National Organization for Women

Epitome
You graciously traveled from Oberlin to play at Lydia’s for the NOW Fat Tuesday Fundraiser, are you involved in NOW?

Erika Kulnys
I am not formally involved in NOW, but am interested in becoming involved. I want to attend the April 25th March To Save Womens’ Lives in Washington. In the past I have been involved with women’s organizations in Canada, such as The Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, and I play benefits for RAINN (the Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network). I was thrilled to come out for the fundraiser, both because I support the
cause, and because it’s great to get out of the isolated college environment and into community.

Epitome
Oberlin is quite a ways from home; how did you get there?

EK
Yes, Oberlin is quite a ways! Whenever people at home (Nova Scotia) discover that I study in Ohio, they inevitably make some comment about cornfields. But I feel very lucky to be here. I found out about Oberlin from an old friend, Giles, who is also from Nova Scotia. He went to Oberlin and came home raving about a magical place where everyone was an artist and an activist and it was more normal to be queer than straight!
It sounded ideal and I applied right out of high school, but then ended up attending the United World College in New Mexico. The United World College is an international school where you study and live with students from 80 countries and do crazy things like mobilize a search and rescue team at 3 am to go out into the mountains and find lost hikers. I applied to Oberlin after New Mexico and they gave me enough financial aid to move here to study music composition and creative writing.

Epitome
Your stage presence speaks of quite a bit of experience, or an uncanny
innate comfort with performing. Which is it?

EK
I’ve had quite a bit of performing experience. I’ve been singing at peace protests and Take Back the Night Marches since I was a kid with my mother and my grandmother who are both singers and feminist leaders. I only started pursuing a professional career in music when I took a year off from Oberlin and worked in Nova Scotia. I played a lot of queer events as I was working for a queer youth NGO at the time. My band happened to be all straight guys, so we jokingly called ourselves Erika and the Lesbians. Takes a certain sense of humour, I think.

Epitome
Lyrically, you cover a gamut from lesbian love/relationship to women finding their voice (including a song written for your mother). What is your writing process?

EK
I think there are two ways I write. The first is when I’m feeling particularly impassioned, whether it’s about a larger injustice, or my own bleeding heart, and it just pours out of me. I often write music and lyrics almost simultaneously at these times and my writing functions more as a release than any kind of intellectual activity. These songs tend to be either my best or my worst songs, because they are so wrought with emotion. The second type of songs is usually more narrative and I spend more time thinking about the lyrics and the music. Often, I’ll come up with a guitar lick I like, and separately do a lot of journaling, which I’ll then condense into lyrics. Finally, I’ll put them both together. I am most inspired to write songs when I am in a community of songwriters, and when I am alone with the ocean.

Epitome
How do you see music in terms of your life’s calling?

EK
I have always been happiest when playing music. And I’ve always wanted to work towards social justice through music and art and poetry. I think that music can not only educate, but also can mobilize people to action and create a kind of solidarity that is awe-inspiring.  I went through a period of time when I felt that music was not an active enough way to fight oppression, but I think that just providing people with joy, whether or not they find a political message, is good for the world. So in response to your question, I think music is my life’s calling, whether it’s performing, or teaching music to children. I had an incredible composition professor in New Mexico named Patrice Repar who showed me the power of music. She wrote pieces about apartheid in South Africa, and created an incredible interactive piece performed by all the students from the Balkans that served to unite them, and to educate the rest of us through stories and song about their lives. Patrice instilled in me the sense that music can be a way of life and encouraged me to continue my study of composition.

Epitome
Suggestions/advice for women trying to find their voices?

Epitome
That’s a big question for someone so young! I guess I’d say this: everyone’s voice is important. Everyone has something different to say and you don’t need to be scared to say it. As women, we are always told to be modest and meek and not to express our stories and emotions. I think that just having the courage to do so can be an incredibly transformative experience. And finding a community of artists who will support you helps. Even if you don’t have that community yet, just keep creating, and don’t let your own or anyone else’s judgments prevent you from opening up and taking a risk. If you have the courage to do this, eventually you will find a niche and a community.