‘I’m only as good as my last show’ – Erica Cody on her insane drive (plus her solid advice for new artists)

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Erica Cody. She's the incredible homegrown 22-year-old singer, songwriter and producer from Dublin.

From her 2017 musical debut 'Addicted,' to this year's highly anticipated five-track EP Leoness, Erica Cody has seen her career (and fandom) explode. If you're an R&B fanatic, appreciate catchy hooks and soulful vocals — you're going to love her music and overall vibe. We caught up with the 'Good Intentions' singer to chat all things life, career, motivations, and desires. So, she says she was the kid who "loved the thought of helping animals," who had aspirations to be a vet initially (but realised she couldn't bear to see them in pain) while music was a huge part of her life too, but so was basketball. Erica had a sporty edge and she was hugely competitive when it came to basketball. But a knee injury would soon end her hopes of continuing on that successful path. She says; "They were the two [basketball and music] I was always juggling, so I found once one was taken away from me, I had to focus on the other."

Erica wears Swarovski's Sunshine Necklace in white

And so, music became everything. Today, while being a part of "an industry where you receive a lot of 'no's,' Erica credits her "self-determination, ambition and trying to stay positive," as something that has proved effective. When it comes to criticism, people have to "take it constructively and turn it into something positive." If you're wondering where this self-belief and strive comes from, she credits her parents, saying her mum has forever been her 'rock.' "Having seen your parent go through something like cancer, it teaches you to not take life for granted and she has taught me how to stay grounded, especially in the industry that I'm in. I'm blessed to have her." But although she has an incredible support system at home and is well able to push herself and work hard, she also maintains that if we don't believe in ourselves, who will? If we don't have a desire to go places, to achieve, there's perhaps no real force pushing us to do better.

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"If you don't have desire, I don't really feel like you'll know where you're going or what you'll want from life. You always have something to work towards when you have a desire." When it comes to her music career, she says "think fast" because it's a quick-moving, ever-changing industry. She believes in working 10 times harder than last week and she keeps motivated, telling herself she's "only as good as her last show." "You kind of have to have blinkers on and not get too caught up in what others are doing, so for me anyway it's just not too important to pay attention to what's going on in other people's lives and careers. "It's not about awards and streaming numbers, it's more about where I'm going in life and as long as I'm happy, mentally healthy, feeling good about myself and people are loving my music, and I'm in a positive space... That's what I want to achieve I suppose." If she could give advice to anyone hoping to have a successful music career, she recommends being patient, ensuring they're self-determined and that they work ridiculously hard, which can then (hopefully) seal the deal. She describes the Irish music scene as a 'beautiful place to be in at the moment,' a place where in large, everyone is supportive of one another and their struggles.

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Although Erica is appreciative of all the industry here has to offer, there's no denying it's a small market here at home — likely far too small for someone whose dream it is to flourish and see their success reach a much greater scale. "If you're in Ireland, I feel like there's a cap. You can only do so much. "Once you've set your base here, you have to want to spread your wings and fly." Most definitely willing to take a leap of faith (and assuming all goes to plan) she'll be bringing her unique sound to the US and UK markets. It's on the cards at least and with such talent and drive, we've no doubt she will. "I'm still not where I want to be but I'm getting somewhere and the hard work I've put in over the years has come to life. "The more you keep trucking on and making people believe your story, it makes everything worthwhile." Five years from now, she admits she really doesn't know where she'll be or where life will have taken her. (Does anyone?) But her goals are pretty clear and yes — we can relate, entirely. All she really wants is, "to be happy, healthy, to have a healthy mind, healthy relationships and someday, have a family — that's a massive desire of mine — and have a really successful career." Snap! Now, to grab the headphones and blast some glorious tunes. Brought to you by Swarovski