Tone & Tour at the Troubadour
6.29.24 | interview by Katie Hall
Before firing up the crowd at a sold-out, hometown show for alt/indie group Winnetka Bowling League, California native and creator of Trashy Tone Thursday Emi Grace took some time before soundcheck to meet up with me outside the doors of the famous Troubadour in Los Angeles, California, to talk all things tone and tour.
On top of getting to absolutely shred her Fender Stratocaster in front a packed house in the town she now calls home, she also gets the bragging rights to say she did that all on her very first tour under her own name.
“I’ve toured as a guitarist before, but I’ve never toured just as ‘Emi Grace,’ like as my own act,” said Grace. “It’s been a dream. I’ve wanted this for a long time.”
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Emi Grace - All photos provided by Katie Hall
Though she grew up in California, Los Angeles hasn’t always been home, and iconic venues like the Troubadour haven’t always been a short drive away.
“I remember when I first moved to LA I was trying to get my bearings of the city, and I was looking at venues to go catch a show at. I came here like my second weekend of living here and I was like, ‘it would be so cool to play here one day,’” said Grace. “I did play here last year for the first time and it blew my mind. It was one of the best nights of my whole life so I’m happy to be back and doing it again on this tour.”
Emi Grace - Outside of tonight’s venue: The Troubadour - all photos provided by Katie Hall
To see and hear her play, you’d think she was born with a guitar in her hands, but it wasn’t until she was in her early teens that she finally picked one up. Surprisingly, she spent about a decade becoming classically trained in the violin before she made the switch to strumming six strings instead.
“I played violin for like 10 years, and I simultaneously always had guitar in the back of my mind,” said Grace. “I’d always flip the violin on it’s side and be strumming around thinking that it just felt so much better for me.”
From that experience on, she decided to get herself a Squier Stratocaster and teach herself how to play guitar.
“I have no training with guitar, so it was just so much more free for me,” said Grace. “It was probably right when I was getting to the end of learning violin that I was just practicing guitar so much, and it was the thing I wanted to spend all my time doing.”
Emi Grace - on stage - all photos provided by Katie Hall
As someone who is self-taught on guitar, she’s had a lot more creative freedom to play around with pedals and plugins to find and create her own sound. In fact, she stumbled upon her self-described “trashy tone” when playing around with different sounds while recording with a friend.
“It’s so funny because actually the initial tone was an accident, that truly happened that night. I was making electronic music and like kind of having a time and I thought ‘wouldn’t it be so cool if I just threw a solo on this,’” said Grace. “So I did it, side-chained it, made it really dirty and thought ‘this is so fun, I should post a video of that.’ And it went off and then I was like ‘woah there might be something here’ so then I just kept going with it.”
Speaking of dropping a sick riff online and then blowing up, just last year she was featured on Fender’s social media channels as part of their #FenderFeature series, where her unique tuning practices and somehow-still-attached-to-her-hand fingers can be seen flying across the fretboard.
As someone who started with just a Squier a few years ago, being showcased on Fender’s socials, now with a few Fender Stratocasters in her arsenal, is no small feat.
“What I like about a Strat is it’s so versatile. It’s light, it’s really easy to mod - like I’m always modding my Strat,” said Grace. “I genuinely love how it sounds and I love the neck and the body and just how it’s all built as a whole.”
Once again, Emi Grace - rocking the stage - all photos provided by Katie Hall
Performing live may be her favorite thing to do, but when she’s not setting a stage on fire with the sheer heat coming off her strings, she’s honing her craft and exploring her sound all the same.
“When I’m not on stage I’m definitely still creating and practicing,” said Grace. “I’m so obsessed with just like writing and practicing and playing and having my hands on my guitar and making music.”
With all that music she’s been making in her downtime, a quick look at her Instagram bio shows she has not one, not two, but three songs included on her pre-save list - Nauseous, Jaded, and Toxic Waste.
“Nauseous will probably be what’s coming first, that’s kind of my debut into my sound that you’ll hear live, which is a lot more of a rock down sound,” said Grace. “I’m really excited about that song so it’s kind of a new chapter for me.”
Though the West Coast leg of Winnetka Bowling League’s beautifully named Tourgasm Tour is already over, Emi Grace isn’t shying away from the stage lights. When I asked her what was next, with no hesitation she said she’s ready to tour again.
“There are a lot of different options floating in the air right now, so it’s just about which one will catch and which one will make the most sense for me,” said Grace. “But I do know that everything is targeted for the fall.”
Personally, my fingers are crossed for a tour that brings her closer to my current home state of Texas, but if I have to hop on a flight to see Emi shred her Strat in LA again I’ll gladly do it because she’s just that good.
