THE RISING STAR
Outline’s GUIDE TO
RADIO 1’s
BIG WEEKEND NORWICH 2015
Tis lion-maned half Jamaican singer has the world between her teeth. Still only 21, she’s already collaborated with Rudimental, Sigma and DJ Fresh, and her debut album Feline’s out later this year. With nearly 300,000 fans on Facebook, Ella has no intention of slowing down I spoke to her about her German Eurovision song and her endless energy.
You trained as a competitive swimmer before turning to your musical career. How come you made this decision? I had to quit swimming as I had really bad ear infections; my ears are really sensitive. I’m a competitive person but had also grown up around creative people; my mum is a designer and worked for Alexander McQueen. So I think in a way, unconsciously, I was always aiming for a creative career. I was a dancer as well as a swimmer but I only discovered I could sing at 16. So I ended up going to the Brits school and did two years of musical theatre. I’d say you’ve picked two of the most competitive careers in the world; athlete and pop star! How do you keep your energy levels up, not just physical but also mentally? My mum always shoved me into activities as a child; I always had loads of energy so she always pushed me to use my energy to give me the most benefit. So when it came to choose what to do at 16 or 18 I would be able to make a proper decision about what I wanted to do. I guess I’ve always had a competitive nature; my energy comes from wanting to keep up with people and beat people! But not in an arrogant way; it’s just a question of making the most of myself and of my youth; you know, I’m 21 and I don’t intend on stopping anytime soon. Do you feel under pressure to be a good role model for young people?
32 / May 2015/
outlineonline.co.uk
I never really assumed myself to be a role model as I live in my own little bubble, so when people say oh, you’re a role model for young people it’s quite daunting. I guess it’s important to be the best version of myself because I don’t want to be responsible for people making shit decisions, basically. On Twitter I’m always very honest, like, I swear a lot and I’ve had to rein it in a bit because you don’t know who you’re going to offend or how old the people are who are reading it. I can’t expect people to know my personality; they might not get my humour like my friends or family would, so you do have to be careful. What influences your songwriting? I’ve just come out of my teens, and during those years you assume the world is against you and you think everything is way worse than it actually is. And when you start dating it can be upsetting…you feel emotions you didn’t know you had before. I find that when you’re in a good mood you don’t analyse why, you don’t think about it all day, but when you’re upset you question everything. So I guess I get my inspiration from my moods. If it comes from the heart it goes to the heart; that’s what I live by and also what I like about music that influences me. Who have you been listening to recently that we should give a go? I’m a huge fan of Adele and Amy Winehouse; they are singers who have had heartbreak that we can relate to. I also
love Lauren Hill and I was named after Ella Fitzgerald; I’m really influenced by strong women and people with something to say. Recently I’ve been listening to Jake Isaac who has supported me a couple of times. He writes with real perception about women and is a genuinely lovely guy too. You’ve written the song Black Smoke which is going to be sung by the German entrant to Eurovision this year. Was the song written for that purpose? It was a song that was a reject from my album actually. I wrote in a couple years ago but I’m still fond of the song; the chorus in particular has lyrics that I can still relate to know. It’s kind of cool that it’ll be on something I’ve grown up watching, and I hope she does well! You’re holding a workshop at the BBC Academy; are you excited? It’s quite daunting actually, because I don’t consider myself established enough to do these kinds of things, but it’s so flattering to be asked! I don’t know everything; I’m still learning and I’m not the best songwriter in the world. But it’s great to be able to represent young people like myself and share my experiences. I’m looking forward to being surrounded by likeminded people and hearing their side of it. It’s going to be a bit of a reunion for you at the Big Weekend, as Rudimental, Sigma and DJ Fresh are playing who you’ve collaborated with in the past. Will you have a chance to catch up or will you be rushing off? I expect I’ll be there for the majority of the weekend. I did the Big Weekend the year before last year with Rudimental, so it will be nice to go back as a solo artist and see people I haven’t worked with in a while.
INFORMATION Ella Eyre plays at the Radio 1 Big
Weekend’s In New Music We Trust Stage on Saturday.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64