Getting to Know… Emerra | Interview 🎤

Fabian Horn, singer/guitarist of Emerra, provides great insight about the German alternative metal band on interview #85 on The Musical Hype.

“[With our music] We want to find the balance between depth and accessibility/catchiness.” Definitely sounds good Emerra! The German alternative metal band serves as the interviewees on the 85^th interview on the Getting to Know… series on The Musical Hype. According to singer/guitarist Fabian Horn, who speaks on behalf of the collective, “In some songs you can see influences from modern jazz, ambient rock, electronic music, rock music and of course metal and djent music, but surprisingly, we feel like it really does work out for us.”

As both of the quotes, lifted from the interview suggest, we learn a lot about what makes this band one to watch and listen to.  In addition to Fabian, Emerra is comprised of Max Lumer (drums), Stefan Paar (bass), and Timo Lebeck (guitar). Without further ado, check out to see all the great insight Fabian provided on Getting to Know… Emerra: Interview #85.

Let’s get this started off right. For those who may not be familiar with Emerra, what would you say makes your band distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

Fabian, Emerra: I’d say our trademarking move is to mix different styles of music and switch between catchy and progressive parts without making the whole structure to overwhelming. We want to find the balance between depth and accessibility/catchiness.

Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did Emerra form and what were some of the goals or the visions you had as a band early on?

Fabian: We started out as a band called Depart – at first, we wanted to try something completely new by writing rock music for the very first time instead of the metal styles that we all used to play before. Our goals were to try and experience new styles of music and sadly we overdid that a little. On our album Find yourself a Light, we had 13 songs so different to each other that we were confronted with the situation of finding only three songs everybody in the band really liked. It was a real struggle to come up with a satisfying setlist while practicing because there were always songs in the mix that some member of the band didn’t like.

We reacted by doing a song called “Pirouette,” where the goal was to write something with what we could all identify again. This song led us to the conclusion, that we needed a fresh start.

Let’s talk more about goals.  Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

Fabian: After two years of writing the first album and touring through Germany, we decided that we missed the heaviness of modern metal music. Right at this point we decided to take a step into a heavier direction. “Pirouette” was just the beginning of that new era.

We always had more influences than one could fit into a specific genre, so as Emerra, we tried to combine our influences, but in a more intelligent way than before. In some songs you can see influences from modern jazz, ambient rock, electronic music, rock music and of course metal and djent music, but surprisingly we feel like it really does work out for us, since we do everything more carefully compared to our previous attempts. Our goal is to not release any more songs, that we ourselves aren’t 100% proud of. We’d love to reach people in the world, that like our mix and appreciate our ways of songwriting.

Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Who would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

Fabian: For me personally I could name bands such as Architects, Karnivool, Northlane or Thrice. But the most important experience for me was a live show in a small local club by the band Nothing More. I was always playing the guitar part in a band and never expected to be changing my musical habits. But Jonny Hawkins and the rest of Nothing More delivered a show that left me speechless. After that concert I wanted to try and experience something new by doing the vocals as well as playing the guitar (since we didn’t find a singer for over one and a half years that fit our band).

People who are always an influence for us are artists like Mateus Asato, Rabea Massaad, Matt Garstka, Benny Greb, Misha Mansoor, Jon Deiley, Tom Searle, Matt Halpern, Nolly Getgood, Tyler Smith, Joey Sturgis, David Bendeth, Colin Richardson … this list could go on forever actually. So many great minds to mention.

Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative.

Fabian: We actually won a band contest two years ago. We had to drive to Bavaria for the show which we won in connection with that contest. We played on a big stage that was set up in the middle of a waterpark. The event organizer and audience didn’t care they couldn’t see us performing because of a giant tree growing right in front of the stage and obstructing the entire view on stage. So, it really felt like we played for that one giant tree in front of us. All in all, it wasn’t even that bad. The turnout for this show wasn’t all that good anyways because of rainy weather.

Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?

Fabian: We all have different opinions on that. For me personally it would be “Pirouette,” because it was the start of our new project Emerra. And it hyped me up so much.

Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

Fabian: We actually are a bunch of nerds. So there really is nothing especially cool or exciting to say about us. Except maybe our passion for the music that we do. Apart from this, you’ll typically find us playing video games for hours and hours online. Oh – all except for Stefan, who just started windsurfing. So, he’s the cool guy in the band. Haha.

Closing things out, what is Emerra currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure. 

Fabian: We are working on our second EP, since we can’t play concerts right now due to everything that’s happened and that’s still happening. You can expect our new material to be a tad heavier, than our first EP. Quarantine has left us all with a massive boost of energy it seems, haha. We invested every single ounce of that energy and our love into our new creative process.

Our debut EP Monochrome is still available on all streaming platforms and you can find our Videos on YouTube:

If you’re interested you can have a look here: Spotify; YouTube

You can find us on the socials:

Thank you so much for sharing taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward.   

Fabian: Thank you so much for the interview and giving our music a platform. We’re honored to be part of this. – Fabian

Photo Credits: Emerra, Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype; Icons made by https://www.flaticon.com/authors/freepik (Freepik); https://icons8.com/icons/set/domain