Cult Machine was created with one purpose in mind, and that was to platform rising names and give creatives a space to share their art. Through our submissions form, a voice that caught our attention was Chicago-based indie R&B artist Eric Solitude.
There’s something about Eric’s music that just gets you. The lush, almost dreamlike guitar arrangements paired with his soft vocals make for a combination that’s ridiculously satisfying to listen to (and those guitar tones that HITS every single time). He’s somewhere in that Mk.gee, Dijon, Geezer multiverse, but with a world of his own slowly taking shape.
Now, Eric is stepping into a new chapter with his latest six-track EP, ARMOUR. A project about finding the courage to face the chaos of the world rather than shrink away from it, it captures an artist growing into his own sound, identity and creative vision.
I sat down with Eric to talk about the making of ARMOUR, the visual worlds behind his music, and everything that makes the man behind it tick.
Alana Ash (Cult Machine): Do you think you’ve found your sound yet?
Eric Solitude: Yeah, I think I found my sound and my identity and just the world as well. I think I’m more excited for the new stuff. I’m already ready to start the new sound.
Alana: You’re just ready to get this EP out and then move on to bigger things?
Eric: Not only that, but also just enjoying what’s present now.
Alana: I wanna know, what was the very first seed of this EP? Was it a song, a feeling, an image, or something completely random?
Eric: It was a song. I made this literally in the midst of… I was just finishing up my first EP.
And I wrote down somewhere in one of my journals, I was like, I think I’m working on my second EP. And it was with… I think ‘Present Is The New Nostalgia’ was the first song that I worked on. And I don’t know, just something about it where I was like, alright, I’m working on my second EP.
Alana: How long did the process take?
Eric: I would say, in the sense of… Because lately we’ve been doing reproduction. So everything is now live guitars, live drums.
For that new process, it’s been taking since January-February. So just doing that, then we’re at the mixing and mastering stages. So about 95% pretty much done.
Alana: Do you consider how it would sound live when you were making the EP? Or just making songs in general, do you consider how it would sound live?
Eric: Yeah, especially with the lyrics when it comes to the hook. Tracing back to ‘Present Is The New Nostalgia,’ I can imagine the crowd chanting that back with me.
Especially the hook. Sometimes I really do think of what that would sound like live, for live shows.
Alana: But what’s something that’s been inspiring you lately? Anything. Music, culture, film, fashion, whatever.
Eric: That’s crazy because I feel like I’m re-falling in love with music and art in itself again. I was in this weird little mental state where I was just trying to climb out of it.
Just sound in general. The textures of sound, the sonics, the visuals around it. A lot of that has pushed me to re-fall in love again with music.
Alana: Definitely. I get it. Our world is so surrounded by music. We turn our heads, it’s songs everywhere. Maybe we don’t really “lose the spark,” but because we’re so used to it, we just forget why we love it in the first place.
When did making music start feeling like something you genuinely wanted to pursue?
Eric: It’s been a while. I just always knew it was something that I wanted to do.
It was in fourth grade, and we had this counselor and he’s like, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” And I was like, “I want to make music.” I always gravitated towards music.
Alana: What’s your personal favourite track on the EP?
Eric: I would say Foster and Belt Buckle.
Alana: I’m intrigued with Belt Buckle. It’s the closing track. What’s it about?
Eric: What I love, I guess, before I answer that… What I love is it pans out like a movie.
Once you get to the interlude, it’s like the ending of the movie, and then Belt Buckle is the end credit scene, where the song just comes out.
Belt Buckle pretty much is about acknowledging where… I’m going to flip my mood quickly. One day I’ll be like, everything is alright. Then, I’m just too intense. Just acknowledging a lot of that.
But it sounds pretty. It’s so crazy because it sounds pretty, but the lyrics are a contrast. You read it and you’re “That’s what you’re talking about?” But it sounds so pretty though.
Alana: It’s masking the meaning behind it? Going back to when you said it’s like a movie, the ending credits of a movie. When you were making this EP, did you imagine a visual world for it?
Eric: Yes. Something for me is, when I make a song, and if I can picture something right after, I have something. If I cannot picture anything, I don’t have anything.
Alana: Is that when you know a song is ready? Or when you really want to develop it?
Eric: Yeah. I know when it’s ready when I can picture visuals and I’m in my room dancing around listening to it. Those are the key indicators where I have something. If I’m not doing either of those, I don’t have anything.
Alana: What’s this EP’s visual setting?
Eric: Great question. I think, in a sense of… I own this openness, being somebody who has to be bold and brave, and this intenseness that’s around them.
In my first EP, I was a very reserved, shy person. Everything felt scary going into the real world. And I always knew that this tie to it would be what it would be like being in that real world after time has passed. I think I kind of live in a sense of building that armour that I have to be resilient to really go into this real world where it’s chaotic, it’s messy, it’s intense.
But instead of running away from it and crumbling, I stand still and I kind of just take the hits.
Alana: I guess it goes back to the title of the EP, right? Armour.
Eric: It was something to not be too on the nose with. More in the sense of, what does that look like for everyone in ourselves? What is an armour?
An armour can be anything. An armour can be love. An armour can be resilience.
Alana: Do you think you’re making music for the person you are now, or for the person you’re becoming?
Eric: It’s interesting because when I was making this, it was the person I was becoming.
Now that I listen to it, I’m the complete opposite, in the sense of just because I’ve been dealing with a lot of stuff mentally. It’s so interesting hearing this person who is brave and bold when I feel kind of opposite.
And to answer the question, that was somebody who I was aiming to be. And obviously, before this little period, I definitely was that person. And just growing even more, just expanding even more on that.
Alana: With Armour, what do you want listeners to feel after they’ve finished listening to it? What do you want them to take away from the EP?
Eric: The first thing that comes to mind is so cliché. But in the sense of, if I can get to something, they can as well.
In the sense of knowing what type of tools to utilize. How do I get through this situation that I’ve always been in, but in a different way? In a different perspective this time around. Where instead of questioning ourselves, we are more confident in our questions. We can rely on ourselves, if that makes sense.
Having the listener feel like they can trust themselves, and knowing that the version that they are in doesn’t exist forever. Where there’s that light at the end of the tunnel type of thing.
Also, just highlighting even more what the listeners are taking away. Just me and myself, in the sense of showing that establishedness. I know I can produce high art, high-quality art, and do it in a very DIY way. Just me and a lot of my close friends. Just showing in general, again, if I can do it, you can do it as well too. Just being the representation.
I’m Mexican, so just showing more, like, we can create this music. This type of indie rock music doesn’t have to be placed in a specific, stereotypical way of doing music. I want that to be a takeaway as well. Have another Mexican person be like, “Oh, I can do that too, actually.” Being comfortable with what we like and what we do.
Alana: Are you very connected to your roots? Are you connected to your background and your culture? Does it affect the way you view and make music?
Eric: I would say it affects the way I make music, and I would say I’m pretty connected to my culture.
Progressive might be the word. It doesn’t feel like too on the T. Sometimes I question myself. I don’t feel like I’m Mexican enough. But then it’s like, it still exists within me. I just have a different way of displaying it, if that makes sense.
Also, in general, I do want later stuff where it kind of is on the T. How do I do it in an artistic way? Everything is very intentional with me. It has to make sense. I don’t want to ever force anything. Even to put songs in Spanish, it has to just feel right. I don’t want to do it just to do it.
Alana: I think it’s good. I think making art should be intentional. Don’t just put stuff out for the sake of it, or because you feel like you’re obliged to. I think the best art is when you take time and really process it.
What’s been your favourite project you’ve ever done?
Eric: Probably this one, because this is my second EP. Before, it was just singles. I enjoyed this process a lot more because of the collaboration. For the first EP, it was just me.
Even to see the demo versions of these songs going to a whole other world and being taken in by people is an interesting feeling. It’s very interesting.
Alana: Sonically, did this EP sound a bit different from your previous songs? Were there new developments?
Eric: Yeah. I was thinking about this a couple of weeks ago. There’s a little bit more of a roughness to it.
But it makes sense. To explain where… In the beginning, it’s this very reserved, timid person. As the songs go, it’s this person breaking out of their shell. They can stand up a little bit more straight. They’re a little bit more sure of themselves.
So each song is just like that. It’s a breaking of the mold. It feels stronger and louder.
Alana: When you went into making this EP, did you know what you wanted it to sound like, or did you figure it out along the way?
Eric: I figured it out along the way. A lot of it for me is a very unintentional, backward process.
Songs will kind of connect like puzzles, but in the most backward way. I’ll start with the third song, then the first song, and the last song I finish will probably be the second song. It’s just a lot of these puzzles that end up connecting themselves. I’m very big on transitions.
Alana: Do you have any dream stages you’d want to perform?
Eric: Yes. The Metro in Chicago. That’s a very iconic venue. The Smashing Pumpkins played it, and that was one of their breakout venues. Once they did that venue, they just broke out. And then S.O.B’s in New York. Probably the Roxy in LA, too.
Alana: Any festivals?
Eric: Ooh, Lollapalooza, just because Chicago.
Alana: That would be so sick. Don’t worry–we’ll be here when you’re performing Lollapalooza 2027.
Eric: We’ll see, we’ll see!
Alana: So I think probably one of my last questions: what’s something you want to do with your music that doesn’t really have anything to do with numbers or streams?
Eric: I really, really want it played in a TV show or a movie. I’m manifesting it.
Alana: Are you big on films and TV shows?
Eric: Yeah, I would say I’m pretty big on movies and TV shows, which is funny because I don’t watch them as often as I should.
The only reason why I don’t is because I’ll get very tied in to watching a show and I’ll binge-watch it, but then that means I won’t get anything done. There are so many shows I have to miss. I need to get stuff done.
Alana: No, I agree, though.
The love is always there, but I just don’t really watch that much. I don’t have the taste of… You know those Letterboxd Top Four, and actors say the most niche films you can think of?
Eric: Yeah, I’m like, I don’t know what you guys are talking about.
Alana: It makes me feel bad that I have Minions on my top four. (laughs)
What kind of film do you imagine your song playing in?
Eric: Great question. I think something in a movie that… Either a David Lynch movie or a Gregg Araki movie.
Two of my favourite directors. I just love the sense of this dreamy surrealism. That’s very attached to my music because for me, I’m very… I have a lot of depersonalisation, so I actually view life as a dream and not a song in my body.
If I’ve learned how to put that into the art, I actually think it’s working with the art.
Alana: I feel that sense of that dreaminess in your music, though. It’s definitely with the entire atmosphere, the guitars, the vocals. I definitely get that kind of feeling. You’re headed the right way.
Do you think your two EPs are part of the same universe?
Eric: I would say in the same universe but different planets. So you can definitely connect them, but it’s not a part two at all. It’s more of an expansion of a story.
There’s a certain kind of magic in music that makes you see things. ARMOUR is exactly that kind of project. I could genuinely picture entire scenes playing out in my head while listening, and I can absolutely see some of these tracks finding their way into a film or TV show, adding another layer to whatever’s happening on screen. It’s cinematic without having to try too hard, dreamy without losing its edge. Sonically, the project is just as beautifully put together. The balance between Eric’s soft vocals and the instrumentation is one of my favourite things about it. There’s always something happening in the background, little details in the guitar textures, vocal effects and layering that make every listen feel like there’s something new to pick up on, without ever becoming overwhelming. The interlude is gorgeous, 3D Structures is a personal standout, and those opening guitar moments on Belt Buckle are reason enough to keep coming back.
But beyond its sound, ARMOUR is a project about growth, resilience and learning to stand a little taller in the world. Eric describes it as building the armour needed to face everything that comes with stepping outside your comfort zone. Where his first EP reflected someone more reserved and hesitant about entering the real world, this time around, there’s a noticeable shift towards becoming bolder, louder and more certain of himself. That doesn’t necessarily mean having everything figured out, though. In fact, he explained that a big part of making this EP was proving something to himself: that he could push his art further and reach the level he envisioned for it. It’s less about trying to become a particular version of an artist for everyone else to recognise, and more about discovering just how far he can take himself creatively.
Interestingly, that ambition doesn’t mean he’s rushing to explore every sound that inspires him. Eric mentioned being drawn to elements of ’80s rock, but choosing to hold back from taking that direction just yet. He wants to bring listeners along gradually, allowing each new chapter to develop naturally rather than jumping too far ahead. And I think that says a lot about his approach to making music: intentional, curious and always leaving room to grow.
ARMOUR feels like a reminder that you don’t have to become fearless to move forward. Sometimes, it’s simply about learning to trust yourself a little more, taking what the world throws at you and continuing to create anyway. For Eric, this EP might be the sound of becoming that person. For the rest of us, it’s a pretty beautiful place to start.
