jardine, who produces and plays guitar on a lot of our stuff and is an incredible guitarist and producer, and Brett Hestla, who also produces and performs on our music and is also incredible. I consider the people I record with my band mates, even if we aren’t a formal band together, in that we’re all in this together and they help make this vision come to life.
OnStage Press: What projects do you currently have going? Is a tour in the works?
Anne Erickson: Currently we’re getting ready to release new music! It’s been a long time coming, so we’re very, very excited about that. It’s been a while since we’ve released new music, although we released two new holiday songs the past few years, which has been really fun. So, releasing new music and hopefully some tour dates, as well!
Keep up with Upon Wings and get the latest news at UponWings.com, and also at Facebook.com/UponWings, Twitter.com/UponWings and YouTube.com/UponWingsOfficial. Add us on Spotify here.
Photograph by Mary Turner-Gajda
