Rising indie artist Me For Queen (real name Mary Erskine) has recently released her brand new single; ‘Jessica‘, and here we speak exclusively to the singer/songwriter about her latest release, dream collaborations, and lots more.
Growing up who or what inspired your love for music?
My dad, my piano teacher, seeing live music when I was little… musicals (Starlight Express), classical music.. all sorts.
Who are your musical icons?
Bjork, Jeff Buckley, Chopin.
Which artists/bands are you currently listening too?
I like the new This Is The Kit record [‘Hotter Colder]! I listen to the new (ish) Radiohead album a lot driving back from gigs late at night. [I] Discovered some great new bands at Sines festival last month… Oumou Sangares was just brilliant, I also discovered Ceu, a Brazilian singer recently who I’m enjoying exploring.
If you could collaborate with anyone who would you choose?
I saw Regina Spektor recently so… a double piano album with her would be pretty cool. But expensive to tour. Maybe someone from Snarky Puppy or Jacob Collier/snazzy multi-instrumentalist and they could jazz me up and I could jazz them down. Or the guys at Space Bomb. They apparently have an in house session band there, all musicians who live locally, which sounds fun!
What is the main inspiration behind your new single ‘Jessica’?
A lovely person I know who has been having a bad time lately. I also was thinking a lot about the “role” of the Artist and that of Art/questioning things and myself/one’s “value” and this song ended up as a kind of mellow anthem to what a little song/an individual effort can do.
Can fans expect an album from you soon?
Let’s hope so!
You’re currently on tour, what is the best and worst thing about being on the road?
Seeing new places and meeting people who come to the shows and enjoying them (hopefully) enjoying the stuff live. Bad: worrying about pollution and not getting enough fresh air/worrying that my husband will forget what I look like while I’m away
How would you describe your live shows as an elevator pitch?
“SAD SONGS MAKE ME HAPPY” – I have stolen that from Gretchen Peters.