We were lucky to catch up with Erica Gard recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Erica , appreciate you sitting with us today. Maybe we can start with a topic that we care deeply about because it’s something we’ve found really sets folks apart and can make all the difference in whether someone reaches their goals. Self discipline seems to have an outsized impact on how someone’s life plays out and so we’d love to hear about how you developed yours?
It’s interesting that many musicians overlook the importance of self-discipline, often believing that creativity alone will suffice. For me, self-discipline has been one of my greatest strengths in my musical journey. Being able to focus and tune out the distractions, push through discomfort, and quite the noise has allowed me to grow in ways I could have never imagined. My self-discipline comes from my drive to succeed. I watched my mother achieve lofty goals basically alone and deal with great adversity all without losing herself or her grace. That to me is ultimate self-disciple, the drive to be successful without sacrificing your sense of self.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I always like to highlight that I am a vocalist first. Singing is where my musical journey started. I swear I was singing before I could talk! Being a singer lead me to pick up multiple instruments (guitar, piano, ukulele) which allowed me to create music of my own. I stated songwriting when I was in high school. I loved being able to create new melodies and tell stories through them. I ended up going to college for music, specially music therapy to use music to help others. I learned a lot in college, my musicianship grew immensely and I surrounded myself with professors and students who pushed me to be better. One of my favorite experiences from that time was when I joined a South Asian A cappella group and learned to sing in Hindi!
After college, I began working as a music therapist and started to write my first EP. I didn’t perform much as I was focused on building my career. Once the pandemic hit things changed. I found the need to perform and finish the album I had been working on for years. The pandemic really put things into perspective for me. I finally began performing in 2021/2022 I ended up in an awesome pop/dance band averaging 120+ gigs a year! Now I am working on my second project, a full length album!
You can find me performing every weekend with my band across South Florida and my album “Sincerely, Life” will be ready for release sometime in 2025!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
For me self-discipline, self-worth, and resilience have been my guiding qualities. I grew up around strong women who didn’t take no crap. I was shown at a young age that these qualities will help you through some difficult times.
Having self-disciple gave me the ability to focus and grow. My self-worth has kept me grounded in my principles and beliefs. Ultimately, this has allowed me to heal myself and become resilient in times of hardship.
As an artist/musician, you will come across many opinionated people. People who will make you doubt yourself. Being able to keep your sense of self is the ultimate armor to block that ish! Just know you are the expert in your craft baby!
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
Life is overwhelming! I constantly battle with this feeling. It can be debilitating at times. One strategy I use to combat this feeling is make check lists. Whether it is just in my head or on my notes app (I have a million notes). I try to section out the “immediate needs/tasks” from the “I’ll get to that later” section.
Sometimes I do multiple tasks at once which can be overwhelming but because I have my little check list in my brain, I understand that as I chip away at each task, that list gets smaller.
There is no perfect solution on how to not be overwhelmed. But trying different approaches might help you find out which one best.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ericagard.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ericagardmusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/garderica2014/videos
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ericagardmusic
Image Credits
Abby Ballin Stephen Rafferty Mitch Greer NRG Shotz
