Eryka are on road to the big time

Mar 13 2008 By Graham Fraser

ERYKA are a band on the up.

In a few months time, the Blantyre boys will hit the road on their second UK tour.

Ryan Fletcher (24), who played Vader in BBC soap River City, is the band’s lead singer.

Along with fellow Blantyre locals Paul Mosley (guitar/backing vocals), Kenny McInally (bass), and Ross Morgan, from Girvan (drums and samples), Eryka are one of the leading rock/indie bands in the county.

The band were born in the classrooms of Hamilton’s John Ogilvie High School.

Ryan and Paul started a group called Merchant City before Kenny joined them a few years later.

When Ross completed the line-up two years ago, the boys decided to change their name to Eryka.

As Kenny jokes: “We can never disclose the reason behind the name. If we told you we would have to kill you. Or maybe just give you a sore leg!”

Eryka don’t like to compare themselves to others. Kenny points out: “We are trying to be different from the other stuff out there just now, certainly different to all the jingle jangle guitar bands riding on the back of the Arctic Monkeys phenomenon.”

The band’s biggest gig to date was headlining ABC1 in Glasgow in a sell-out show after they won a Battle of the Bands competition.

Eryka have graced the pages of the Hamilton Advertiser recently in our coverage of a charity concert for The Haven, a Blantyre-based charity for people with life-limiting illness.

Kenny added: “We feel The Haven is a great charity to help, especially as it’s based in our home town of Blantyre.

“All the boys in the band know someone who’s either had cancer or whose life has been affected by cancer. It’s a great place to get away from it all.”

So what is next for the Blantyre band?

“Our plans are to complete our self-funded album which we’ve been writing, recording and producing ourselves,” said Kenny. “We hope to play some of the summer festivals with a view to signing a deal with a major record label.”

Eryka’s next gig is at The Apple Store in Glasgow’s Buchanan Street next Thursday, March 20.

Another charity gig at the SECC in April will keep the boys occupied before they embark on a UK tour.

At this early stage of planning, they hope to play in Ayr, Glasgow Manchester and London.

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/ erykamusic