{"id":645,"date":"2021-11-30T23:26:42","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T03:26:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/?p=645"},"modified":"2021-12-25T17:13:23","modified_gmt":"2021-12-25T21:13:23","slug":"profile-on-eraste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/2021\/11\/30\/profile-on-eraste\/","title":{"rendered":"Profile on: Eraste"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/files\/2021\/11\/eraste-1--683x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-648\" width=\"376\" height=\"564\" srcset=\"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/files\/2021\/11\/eraste-1--683x1024.jpeg 683w, https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/files\/2021\/11\/eraste-1--200x300.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/files\/2021\/11\/eraste-1-.jpeg 696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 376px) 100vw, 376px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>From Instagram: @eraste_<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A country song plays over a small radio echoing sounds of soft instrumentals and laid-back crooner voices. The song is carried throughout a resting household filling up the quiet spaces in each room. Before it can make its way to all the rooms to awaken the sleeping household, the song fades out and another plays. Lively instruments introduce a new song that finally makes its way to the last room to awaken Ariha Nava-Hernandez. She immediately registers the distinct and rich Selena Quintanilla voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cUno&#8230;Dos&#8230; Tres&#8230;Quatro&#8230;\u201d the song bellows at Ariha further stirring her from a deep slumber. There is no drifting back to sleep as the honks in the song become harder to ignore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Spotify Embed: La Carcacha\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"80\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/track\/0ob3zPIGXWwg2hyXJNs3Ct?si=b4ae331dd2f8432f&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>La Carcacha\u00a0<\/em>continues playing as she finally gets up. It\u2019s an easily recognizable song even at 7 in the morning for Ariha. She also recognizes that it is indeed\u00a0<em>Saturday<\/em>\u00a0morning. Selena Quintanilla being played loudly at 7 am on a Saturday could only mean one thing \u2013 her mom was already starting the weekend morning cleaning and everyone else who was sleeping would soon be helping out.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although this was a routine part of Ariha\u2019s life, it was not the only consistent activity that she participated in. Aside from leading a life of being a student, athlete, and devoted daughter who upheld her responsibilities regardless of losing sleep, Ariha had her own world in which she would be awakened by another kind of music more near and dear. Music that would awaken her emotional and personal journey, it was music that she created, wrote, and believed in. In this world, she was not Ariha rather she was Eraste.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ariha \u2013 or commonly known for her stage name Eraste \u2013 was born in Spearmen, Texas, and is the youngest of 5. Although her first single, \u201cbreak my own heart,\u201d was released on October 2nd, 2020, Eraste had been writing, creating, and playing music before then.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI feel like from a really young age [playing music] was something that I had a natural ability toward,\u201d she says. \u201cI started taking piano lessons when I was young and I hated it. I hated music in a formal sense. I found out I could play the piano by ear and I taught myself to play the guitar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the same time that she learned how to play the guitar, she was leading the worship at her Christian church. This is how she got her start in interacting with music. She realized she could accompany herself and while she did like Christian music, in the back of her mind she always knew she wanted to be a pop star.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Back at home, she says there wasn\u2019t much music in her household. Her parents didn\u2019t \u201ccenter\u201d around music and would play whatever songs were on the Top 40 or Country Music Television \u2013 essentially the country version of MTV. Even when country music or any kind of music was playing, it wasn\u2019t something that they experienced together. It functioned more as background music for cleaning on Saturdays or to fill the silence in car rides unless they were conversing. Music was something that Eraste had to \u201cfind on [her] own.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was interesting to have this ability and passion and have it be misunderstood by all of them,\u201d she says. \u201cThey were somewhat encouraging, there were two summers where I went to a songwriting camp. They would come to my piano recitals and they were other things in my life that they supported more like academics or sports. So it was supported but not understood. \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The country music played throughout the house was more traditional or was Tejano like the music of Selena Quintanilla. Both of Eraste\u2019s parents are fluently bilingual and she is the only one in the house who does not speak Spanish. Any country artists that she listened to were mainly English-speaking women such as Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, and Taylor Swift whom she \u201cloved from the very first CD.\u201d However, country music has taken a back seat in regards to what styles she picked up along the way, it has become an indirect influence on her songwriting skills.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;What I was hearing over and over was the storytelling and vernacular of country music&#8230;<\/p><cite>Eraste<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat I was hearing over and over was the storytelling and vernacular of country music,\u201d she says. \u201cWhenever I write now, I unintentionally structure my songs in the way country music is written. From the early time in my childhood where I couldn\u2019t look up my own music on the computer, I was listening to country music. But I never was like &#8216;I\u2019m going to be a country star.&#8217; And [now] I can let those things bleed in if I want to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eraste was never expected to lean towards Latino country music or be a Latina artist. She didn\u2019t feel any pressure to follow in the footsteps of Texan artists. There was also no expectation that she would be in the Christian genre despite being from a bible-belt state where some music was littered with what she describes as a \u201cjesus-y type beat.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was on the outskirts all the time with where I grew up.\u201d she says.\u201d I was ostracized in more ways than one, for example, being a woman, a person of color, and being queer are not necessarily what you would [label] as a Texas artist. I think all these expectations for country musicians in Texas have made me rebel against [the norms]. I think people in Texas find great community in my music because I make it a safe space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While country music would only impact her songwriting abilities, the pop sounds she heard as a child served as direct influences to her music.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was listening to what my sisters were listening to at the time,&#8221; she says, \u201cI have three older sisters, so on the radio, it was Teenage Dream [playing], Kesha, and Rihanna. I feel like that really got me excited to do pop music.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite these sounds being heard by way of her sisters, in her teenage years \u2013 formative years where one begins to develop their own tastes and styles \u2013 her last older sister went off to college. No longer were the echoes of her sister\u2019s music heard throughout the hallway. Instead, she had to find music by herself, a rather \u201cisolating\u201d experience but common for her as she was always independent from a young age. She even notes how she didn\u2019t grow up with parents who listened to classic rock. She had to discover her musical tastes and learn to know what she liked.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a teenager, she began listening to electro-pop and alternative pop music. At the same time, she consumed the 2014 Tumblr culture which at the time focused on coming-of-age content filled with teen-angst posts and a general sense of longing \u2013 an absent feeling that this internet culture could fill. Artists like Troye Sivan, Lana Del Rey, and Lorde were championed darlings of this virtual space and their sounds reflected what users felt.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"532\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/files\/2021\/11\/spotify-.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-651\" srcset=\"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/files\/2021\/11\/spotify-.jpeg 532w, https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/files\/2021\/11\/spotify--249x300.jpeg 249w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 532px) 100vw, 532px\" \/><figcaption>From Spotify Profile<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>After graduating high school she went to a Christian university in Dallas, Texas on a scholarship. But similar to the feelings she had when she was leading worship at church, she wanted to stray away from the Christian genre and make pop music.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her EP,&nbsp;<em>Crashing Every Party<\/em>, was her first work in the pop genre where she tried her hand at different types of pop styles to see where she would \u201cfit as an artist\u201d and to make herself \u201cas marketable as possible.\u201d Before this EP, her music was more \u201csinger-songwriter.\u201d She transitioned back to this style after realizing that a full-blown pop genre is not where she saw herself as an authentic artist. She emphasizes that by singer-songwriter she means a style in which \u201cyou can say a lot of stuff without having to sift it down to be digestible.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In her song WTGTDWM, it is a \u201csuper pop\u201d song where she sings about missing her friends but also being okay without them. In comparison, \u201cHabits,\u201d while also having a pop sound has this Lorde-esque\u201d quality as she uses multiple similies and hyperboles to describe the same theme.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Eraste- wtgtdwm? (feat. Clover the Girl) [Official Music Video]\" width=\"1345\" height=\"757\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NDpsND5Hn2A?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"habits [Official Lyric Video]\" width=\"1345\" height=\"757\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KsUY5eTtXCM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Eraste now defines her sound as alternative pop as she combines country-like composition and pop sounds. She continues to follow the structure of country songwriting with storytelling in her songs but simply takes it one step further as she adds to the complexities of lyrics citing Lorde as a major influence. She is currently working on new music while also being recruited to write songs for others who are noticing her writing abilities and star-quality lyrics.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eraste\u2019s music will continue to explore themes of self-identity as she continues her musical journey and especially as she navigates her way through Texas, an environment that has not only impacted her song structure but content as well. This theme of self-identity specifically in Texas was deeply discussed in her song, \u201cForbidden love.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c&#8217;Forbidden love&#8217; is about my experience as a young queer person in Texas and how it was frowned upon. The expectation for Texan pride is this conservative and close-minded thing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She currently lives in Austin, a place she considers more open-minded and liberal. Although she has only lived there for six months, it has been a more liberating space for her to write her music and inspire others.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t identify with the Texan conservative mindset. [In my small town,] I couldn\u2019t even have my first love and relationship with how forbidden it was. I didn\u2019t fit in with that mindset. But finding music, making it a safe space for other people, and telling my own story is important. I feel a lot better about where I am now. I have the ability to be myself.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Additional musical content: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(The first two tracks note her heavy Pop songs off her EP while the third track draws on her shift away from Pop.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Spotify Embed: Eraste\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/playlist\/1nBPP4hfagHBBvG94AJTvh?si=c35ee052de9e4e48&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Linktree:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/linktr.ee\/eraste\">https:\/\/linktr.ee\/eraste<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From Instagram: @eraste_ A country song plays over a small radio echoing sounds of soft instrumentals and laid-back crooner voices. The song is carried throughout a resting household filling up the quiet spaces in each room. Before it can make &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"portfolio_post_id":0,"portfolio_citation":"","portfolio_annotation":"","openlab_post_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[256],"tags":[233,232,234],"class_list":["post-645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-texas-creativity","tag-alt-pop","tag-eraste","tag-texas-musicians"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/251"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":652,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645\/revisions\/652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}