Quickfire Questions w/ Erik from Proper.

Meet Erik, singer & guitarist from Proper. A band making quality songs about very real issues. He kindly answered some quickfire questions…

How would you describe Proper. to people who have never listened to you before? Imagine if Fall Out Boy and Say Anything could say the N word. That’s us.

If people were to listen to only one Proper. song, which should they choose? One of our newer songs called ‘Don’t.’ It came out back in December, it’s about how police murdering black people is so prevalent that some of us don’t even have the bandwidth to talk about it or feign surprise.

Are we likely to see a new album this year? No, but 2022 for sure!

You’ve featured Willow from The Sonder Bombs and been featured on a Nervus track, any future collaborations lined up? Nothing that I can talk about!

Did you grow up in a musical household? No, actually. I’m the one musician in a family full of athletes. My dad boxed throughout Europe, my mom ran track, my older brother was the #1 wrestler in the state of Mississippi in highshcool, and my younger brother is football player. Then there’s me. I started playing trombone in 4th grade and never looked back.

What is your first musical memory? I remember driving somewhere with my family, Ready or Not by The Fugees was on and it was a rainy day. I was in the back seat and I remember that being my first time really vibing out to music.

What was the first album you bought? Relationship of Command by At the Drive-In and In Keeping Secrets by Coheed & Cambria! I lived in Alaska when I first started playing guitar so buying CDs was the only way I was gonna experience music that wasn’t on the radio. House shows just weren’t a thing up there. That was about 17 years ago though, so I hope they are now!

What’s your favourite album? That’s such a tough question. It’d probably be a tough choice between something from Kanye West or Say Anything’s discographies. Right now it’s probably My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Who’s had the biggest influence on your career? Kanye for sure! I really learned how to curate an entire album cycle because of Twisted Fantasy and that every single piece matters. Whether it was the album cover, clothes, etc. I learned that building an aesthetic that draws people in is just as important as the music.

When you’re not being Erik from Proper. what do you like getting up to? I recently rediscovered skateboarding so a lot of that! It’s getting nice out again here in NY so anything I can do to enjoy the weather. Skating, taking my dog to the dog park, grilling out, just real domestic shit. I just turned 30 so I’m just hitting my stride.

What was the name of your first band? Vice & Valor, it was some Hot Topic metalcore shit. We weren’t good.

Can you remember your first performance? God, no, and that’s probably for the best!

What’s been your best moment on stage? Before covid shut everything down we had a 3 or 4 show run where they were all sold out. We opened for Aaron West & the Roaring Twenties in December 2019, we played to a few hundred New Jerseyians in matching african jumpsuits, singing about queer love & the black experience in America. It was a really great ‘Wow, we’re making it’ moment.

And your worst? Probably any time between 2009 and 2012 when I was just starting out and was so nervous I’d have to have a few drinks before hand. We all gotta start somewhere.

What’s your favourite gig as a fan? It’s a tie between Vince Staples, St. Vincent, and Camp Cope. They were three vastly different shows from each other but they all spoke to me.

Any artists that you’re listening to at the moment that we should know of? Me Rex! They just released an Audiotree Session that everyone should watch.

F I N D P R O P E R .
twitter: @likerealproper
web: www.likerealproper.com
label: www.bsmrocks.com