Interview: Erase Everything - 'Glass Souls' EP Summer Shows

Erase Everything have had a smashing 2025, yet in some ways it feels like they're only just getting rolling. Including members of Bleeders, Shitripper, Fever Lake, Pluto and Crap Date amongst their ranks, the Aotearoa super-combo of Angelo Munro, Milan Borich, Matthew Berry, Grant Sowerby, and John Ropiha recently unfurled their Glass Souls EP via Sunreturn — a fuzz-scorched four song interzone of alt-rock / post-punk / shoegaze shimmer. In advance of this Saturday's release event at Tāmaki Makaurau's Big Fan (also headlining Night 1 of Gathering Shadows festival of dark arts in January), the group opened up to Chris Cudby about their journey together, sonic touchstones, lineup reshuffles and future plans...

Erase Everything

Tickets on sale HERE via UTR

Chris Cudby: How is everyone in the band feeling, now your Glass Souls EP is out in the world?

Angelo Munro: We are really happy, we are proud of it. We did it on a shoestring budget but Milon Williams managed to work with tones and mixing etc and get something out there that we can be happy with.

Erase Everything's membership has a fine pedigree. How did the band originally come together, plus what is each member's role in the band?

Angelo: Band came together in 2023, but due to the Auckland floods we put things on ice for a while. The initial idea was just a few friends chatting about doing something that captured our love of the music we grew up on in the 1990s. Bands like Hum, Smashing Pumpkins, My Bloody Valentine and Killing Joke all come to mind, but we wanted to forge our own sound and not fit in a box. Theres' been a couple of lineup changes with bass and drums, but essentially I sing and write the majority of the lyrics.

Grant is a guitarist and writes a large chuck of the music. He lives in Dunedin now after he lost everything in the Auckland floods, so his role is that he writes music and sends it to us up here to work on as a four-piece. He then comes up and we work collectively to realise these ideas into full songs, he also obviously plays live and records with us.

Berry is the other guitarist and he has written some full songs for the band, but then also contributes to Grant's ideas as they come up. He keeps things rock solid for us up here as a four-piece.

John is now our drummer [subbing in for Milan Borich] but was our bass player for the past year, he’s the funniest and definitely the most handsome band member! Then we have a new bass player stepping into the fold in the next month, that’s a secret for now. Props to our friend Bailey who is filling in on the bass for us for the next few shows.

Is there any one member who steers the ship? How tricky is it to wrangle the troops together for band practises?

Angelo: I think we all wear different hats and contribute in different ways, but it's me generally that’s playing the “dad” role — booking our tours and cracking the whip when required. Because four of us live in Auckland it's pretty easy to practice as a four-piece. Grant sends his ideas up and we realise them as a band, then he will come up every few months for practicing and/or recording playing shows. It really hasn’t proven to be too much of a problem to date, we don’t play every week like some bands tend to and I think that’s a good thing.

Glass Souls is a rock solid release. It reminds me of how Flying Nun used to put out those classic four song EPs (eg. Bailterspace, Straitjacket Fits), presenting four strong sides to the group. Did you have any specific aims for the new EP + what lyrical themes are you exploring?

Angelo: The EP was our first proper release I guess you could say. The first EP was really more a demo and you can only listen to that on Bandcamp. The aim for the EP was really to get a good batch of songs out there and introduce ourselves as a band, now that’s done and we are playing our last EP release show this weekend, we can now concentrate on a full length album. Lyrically its always the darker themes that inspire me, but then also a sense of hope when you push through the hard times and find that light. There is themes of loss, themes of how we look at our reality, and themes around taking back control of our own destiny and shaping a world that we can not only exist in, but thrive in.

How do you feel Erase Everything's sound has evolved since your 2024 debut?

Angelo: We have found our sound I believe. The demo was basically just the first three songs we wrote and we were still finding our way. I think the Glass Souls EP represents a space where we found our identity in 2025. Having said that the new material we are working on is a little different again, but that’s art right?

Were there any musical touchstones / points of reference you were thinking about when you were recording Glass Souls?

Angelo: It's important to us to not sound like a copycat band, so we draw influence from lots of different places, from Bailterspace to the Smashing Pumpkins to The Cure to MBV. Even newer modern shoegaze like Nothing are there as influences, but I don’t think you could pin it on one thing. I remember after our first show a person came up to me and said "I cant put my finger on who you guys sound like, its not straight up shoegaze, but its not indie or punk either." To us that’s a compliment, if we don’t fit in a clique or a scene that’s a good thing.

Grant Sowerby: I know when it came to the drums sounds I made Milon listen to Chat Pile for reference.

How did you link up with Sunreturn?

Angelo: Zac Arnold started following us on social media and I flipped out as I really love what Sunreturn is doing. It’s inspiring to see a label with such a wide range of artists and the things artists like Mokotron or Amamelia are doing, to name a few. I reached out to him saying I'd love to send him our demo then we met for coffee at everyone’s fave, Sozo in Glen Eden. Its easy with Sunreturn as its about the music first and Zac doesn’t put any pressure on; he really is in it for the right reasons 100%.

What can fans look forward to from Erase Everything at your show at Big Fan? Is Gathering Shadows festival Erase Everything's first show in Wellington?

Angelo: Yep, the Gathering Shadows gig will be our first in the capital. I always love playing there, not only are the shows great, but the food in Welly is next level! Big Fan in Tāmaki Makaurau... Well to be honest, I know we will bring a high energy show full of emotion (and shitloads of distortion and feedback). The one thing that excites me is how amazing this lineup is. Roy Irwin, Cindy etc all headline shows on their own and are world class. I'm really looking forward to seeing Crying Ivy and Young Baptist for the first time too. Doors are at 7:00pm kids. DON’T TURN UP LATE!

John Ropiha: Well those two shows will be my first as the new drummer. I have played bass in Erase Everything for the past year, but I had to fill in on drums in our recent shows down South Island. I loved it so much I jumped at the opportunity to switch to drums moving forward when Milan left the band just a few weeks back. I haven’t played drums in a band since I was in high school, so that’s exciting!

So there's an Erase Everything album on the horizon? Any plans locked in for 2026?

Grant: We have written at least six new songs towards an album, so it's very much on the horizon. We have had a couple of lineup changes of late, with Milan's departure and John moving to drums, but we have a new bass player joining in the coming weeks and its an exciting time. The new material is natural evolution and moving in a heavier direction.

Angelo: We are locked in for two gigs in January playing Gathering Souls fest in Poneke and a Sunreturn event in Tāmaki Makaurau [to be announced]. After that we will knuckle down with this new record and keep playing all over as it’s the best part. I think 2026 is going to be busy!