3PM with Emma Beko

Our 3PM series uplifts emerging creative talents in the local community by hosting them for mini concerts and mini snacks in Sid Lee offices. When greeting our latest guest Emma Beko, we weren’t quite sure what to expect. The half-Peruvian half-Hungarian musician, whose sound is equal parts haunting and heavy, careened into our Montreal office’s front door with a 100-kilowatt smile and an enormous stuffed teddy bear.

Emma Beko was one half of the celebrated rap duo Heartstreets before breaking off on her own to release several hit singles and an EP titled BLUE. Her new EP Superficial Stains dropped last month.

Before lighting the office with her voice, Emma sat down with us to chat about identity, music, and cheese.

What keeps you hungry?

I've often felt like an outsider, which I've realized more and more with the songs that I put out that I'm not the only one to feel that way. Literally speaking, I'm always hungry. I love food. It makes me so happy. It’s my biggest joy outside of music.

What’s your favourite snack?

It's so hard for me to answer that because it really depends on the mood but I love cheese. I need to have, like, a hard cheese, a soft cheese, an in-between cheese, a goat cheese…I love it.

Does your background influence what you do?

So I'm Peruvian-Hungarian. I write a lot about my experiences like self-reflection and philosophy and existing and how I felt growing up here in Montreal with that identity.

Montreal or New York?

Montreal, Montreal. Because Montreal is still cheap! You can make art and still live. Montreal is my home.

Read about the last 3PM here.