Rising alternative soul pop artist, Elise Elvira, creates hit song out of youtube’s beats
Elise Elvira is an international artist with roots in many different genres. The 23 year old singer's vibrato came to life through opera as a kid and her melodic language is largely inspired by jazz. She draws inspiration from artists such as Mac Miller, Lianne La Havas, Amy Winehouse and Frank Ocean. With raw lyrics about mental health she has successfully gathered attention to her music. Her debut single “Head Over Water” caught the attention of one of Sweden's biggest music papers, GAFFA.
Elise has created her own rich musical landscape and invites us to explore its ecstatic peaks guided by her distinctive melodies.
Maria: How did you get into music? When was the day when you woke up and decided that this is what you wanna do now?
Elise: I haven't really had that day. I've been singing my whole life. But I grew up in a very academic family. So I didn't really know that you could pursue music as a career. But then I started music in High School, here in Stockholm, Sweden. And that was when I first met the people who thought that they were going to work with this and that's when I got into doing music as a job. I've just trusted where life has taken me and I wrote my first song about four years ago. And since then, it's just been taking me to new places. So now, looking back at it, it's like I always knew. I never thought I'm gonna be an artist. It's just like, it's been my way to cope with life. And now I'm showing it to the world.
Maria: How would you describe the genre of your music?
Elise: I would say it’s quite genre bending. I come from a more of a jazz scene. But I would say, now that it's all produced, it sounds more like an alternative-pop. It's definitely a mix of things. I would say alternative soul-pop.
Maria: What was your creative process like for writing your song «Eagles»?
Elise: I had been in quarantine for like, two weeks. And when I got back to school I developed social anxiety. And I got really irritated at people. I don't know why, I was just in a bad mental state. And I went home and I wrote it on the YouTube beats at first. I don't remember how but I just knew exactly what it would be. Normally I don't know what I'm writing about until the song is done. But with this song, I knew that I wanted to describe the feeling of disappointment when your best friend leaves you for other people. And I did the first draft on a YouTube beat and then I sent it over to the producer I worked with and we've been creating a new world around the top line.
It was quite quick. This one I wrote like most of the songs in one sitting, but then I brought in a close friend of mine, who has written some of my songs with me, and she helped me with the last pieces of the song so that it would make sense. And then the production also took about like three or four sessions. So for me it was quite quick.
Maria: Do you think your process of writing songs has changed in any way since you started releasing music?
Elise: Yes, because before I wrote only by myself, and I didn't like to record songs, so it was very like me and the piano. And now I still write a lot of music in that way. But sometimes I also start from scratch with a producer. My creativity also has gotten more vivid since working with others because you get new ideas from other minds and from other sounds and stuff. So I mean, I feel like I'm getting more and more back to where I was, how I did it in the beginning, which is where I want to be.
Maria: What advice would you have for someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Elise: I would say, trust what comes out of you naturally. I remember I tried to be like my idols at first with my writing, and those songs are not good. And I still, to this day, I don't write the songs I listen to. I listen to quite upbeat music and I do like slow melancholy music. So I would just say trust your intuition and start to trust that you already have what you need to have and then you can find a team around it. But don't try to be something that already exists. You should just be what you are. And that will take you to where you should be.
Maria: Who do you think inspired your sound?
Elise: I still don't know why I do the music I do. But I have some artists that I listened to a lot, such as Mac Miller. He was a great musician and lyricist. And I listened to Frank Ocean a lot. And I listened to Leon the House a lot. I listened to a lot of Amy Winehouse when I was younger. But I don't have a reference entering a session or something like that.
Maria: What is the message that you would like to share through your songs?
Elise: I'm working on an EP. And I feel like it's me, advising myself. Like I write it to myself. I write songs that I need to hear. So I guess what I find in my music is comfort. Especially when it comes to mental health and just being a young human in this day and age. So the message is more of a like description of my mental health as a young woman.
I feel like when I hear my songs when they're out it sounds like I'm telling others what they should do, how they should live their life. But it's really me, telling myself how I want to be a better person.
Maria: Do you think that you can be a better musician and if so how would you achieve it?
Elise: I would like to get better at other instruments. I play the piano, but now that I've worked a lot with producers - I haven't practiced as much. So I would like to get into that to trust myself more within that. I practice a lot of singing but I feel like I am more of a storyteller. And so I feel this is what I’d like to develop. And I think meeting new people will also help me evolve. But I think if you just keep on doing what you love, you'll just evolve with time.
Maria: If you can have your fans remember one thing about you, what would it be?
Elisa: Hopefully, that I was brave enough to be honest about subjects that maybe not everyone wants to talk about. That I just trusted my instinct with my music and that it touched a lot of people. So my lyrics basically – that I chose to talk about life in an honest way.
Maria: Do you have upcoming and future projects?
Elise: Yes, I don't have the dates yet, but I am planning on releasing a single in May. And then the last single in August and then the EP in September. It's like it's a story about me going from depressed to more happy. It's really an EP about mental health. It’s a blend of different types of songs.
You can find Elise here:
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