You may have heard us playing the remix of Saugata by Erra P. on the station recently – and we caught up with the artist to find out more about their life and music.
Tell us a little bit about your yourself?
Erra P. is an electronic music duo focused on Techno and Tech-house music. The group formed in southern Ireland in early 2016 and comprises of DJ Steffen Coonan, and classically trained musician Ciaran O’Brien, both of whom are music producers. Having crossed paths while working together on various live and studio based music projects over the years, Erra Project, or Erra P. for short, was created upon the two member’s long overdue realisation that they shared the same electronic music taste, production style, and production goals.
When did you first start to develop a passion for music?
For both members, this happened at quite a young age. We grew up in musical households where an eclectic mix of music was played – but most frequently classical rock. In our teenage years, we both expanded our musical tastes, and also began experimenting with music production. Ciaran initially began playing electric guitar and emulating his favourite guitar heroes, and later went on to live sound engineering. Steffen immediately had a taste for house music and applied the skills he learned from his favourite DJs. He developed his own style and flair for mixing, and soon after began creating his own house productions. From here, both members eventually crossed paths, and using their technical skills and musicality, now focus on producing, mixing, and mastering their own techno and tech-house tracks.
Which artists did you listen to while growing up?
Our biggest influence has always been the Norweigan duo Röyksopp. Their music has that mature sound we love. They are very deliberate and confident in their music creation, leading to carefully created music which is never too busy – reflecting our own goal. Röyksopp is also known for their innovative production techniques and can evoke a wide range of emotions through their music, from melancholic to euphoric. We highly admire that as they can clearly show that electronic music does have soul.
What music have you recorded and released to date?
We released a double single in December 2023 with the techno track “Saugata” and the tech-house version of the same track “Saugata (Erra P. remix). In late January 2023, we released our tech-house track “Pale Red Dot”. Both released have been gaining traction around Europe and we’re seeing our social media grow hour by hour! These releases are from our first full length album, a techno release due in late Spring 2024. We have one more single to release from that still untitled album before we release the entire production to the world.
Which artists do you enjoy listening to at the moment – and do they influence your work?
We find that many techno and tech-house music producers create songs which feature too many audio elements, often fighting for the same sonic space. Often times, these tracks become difficult for the listener to feel the rhythm and groove and connect with the music. We focus a lot of our time when mixing with a reductive approach – removing frequencies in our synthesisers, or cutting elements in our drum loops for example. We want the result to be a modern sound which is easy to get lost in and connect with. A sound which is hypnotic, and made for dancing. Any artist who has this same confident, deliberate sound is very appealing to us. As previously mentioned, Röyksopp are tech-house artists who are fantastic at confidently selecting sounds. We love heavier techno artists who take this approach also, such as Amelie Lens; or House artists like Marco Carola.
Who would your dream collaboration be with?
It might be a wild, fever induced dream, but just thinking about having our name beside Jeff Mills on a track is enough to make us giddy. They call him the wizard for a reason. His DJing skills are our of this world, but he is equally fantastic at producing techno music. Not only that, but he is a master at using the 909 drum machine. We’ve seen him live and he is awe inspiring.
What are your plans for the future?
We wish to expand the scope of our productions. We are big fans of visual art, both contemporary and classical. Our immediate goal is to first release our first full length techno album. Following this, we want to complement this with a visual production using a.i. art, generative art, and other digital visual art. The goal here is to have a fully immersive live performance which incorporates both our mature electronic sound, and modern digital visuals.
Where can we find out more about you?
You can find us on Spotify and all good streaming services along with Instagram and Beatport.
