A Conversation With Eloise

23 year old rising star Eloise has one mission: to make listeners feel. With her debut album Drunk On A Flight recently released on April 14th, we had the rare chance to speak with her to discuss it. Eloise hails from the distinguished BRIT School, where friend of Earworm Digital, Matilda Mann, also went to and they even became friends there. She was an actress early on in life before realizing that music was her calling and if you have ever listened to her music then it’s safe to say that she made the right choice.

Signed to the same label as indie darlings such as Bruno Major, Lizzy McAlpine, and Laura Marling, Eloise is using her debut album to prove that she belongs in the conversation next to all these majorly acclaimed artists. Eloise is on the cusp of elevating herself to the next level of her career. Already cutting her teeth in performing thanks to shows in the U.K. and even in the U.S. as the opener for Bruno Major, Eloise has definitely already made waves in the music industry but 2023 might be the year where she crashes onto everyone’s shores metaphorically speaking. I got a chance to speak with her through Zoom and talk with her about her debut album and even some interesting stuff from her past. 

Christian: I always love to ask people from the UK this because I feel like it's kind of a hot topic. Do you think the Tesco meal deal is worth the hype or are you more Sainsbury’s girl?

Eloise: Well, I would normally go sainsbury's, but I think all of the meal deals are really good. I mean, I think it's great bang for your buck. You get loads for what you pay for. And I'm a sucker for kind of bad long train journey food. That's kind of my vibe.

C: But also on the topic of food, real quick, too, I heard you're actually a good baker, right?

E: No, I mean, I used to be. I used to cook all the time, and especially, in lockdown, I got really into baking stuff and making a bunch of food because I didn't have anything else to do. But I've completely lost it all now because my boyfriend is a ten out of ten chef. He's not actually a chef, but he's an amazing cook. So I've abandoned all cooking responsibilities and haven't practiced in ages. I made a bunch of focaccia for a while. I made loads of pizza doughs. Like, I really got into dough and stuff and a lemon drizzle cake. That was kind of my vibe. But really, I mean, I cooked a lot. I made loads of Sunday roasts and stuff.

C: That sounds pretty good. Dang. All right. Sorry, off the topic. Let's get back to the music. You dropped a song earlier this month called “Therapist” and I've been listening to it. It's very good. You also released some other singles already. The title track “Drunk on a Flight” and “Giant Feelings” too. What was your process behind selecting those as singles for the album?

E: I think with singles, there's way less room to be artistic about which singles you release. Singles are essentially somewhat of a strategy to put your best foot forward and try and show what the album is going to be in as little songs as you can so that people will be excited about your album. So there wasn't so much of a process going into that. I was just like, “What are the songs that are going to show off the album best?” Because actually, my favorite songs, some of them aren't the singles. Some of them are on the rest of the album. But I thought we need to show all the different angles on this album.

C: Who has inspired your sound so far?

E: I mean, so many people. I listen to a lot of musical theater when I grew up and a lot of Burt Bacharach and all the classic kind of oldies such as Carol King and Stevie Wonder and all that. But I think also in later years, when I found my own music, I listened to loads of Jamiroquai and a lot of Kimbra. Such a mishmash. There's not one set thing. Jeff Buckley, such a confusing taste. (laughs)

C: I know early on your career, too, you got some buzz because you did a cover of a Bruno Major song and then you even went on tour with him for a little bit?

E: Yeah, absolutely. I made a music Instagram account when I was still in BRIT School and basically the second thing I covered was actually his song. I think it was like a day later that he was like, “I love your cover. This is amazing. Would you like to sing it with me at my gig on Friday?” I already had tickets for the gig and then we performed it and I met his manager straight after the show, who became my manager the next week. I dropped out of BRIT School and we just toured for three years, basically. I was in his band and I supported him. So it was a very wild whirlwind.

C: You also toured the U.S. for your own headlining solo run last year too?

E: It was my first time doing a proper, grown up tour that was my own and with a band and I don't know. What was crazy was that we were playing venues that I played when I was supporting Bruno, and i'd recognize all these venues when we walked into them. I've been like, “Oh my God. I've been here before.” But I was the support act and now people are coming to see me. It's wild.

C: It is wild. Did you feel like there was a big difference between the American crowds and the U.K. crowds?

E: Absolutely. A massive difference. I think U.K. crowds, maybe not are really subdued and want to be impressed a little bit. There's definitely a little bit of ego in the audience, whereas in the States, people are so generous with wanting to let you know that they're really enjoying something. If you do a run that they really like they'll whoop you and all that. It's way harder to get U.K. crowds on side. I love playing in the States.

C: I feel like you've been like an entertainer ever since you were a kid because I think you said you were a trapeze artist in the circus when you're like a child. Is that true?

E: That's so funny that you know that. I wonder where I said that. When I was six, I was in school in France and it was part of the school thing that year where we had to go and join this circus and you had to basically try out different things that you could do. I wasn't really good at any tight rope walking or anything so I went on the trapeze and then became obsessed with the trapeze. My dad made me one in the garden and we just did a circus run in rural France for a bit. The trapeze act.

C: Obviously, you're doing music right now and you've done some acting but do you think you’ll ever go back to being in the circus for a bit?

E: One last run, literally. Literally. No. I hear it's one of the most insanely hard things to be in but I really appreciated it. I've developed a fear of clowns, as I think everyone has as they've grown up, so I don't know if I could do it anymore.

C: What is your songwriting process like? Does it take you a while to get inspiration or is it all in the heart?

E: I mean, it normally takes me forever. I'm normally a real nightmare artist to work with because i'm not someone who just turns them out all the time because I feel i'm so young. Really. I have to go out and live stuff to then be able to write about it. But my normal process is if I feel something, overwhelming amounts of something, I generally can't help but run home from whatever i'm doing and have to get the idea down. Basically, I've been known to be the person that if we're all out, like the pub or whatever, everyone will be chatting, and then they'll see me speaking to my voice notes and stuff, and they'll be like, she's got another one.

C: Thank you for taking time to do your interview. This has been a riot. Before we end things, we need to know, is there anything you like to promote? Obviously, the album that's coming out on is it April 14. Anything else you would like to say?

E: The only thing I need to promote is the album. I'm a one thing at a time girl. I would hate to have something else coming out. My album Drunk On A Flight comes out on April 14 and that's about it.

Listen to Drunk On A Flight here and check out her tour dates in case she performs at a city near you here!