Joe Ernest Allan is the man behind Ernie and has just released his debut single ‘Pink Headaches‘ via Gravity Records after spending the last two years in the studio working on a dense collection of songs. Backseat Mafia caught up with Allan after emerging from the studio and supporting Sam Fender in Geordie land, amongst other things, to tell us a little bit more about who Ernie is.
Give us a potted history of yourself
I’m Ernie, a singer-songwriter from Newcastle Upon Tyne. The project started in 2021 when, after a prolific writing spell during the pandemic, I took all of my lockdown demos to local producer Josh Ingledew (Blank Studios) with the intention of turning them into a kind of lo-fi bedroom pop album that I would just keep to myself. Once we started looking at the tunes properly and passing ideas back and forth, we realised that the songs had lots of potential and deserved to see the light of day, so we scrapped everything we’d recorded at his house and started the whole thing again in a proper studio. Two years on, my first single just landed and we’ve just started bringing the tunes to life in a live setting with a full band. Exciting times!
Who inspired you to start making music
I grew up in a musical household…my dad has played in bands all throughout his life and is a keen guitarist and my mam is an avid music lover too so I kind of just followed in their footsteps. Apart from being a half decent cook, I don’t think there’s any other job I could do!
And the one or two records that inspired you artistically
The biggest influence for this project by far was Ben Howard’s 2021 album ‘Collections From The Whiteout’. When I heard that I immediately fell in love with everything about it; the lyrics, the instrumentation, the production, and the kind of freeform collaborative feel to it. I loved that all of the songs were sketchy and colourful, some of them were long and weighty and others were super short and ephemeral. It’s clear that, with this album, experimenting and taking risks creatively and having fun took priority over making a big statement or something. That changed my outlook on my own creative output, it made me stop treating my songs like precious metals and just enjoy the process and have fun with it and in turn, I’ve ended up with the best batch of material I’ve ever written.
If you’re trying to explain whom you sound like to someone that’s never heard you, what do you say
I’d say there are a number of lo-fi alt-folksy influences there that I wear on my sleeve, like Alex G, Pinegrove, Hovvdy, Big Thief etc. If you like any of that stuff, you’ll hopefully like my stuff too! It also has a lot of indie rock sensibilities too, and our live show has been compared to the likes of Frightened Rabbit and Manchester Orchestra, both of which are big influences of mine.
Tell us about your new single
My debut single just landed last week, it’s called ‘Pink Headaches’ and it’s a song that’s close to my heart. It was inspired by a trip back to my hometown as a visitor and the complex mixture of feelings that came in tow. I’d moved back in with my mam for a few months, and I was out on a run one day to shake off a hangover. I was literally running through the scenes of my childhood, recalling this huge batch of memories attached to every street, every park bench, every football pitch. Places that once felt like home to me now filled me with a weird mix of nostalgia, fondness, sadness, and anxiety. ‘Pink Headaches’ was my response to all of these weird feelings and memories coming to the surface with every passing lamppost. It was recorded and produced by Josh Ingledew and Thom Lewis (Sam Fender), and it was mixed by the legendary Catherine Marks (Foals, The Killers, Wolf Alice).
Where can we get hold of it
It’s available digitally everywhere, Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud etc!
Tell us how you write
Generally I’ll write the whole song, record a scrappy demo which I then share with Josh my producer and he tidies it up and adds a new lease of life and lots of colour and interesting musical ideas to my original idea, then after we’ve crafted the thing together in the studio, we take it to the rest of the band who then put their spin on it and give it that final extra lift in the practice room. My songs wouldn’t be as special as they are to me without all of the amazing contributions from everyone else.
Tell us about your live show what would be your dream gig
I’ve been lucky enough over the years to play in some lovely venues all over the UK, but it would be a dream come true to get over to Europe and play some shows. My favourite venue is the Funkhaus in Berlin, it would be amazing playing there. There are dozens of bands I’d love to share a stage with, but I think if I played a show with The National (a band who I’ve been obsessed with for over ten years) I could happily retire after that, that would be a real pipe dream coming true
What can we expect from you in the near future
We’re grafting behind the scenes on a big body of work that will see the light of day in the near future! We’re also working on putting on a hometown headline show in our beloved Newcastle, as well as a string of other UK dates towards the end of 2023.
Tell us your favourite records that are rocking your headphones/tour bus/stereo
I’m a massive fan of the Gracie Abrams and Caroline Polachek records from earlier this year, they are both stunning. Our pals Theo Bleak, Brooke Bentham and Hannah Georgas all have brand new music out too which is absolutely awesome and worth checking out!
Here’s a playlist of what I’m rocking right now https://spoti.fi/3X6MwVa
Check out Ernie’s track Pink Headaches, below:
Find out more via the bands Facebook
