Longitude Special: Erica Cody Looks Ahead to the Weekend

I’m literally flying back from New York on Saturday morning but I’ll be at Marlay Park at 3pm to play Longitude and I cannot wait! This’ll be my first time going and it’s my first time playing so I’m massively excited.

For the performance, I’m gonna be bringing my two dancers and my DJ with me and it’s going to be about the show as much as the music. I’ve always been about trying to keep people entertained when they come to see me and I want to give them something they won’t see anywhere else. It’s also important that the ‘90s RnB influence comes through, because I’ve been so heavily influenced by that time. But with live music, it’s about making the set an experience for the audience. Even teaming up with my make-up artist, I want to do things which are subtle, but also eye-catching. Something as small as seeing me with translucent eye-liner on, or the dance routines, or what the DJ’s doing – it’s adds to that overall experience.

Then once I’m finished with my set I’m going see everyone else that I can at this festival! I’m looking forward to Khalid and Anderson .Paak. Then I’ve been following Tyler, The Creator since back in the early Odd Future days and I can’t wait to see him. In terms of the Irish artists, I’ve never seen a Rejjie Snow set, so that’ll be great. I’d also love to see Laoise, Kojaque, Lilla Vargen, Sorcha Richardson – I’ve been dying to see her for ages.

It’s an incredible line-up. I mean there’s loads of festivals happening all over the UK that weekend and none of their line-ups compare with Longitude. I’d rather be in Dublin that weekend than anywhere else. It’s also refreshing because Longitude had been such an indie line-up before, and now it’s this big urban scene. You’ve got hip-hop, grime, RnB. It’s appropriate because hip-hop and RnB right now is starting to reach its peak, I think. You have Spotify making tailor-made playlists about new urban genres of Irish music that wouldn’t have been focused on before. So it’s really great to see a line-up that’s reflective of what Irish musicians and Irish fans are getting behind. Seeing a line-up like that makes you think ‘That’s the type of festival I could end up headlining.’

Erica Cody plays Longitude on Saturday, June 14.