Ema Jolly[1] (born 8 January 1986), better known by her stage name Emika, is an English electronic musician of Czech origin (her mother is from Příbram[2]) currently residing in Berlin.[3] Her self-titled debut album was released in October 2011 via Ninja Tune[4] and received generally positive reviews.[5]
Emika, a classically trained musician who studied classical piano and composition,[6] grew up in Milton Keynes, England. She started to make music at school (using an old sequencer program she found on a computer stashed in a cupboard)[7] and waitressed to save up for her first Apple Mac and copy of Logic Studio.[8] Emika received her Music Technology degree in Bath, then procured an internship at the offices of the London label Ninja Tune, where she worked for a month.[9] As the Bristol music scene was transitioning from drum and basstodubstep, she went to the first parties organised by Pinch.[8]
Speaking of the reasons that made her leave Bristol, Emika explained: "I was very ill, physically, I've had to have some operations which weren't very successful and led to more, and had a long period quite surviving from morphine, really... I was in bed for many weeks. And afterwards in Bristol I became 'the ill girl'... It was very difficult for me to recover and stay in that city". In 2006,[10] she took advantage of a free flight to anywhere in Europe granted by her bank, as she got her account upgraded, flew to Berlin on her own and decided to stay there.[7]
In Berlin Emika began working as a sound designer for Native Instruments, while honing her own, "uniquely haunting" (AllMusic) musical style with her laptop, picking up ideas from the dance scene at the Berghain and Panoramabar clubs. Fünf, the compilation album of music crafted from field recordings made inside these clubs by Emika (who contributed her own track "Cooling Room" to the compilation), was released by Ostgut Ton, as part of the celebration of the label's five-year anniversary.[11] Her job at Native Instruments had an important role in her artistic development, too. "I am focused on the world of sound and the power of the human voice, the instant connections it makes with listeners, in music. In general I feel there is a lack of vocabulary in the field of electronic music", Emika later explained.[8]
Ninja Tune appreciated Emika's new, dark, downtempo dubstep direction and in January 2010, released "Drop the Other" as her debut single, which has also found its way into the label's 20th anniversary box set. Since 2009, Emika has appeared on tracks with the likes of Pinch, Kryptic Minds, Paul Frick and MyMy.[12] Her second single "Double Edge" came out in May 2010[13] to be followed by "Count Backwards" (April 2011)[14] and "Pretend/Professional Loving", the latter came out in September 2011, and was remixed by Brandt Brauer Frick, Kyle Hall and DJ Rashad.[15]
On 3 October (11 October, in US), 2011, her debut album Emika came out (all four singles included), described as the mix of "bewitching, atmospheric melodies and glitchy electronic beats"[9] and getting good reviews.[5] Emika's music has been described as being influenced by various genres like early dubstep, electronica and classical,[16] critics compared her to PJ Harvey, The xx, Zola Jesus and Beth Gibbons.[5]
On 18 October 2011 Emika embarked upon her first American tour, supporting Amon Tobin on his ISAM tour and she has continued to play live shows all over the world throughout 2012 in countries such as Austria, Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Norway, Switzerland, Russia and Turkey.[17] She performed a live set in Berlin for music streaming website Boiler Room in 2012.[18]
Despite her self-described "nerdy,"[19] studio-based background, Emika notes a major shift in her recent output evolving from the isolated nature of her self-titled debut LP to a more interactive and freewheeling piece of work in 2013's Dva.
2015 saw her two albums: piano opus Klavirni and electronic studio album DREI. Ibiza Spotlight gave both records their Album Of The Week accolade.[20]
Emika launched her own label in 2014, Emika Records, initially as a platform to release her own music. The debut release was a 12" entitled Melancholia Euphoria.[30]
