New Music Friday: ESP Profile
When Erin Szalda-Petree was 14, she played in a band called No One’s Listening. With her brother’s borrowed bass, she taught herself how to play and perform on stage. It was at one of their shows that No One’s Listening was booed by the band of punk-rockers they were opening for.
“They walked in while we were playing our set, listened for like two seconds and then were like ‘this sucks’ and just left.” Szalda-Petree says. “It was hard to try and balance not feeling adequate with recognizing that everyone has to start somewhere and everyone is trying to do something with art. At that time that was really discouraging but I really wanted to keep playing and I wanted to keep making music.”
Six years later, Szalda-Petree is releasing her first album, Backyard, under the nom-de-rock ESP. A series of vignettes composed over six years of adolescence, Szalda-Petree paints a picture of a young artist. Backyard tells the story of Szalda-Petree’s life from freshman year to the present; from when her brother left for college, to her own experience leaving home, to her experience navigating the world post COVID.
According to Szalda-Petree “What I wanted from the album was to feel good about the songs I've made and enjoy those songs, but also have this moment in time instilled in a piece of art that I've made.”
Backyard is to be released on Saturday, December 5th. A Social Distance Session is going to be held at the ZACC at 7:30, Saturday evening. The concert will be held virtually: giving free, safe, socially-distanced access to local music. Szalda-Petree will be performing her album and covers of original pieces created by her students from Kid’s Rock Camp, a youth outreach program created by the ZACC.
Since her introduction to live Music as a child, Szalda-Petree has been passionate about music, and it shows. Her album is personal and touching, giving remembrance to the growing pains of adolescence. Akin to Sidney Gish or Phoebe Bridgers, Backyard features stripped electric guitar tracks and soft lyrics carried by Szalda-Petree’s voice.
Szalda-Petree has grown exponentially as an artist after her introduction into the music scene. Breaking from compositional ties to traditional song structure, and growing into her own sound. However, growth isn’t linear.
Through and because of her growth as a musician, Backyard came to fruition. Myriad things have changed since Szalda-Petree began performing as a musician, but her love for the art has remained a constant. Szalda-Petree’s upcoming Social Distance Session can be accessed through the ZACC’s website and Facebook page: both linked below.