Elliphant is killing the music game right now and if you haven’t acquainted yourself yet, the time is now. We hung out prior her opening up for Charli XCX at The Mayan theater in downtown LA. Elliphant is a machine on stage… so awesome. Check out her interview with us below!
Interview & photography by Angelo Kritikos
Tell us a bit about your collaboration on your song ‘One More’ with MØ and the inspiration behind the music video.
When I did the song with Joel Little, I knew I wanted to put MØ on it. I’ve been talking with MØ about it for two years. Every time we’re in festivals together, we have good memories and I really wanted to put her on a song. This was the first friendship song I did in a while and it was just perfect. One of my favorite music videos is by the band Girls. The have a song called “Vomit.” My video for “One More” is actually a replicate of their video, but in their video there is no people. It’s just a cab driving around and it’s really interesting. I wanted my video to be us only in a cab with a few shots outside. It’s one of the projects as Elliphant that turned out exactly like I planned it.
How much control do you have of your artwork and visuals?
I try to have a hundred percent control over everything. Sometimes, like a couple of months ago, I was on tour and as songs were releasing it was too much. But I’m really lucky and happy now I have a good crew that can represent me. I’m not here to be a fantastic singer. I’m here to be an artist and create art. I’m going to use Elliphant to do the art I’ve always dreamt about doing.
What is your art background? Did you grow up involved in any other art mediums?
I got into a photography crowd where I was surrounded by a lot of great photographers. I had a chance to buy a camera for really cheap so I just started spontaneously doing photography. It was a new art form for me and I really fell in love with it. So for about two and a half years I was constantly doing photo projects. My camera actually got stolen around the same time I signed with my music project. I felt that it was good timing to leave photography behind to start my new focus on music.
You’ve had some awesome collaborations this year – Skrillex, MØ, Doja Cat. How important is it to you, to collaborate with other artists?
I think it’s very important. It’s cool- with Elliphant I’ve had the opportunity to meet the people I’ve always wanted to meet. I want to have my fans involved in my project as well so we can constantly interact. I’m not here to explore my dream I’ve had since a kid, I’m here because life gave this to me. I wouldn’t feel good about it if I wasn’t sharing it with everybody. Without the rest of the people involved, it’s nothing. I’m going to continue working with other artists. Right now I’m working with Immortal Technique.
How would you describe your performance style?
I think it’s honestly me. Depends on how I feel that day. It’s very wild. It’s not a perfect performance at all. It has nothing to do with being perfect. I think it’s more hip-hop in that way. I’m about beats, energy, and jumping around more than nailing songs and lyrics. It’s more raw like that. I look at performance almost like a sexual meeting. It’s something you never really learn. Even if you know it, even if you’ve done it six hundred thousand times, you still don’t know how to fuck a new person. You have to work it out every time. It’s hard finding the crowd’s vibe during really short sets but it always ends up working out.
Where do you feel most creatively fulfilled – Is it writing, in the studio, on stage, making visuals?
I’m not in the moment so much. When creating art, I’m trying to make it as good as possible. Sometimes a song comes to me four months after I made it. That’s when I start hearing it and loving it. That’s the moment I love the most. When the haze is gone and I can see my project. When I have the CD in my hands and can listen to it in my car. When it’s fully done- that’s my moment.
