From Inspiration to Creation: Enrico and His EP 'Hesitation'
By. Alicia Zamora
In the vibrant landscape of independent music, few artists capture the essence of passion and creativity as compellingly as Enrico. Originally hailing from Singapore and now making waves in Boston, Enrico's journey is one marked by determination and a deep love for his craft. In an exclusive interview with Alicia’s Studio, we delve into his artistic evolution, beginning with a pivotal moment in 2020 when he asked his father for his first Scarlett Solo audio interface—an item that would become instrumental in launching his music career.
With the release of his latest EP, “Hesitation,” in February, Enrico showcases a profound reflection of his experiences and emotions. The EP is not just a collection of songs but a testament to his growth as an artist and an individual. Drawing inspiration from various influences, he infuses his music with authenticity, enabling listeners to connect with his story on a personal level. The passion that drove him to pursue music is palpable in every note, making his work resonate deeply in an ever-evolving industry.
As we explore Enrico’s artistic journey, we uncover the inspirations behind his music, his creative process, and the lessons he learned along the way. His dedication to honing his craft is evident, and it's clear that he has a bright future ahead. Join us as we dive into the mind of this promising artist and discover what motivates him to keep pushing boundaries in his musical endeavors.
Diving In
Alicia: Hello! We can start off with an introduction and then will dive into the questions.
Enrico: Hi, my name is Enrico. I'm a 21-year-old independent artist from Singapore who's currently in Boston. I'm in school, and I make music.
Alicia: When did your passion for music begin, and what inspired you to start creating your own songs?
Enrico: It started when I was 16, in my junior year of high school so 2020 during COVID. I asked my dad if I could order a Scarlett Solo, which is a recording software, like Box. It's like a music equipment for recording, and I wanted to make covers. I knew that I could play the guitar but I couldn't really sing. I figured I'd try something new with my free time, and from there, it developed to calls with my friends where we discussed writing a song based on a set of chords we made. It evolved into this set of songs that I made late in 2021 right after I graduated high school. My friends were like, “Hey, why don't you put this out?” but I put it off for a while. In early 2023, I went on a holiday with one of my best friends. He encouraged me to put it out because I'd just be sitting around with a bunch of cool songs that no one else could listen to. So I did. And that's how I got into music.
Alicia: Can you describe your musical style and influences?
Enrico: Some of my favorite artists inspire me the most are Daniel Caesar, SZA, Frank Ocean. In the early stages, it was Steve Lacey. Now, it's a lot of Dominic Fike and Omar Apollo. Apart from that, with creative inspirations, I go all out with the visuals that I make. They share a real story and the backbone to a lot of my projects has come from Tyler the Creator. Even now, I find new inspiration in people that I listen to every day like Malcolm Todd, like he's recently blowing up.
Alicia: What has been the most rewarding part of your journey as an artist so far?
Enrico: I think it was when I moved to the US. I'm from Singapore, which is a pretty small city, and it's not a very artistically supportive city, if that makes sense. There are people and platforms for artists, but the overall sentiment is that art is not a very fulfilling career there. Being very studious and academic is more prioritized. But moving here, I think seeing people embrace me for what I am in terms of the stuff I love to do with my music. That's been really incredible. Having friends to go out with on a random Tuesday to film a video just because was one of the most rewarding parts. It’s not even the streams or the numbers; it’s having a community that is willing to help and sees the same creativity that I do.
Alicia: Okay, so would you say the shift from Singapore to Boston helped you explore your music more?
Enrico: Yeah for sure!!
Alicia: Were there any challenges or setbacks that made you question your path in music?
Enrico: Definitely. I think, especially in my time in Singapore, I'd go through periods of dry spells or writing slumps where I didn't feel like I was making anything of quality. Those setbacks only came at times where I was caught up in everything else going on in my life. Over the past year and a half, or I guess two years now, my biggest thing is trying to find that balance. And with finding that balance, that excuse, the less I produce and the less I actually enjoy my music. I've tried to be more regular and consistent because at the end of the day, yes, it is based on creativity and inspiration, but you're the first person that's going to stop you from doing that. So the more I work on my skills, the better it gets.
Alicia: How do you stay motivated and continue improving as a musician?
Enrico: I think by surrounding myself with people who are like-minded and meeting new musicians as well. I'd also say believing in myself. It's easier said than done, but when you know you can do something and other people will tell you, when enough people tell you, you start to believe it. And I think for me, making music makes me happy and my biggest goal is just to be happy. So as long as that's there, then I think this will keep going too.
Alicia: Okay, and then you said you were in school making music, so how do you manage to balance your education and your music on the side?
Enrico: Honestly, I would say it's quite hard. At least I thought it would be easier to do this, but it's proven to be quite a challenge in terms of really setting aside time where I'm not constantly thinking about something else. That's why most of my most recent stuff has been stuff that I've made over winter break or on the holidays. I will say it's getting easier now that I have found resources and people to help me. I would say I’m also setting aside a little bit of time every day just to even play the guitar. I don't have to write anything new. Keeping in touch with that side always provides an outlet for me.
Alicia: Have you ever had to make sacrifices in school or music to keep up with both?
Enrico: Yeah. As a freshman, I had to really let music take a backseat in terms of new music. I kind of put out something that I had for a while sitting there because I simply didn't have the time to create. That being said, when I was away from school, that's when I invested as much time as I could into making music. That was when I made my most recent project. So I'd say it's a little bit of give and take, but it's getting easier to balance now, but definitely something to think about.
Alicia: Do you think your academic life influences your music in any way?
Enrico: Yes, so I am a business major, and that being said, I'm pursuing marketing. Having that background in my school helps me improve my own marketing and my own promotion for the music that I make. Apart from that, my experience with my own branding helps me in school because I get to see real life applications of what is being taught in the classroom. It also provides me with a good support system and resources in school to help me pursue what I want to with my music.
Alicia: What advice would you give to other young artists who are trying to juggle school and music?
Enrico: I think the biggest piece of advice I'd give is if you want it bad enough, you can make the time. And that's something I didn't really understand until recently where this past weekend, I had my first live show and another gig. I guess you could call it this Thursday. But last semester, if I was in the same position and I was offered these things, I probably would have turned them down. I'd say that I'd be too busy, but if you really want something that bad, you can fit it into your schedule and you can do both. Like this semester, my grades have been better than ever and my music has arguably also been better than ever. So it seems like a lot, but I think if you want it badly enough, you can do it.
Alicia: You said this was your first gig. How do you feel playing in front of people for the first time?
Enrico: That was my first gig in Boston. I had my first live show last year around the same time in Singapore, but the question still applies because I think this is a completely different place. To a lot of the people that did come to the show, they were my friends or friends of friends. They knew about me in some sense where it's like, “Oh, I'm going out there to support my friend.” But unlike my friends back home who have seen me sing and perform a bunch in my place, here it's completely different. Only two or three of them have ever heard me sing live. It was very nerve wracking, especially when it came to pulling this together in a week. It was nerve wracking, but very rewarding because I got flowers for the first time in my life from people who weren't my family. That was really sweet. I just got to have a really good time with people that I care about and it was good to see them just embrace this.
Alicia: Then going into your recent EP, Hesitation, can you tell us about the inspiration behind it?
Enrico: So Hesitation kind of all fell into place over one song and that song's mistakes. I think that was the first song that has actually been done. The initial version of that song was done in 2023 and I revisited it over winter break because I thought I could reproduce it on a better software than I initially made it on. When I completed that, I thought it sounded incomplete in terms of the story it shares. That song is about an experience that I had a couple of years ago where I felt like I'd be making the same mistake over and over again, and I felt that it really hadn't gone away. I tried to connect it with a few other things that I've been thinking about or experiencing in my first semester of school, my social life and my personal life about confronting my feelings and being honest with myself. That's when the other songs fell into place. And yeah, it was very real based on real things that happened to me. I think that's my strong suit is writing things that are real and relatable.
Alicia: What was the creative process like for this project?
Enrico: It was quite literally four days of hard work and YouTube tutorials.
Alicia: Oh wow four days is crazy
Enrico: Yeah, so I finished all of the songs in four days with mistakes being the only one that I cleaned. It took two days to finish the mistakes and then the other three were the three consecutive days after that. I guess you could say it's five days worth of work, but it really felt like a quick period of time where I was just at home. I was in there from the morning till the evening perfecting it. I'd said in the past, “I'll just sit down for a couple of hours and do it.” and whatever comes out of it, it's good. But with these ones, over those four days, I do part of one song and I'd go back to the other. I’ll do a part of another song and then go back again. When I finally felt like tying things together across four songs, it just felt right. It felt super cohesive and it was a very different process to what I was used to. Although, I really enjoyed it because it allowed me to be serious and have a stricter, higher standard for myself. It was great.
Alicia: Which song on the EP is most personal to you, and why?
Enrico: This is quite an easy one. I always tell people when they ask me, it's “tomorrow.” It’s not a typical answer because I feel most people like, “why is nobody dancing?” I think that's the one that has the most streams. But “tomorrow” especially means a lot to me because I feel like every word in there, I can stand behind. Sometimes you'll write things in songs just so it sounds nice but for this song, I truly believe in everything that I say. It was from a time like recently where I felt like why can't we just live in the moment? Why does everything have to be so serious? I just hope that that song resonates with people.
Alicia: Did you face any challenges while recording or producing hesitation?
Enrico: Yeah, I did actually. I was back home in Singapore and I was very sick over winter break. When I got better, that's when I wanted to do all the vocals. I found some struggle gaining confidence in singing. When you're sick, you're so hurt or you feel like your voice doesn't sound as good, but after pushing through and getting the perfect take, that's what came out of it.
Alicia: How do you hope listeners connect with this EP?
Enrico: I think this EP has four distinct sounds to an extent. I hope that people take it more than just the individual songs. There is a story to be told within each song, of course, but also as a whole, especially going from the first song to the last seems the most cinematic to me. When I made it, I can visualize a story in it. I'm kind of spilling my heart out and ranting in it almost. I hope that people really connect to the words and obviously they sound good. I mean, I'd like to think so. The words truly mean a lot and I'm very intentional with the things I say and how I say them. So I just want people to take away something from that.
Alicia: No yeah this EP was really good!!
Enrico: Thank you!!
Alicia: I found it on Spotify and then I was like, yeah, this is it. I think my favorite would be “honesty" and “why’s nobody dancing.”
Enrico: Those are good picks. I feel like when I ask people, they usually give different answers, which is a good thing to me. That's a good sign because that means that everyone has different tastes.
Enrico: How did you come across my music?
Alicia: It was on Spotify. For me, at least when I'm looking for people that I want to interview, I go on Spotify on my playlist shuffle. I came across the EP and the first song that played was “mistakes.” I was like, “I got to look into this.” and then I just heard your whole EP. After that, I was so amazed and I reached out to you on Instagram cause I didn't see an email. But yeah, I decided to DM you and see if you’d answer.
Enrico: Oh I should probably add my email. But yeah, I mean, any opportunity to yap about myself is good, at least this early in my career. So I appreciate you asking all these questions. It’s my first interview too!
Alicia: No thank you for the opportunity! You're doing so good. You're killing it!
Enrico: Thank you. How long have you been interviewing and writing ?
Alicia: It's about to be a year in April.
Enrico: Oh cool, and what got you into that?
Alicia: Do you know the band wave to earth?
Enrico: Yeah I do, they're really good.
Alicia: Yeah I went to their concert and then I got inspired there. Since then, I started writing and then I got into interviews. Now I'm kind of just doing everything.
Enrico: That's super cool! Yeah I'm excited to see what you cook up.
Alicia: Thank you, thank you!
Alicia: Then going into future projects and goals, what's next for you after hesitation? Any upcoming singles, albums, or collaboration?
Enrico: For this year, or well when I started this year, I had a goal to write and make six songs whether they'd be together, apart, or whatever. Six songs and release them this year. Having done four already, I think six is too small of a goal, so I definitely want to push for maybe three or four more this year. Probably just singles because I feel like for a while, I’ll be busy until summer starts. I still want to make songs. One of the biggest goals in that, as you mentioned, is a collaboration. I have one of my songs in my discography with a friend. It's called “need2,” with my good friend Ethan. He's one of my best friends and he's the person I kind of mentioned previously when you asked when did it all start? He was the friend I'd be calling late at night and we'd be writing songs. We have a bunch of other songs that we've written that were never really fleshed out. Even just working on those with him or meeting new people that I've met here and working on stuff with them, that's something I hope to do this year. I think collaboration is another way to level and step up because two minds are better than one. I'm excited for that!
Alicia: Are there any artists or producers you dream of working with in the future?
Enrico: Yeah, I'd definitely say, I think up there with obviously my favorite artists of all time, I probably wouldn't pick them purely because I shape my sound a lot after them. It wouldn't really make sense to collaborate with them. I don't know why, but Omar Apollo is definitely out there. I think his versatility is insane. So I'd definitely consider him. Apart from that, a dream collab would be... if I could somehow get SZA one day, maybe. That would be cool.
Alicia: I feel like those are super good answers.
Alicia: I know you mentioned that you have one more performance you said Thursday. After that, do you have any other plans to do more live performances?
Enrico: Yeah, so actually these two kind of fell in my lap within the past two weeks. They were really last minute. I do have something planned at school to do a charity concert, but that will come later in April. When that finalizes, hopefully I'll announce it. But I'm really looking forward to that, because as an international student, I can't exactly make money off music here unless I apply for the specific visa I can get. If there's any way I can give back to places or give back to people, that's what I wanna do.
Alicia: That's so cool!
Alicia: How do you see your music evolving in the next few years?
Enrico: I think it's gonna grow with me. I feel like I've grown a lot as a person in the past six months and my music reflects that. It's only gonna continue growing forward. A sound that I want to continue working on is a super upbeat, summery sound. The weather's finally getting warmer here on the East Coast, so it's putting me in a really good mood and I'm feeling inspired. I'm feeling ready to write and create again. So I'm looking forward to that.
Alicia: Ending the interview off, do you have anything to say to those that listen to your music?
Enrico: I guess all I have to say is thank you for listening because it's crazy to me that even one or two people that I don't know have ever come up to me. Thank you to the thousands that have listened to my songs now. Apart from that, I only have thanks to give because I wouldn't be here unless people listen to my music.
