Guacamole Mafia

A St. Louis native, Erica’s interest in music began as a child watching Disney films, fascinated by the narrative power of music. Her dad–having used to play guitar in a band before having kids–caught on pretty quickly. And when her parents noticed her playing along to the Disney songs on her Playskool keyboard, they knew it was time to get her a real instrument: an old piano from the church up the street, being tossed ’cause it couldn’t hold a tune anymore.

She continued teaching herself and taking lessons throughout high school, along with honing her drawing skills. After saving some money from a part-time job, she eventually bought a professional keyboard… and in typical teenage fashion, played it almost exclusively with headphones on so no one would hear.

Eventually, her interest in animation drew her to Kansas City for college, where she studied it on a competitive scholarship. Her efforts there culminated in a 10-minute long short film that gained a cult-following on the internet, so music had to take a back seat for awhile.

But, after graduating and moving back to her home town (the fate of all art students), she found that her dad had picked up his guitar again and started a classic rock cover band–and they had an opening for a keyboard player.

Shortly after joining, Erica took the band by surprise when she stepped up to sing a Melissa Etheridge tune they had previously been unable to do, and quickly came to share the role of lead singer. She cut her teeth playing around town and performing in front of people for the first time.

But the draw to pursue her career in animation drove Erica to Los Angeles, where she found out pretty quickly that it was difficult to break in. So she took a chance and responded to an ad… a classic rock cover band looking for a keyboard player and singer.

Since then, she’s played in a few more cover bands–usually classic rock with other people’s dads–all around Northern and Southern California. It was in one of these bands that she met George and teamed up with him to bring you Guacamole Mafia.

She’s also managed to establish her career in animation, both independently and in the industry. Finally able to balance her two passions, Erica will always be drawn to a good narrative, whether that’s in art, music, or life.