There’s not a lot of people who can say they are a pioneer in a genre, but 19-year-old musician, ericdoa might just be one. The Connecticut-native, born Eric George Lopez, has leaned into his distinctive signature sound of experimental, glitchy, hyper-pop—carving out a lane of his own, all while garnering a cult-like fan base. And the enamor of ericdoa goes beyond the airwaves, fan favorite “sad4whattt” was featured on season 2 HBO Max’s hit series Euphoria.

Although he got his start just having fun on Soundcloud, ericdoa has since graduated to the big leagues, signing to top recording label Interscope Records. But don’t let the record deal fool you, nothing much has changed. The core of Eric’s artistry today still holds the ethos of his Soundcloud roots. ericdoa has remained inspired by authenticity and the life of the “every man”, and he is committed to the online community that was there from the beginning.

The genre-bending pop artist is currently on his North American headlining tour, and has a new project “things with wings” out now.  Read the exclusive interview where Eric details touring, his musical inspirations, and life after being signed to major record label.

Photo by Joseph Morrison

VMAN: The last few years have been a quick transition, from posting on SoundCloud to getting signed to Interscope. What’s been the hardest or scariest part of all that newfound attention?

Ericdoa: I think the hardest or scariest part of the attention is probably literally what you said: the attention. There’s a whole entire world looking at you and watching. You have to be afraid of letting people down and not living up to expectations, but I try not to think about it too much. I guess that stays in the back of my mind sometimes, but it’s not all anxiety.

VMAN: What’s been the most rewarding part?

E: I think the most rewarding part is what we’re doing right now. I think being able to put my face in front of a bunch of people who listen to my music and see what they look like. To see how they act in real life towards something that I created? It’s been the most rewarding, beautiful thing that I’ve done.

VMAN: You made a comment a while ago about being “the most down bad artist of all time”? I was curious if a realistic, gritty tone is more central to your sound? Or was it just that phase of your life, where young adulthood is challenging?

E: (laughs) It’s extremely important to not change yourself image-wise as an artist. You should be unapologetically yourself, always. Show everybody your real personality. That side of me was definitely being challenged by young adulthood. I was very much complaining about a lot of things that I probably shouldn’t have been complaining about. But 100% I feel like in order for me to make my music I like to be completely transparent.

VMAN: You mentioned this idea of being very inspired by video games and the idea of lore and world-building. I was curious if you could talk about how that played into a song like “sad4whattt” or “fantasize”?

E: For “fantasize”, we made up this treatment for the music video. It was in a live store portraying this person with no identity or name. It was just a person with a fairly standard blue-collar working job, nine-to-five. It built this whole little unspoken world. With my music videos, there’s always a character and a story behind it. I feel like that reference to that normal average person referenced my jump into the industry as a normal average artist.

VMAN: You’ve mentioned that you dislike labels for your sound. I think a lot of people have discussed the signature kind of electronic or glitchy quality to your music. What draws you to that sonic texture, as a baseline?

E: It’s very difficult to be put in a set box or to be put under something. When it comes down to hyper pop, I never disliked that label to the point of like, hatred. I’m very happy to be a part of it. It was started by a bunch of people of color, a bunch of people in the LGBTQ community. It was something that is a spawn of just internet culture. I’ve always been very happy to be a part of it. But I feel like when it comes down to me as Eric making music, I’m pulling from Indian music, rock music, all little corners. I’m pulling from stuff my parents used to listen to, from Soundcloud rap, just an immense number of genres. And it’s not only just me, but it’s also my producers as well; stuff that they used to listen to when they were teenagers, adults, and children.

VMAN: What’s a song you love or that’s influenced your music that fans might be surprised to know that you love?

E: That’s such a great question. So, I’m gonna say there’s a song by Funkadelic, but I forget what it’s called. Ever since I was a kid, I like loved bass lines.  I love loud bass lines. My parents played this song that I would just continue to repeat for months in my head. I’m blanking on it. But it’s tons of old records, old Call of Duty videos that I used to watch that would have crazy songs, stuff like that.

VMAN: How are you feeling about tour?

E: It’s been great being able to, you know, go to the cities and see the people that are diehard fans of the stuff that we create. It’s something that you don’t even ask for. It’s insane. It’s like an ethereal feeling. Being able to be up there with my close friends and being able to travel around the country and see states that I have never seen. Getting to experience culture everywhere! Even if it’s just a gas station!