1- Where did you grow up? I grew up in Gippsland, which is a regional area of Victoria Australia. It's the coal region of Victoria. So quite rural but still had pockets of suburbia. 2- What is one of the first songs you remember liking as a kid? There are a few that really jump out to me from memory, and they're quite embarrassing to be honest! How You Remind Me by Nickleback. Strawberry Kisses by Nikki Webster. The Hi Five theme song. I will proudly say I also was obsessed with Mambo #5 by Lou Bega, and Blue (da ba Di) by Eiffel 65. I was a 90s kid so unfortunately I missed the 80s, but we listened to a lot of it as I got older! 3- What influenced you to get into music? It was in my DNA from the get go. I started piano lessons at 5, and singing at about 7. No joke, I have video footage of me singing my reading books, making up the melodies as I went. My earliest moment with music, which my parents caught on film, is of me when I was 18 months old at the local RSL on mothers day. I was bobbing along right in front of the cover singer that was on the small platform with his guitar. He chucked a tambourine in my hand and sure enough, I started shaking it. In perfect time, might I add! I have this on film, I can prove it happened haha! 4- At what age did you start playing/singing? As above, super super young. I have always been an exuberant person, and creative channels kind of came with the territory. I don't remember a time where I wasn't creating music. 5- If you could go back in time, what advice would you give to yourself after finishing school? See I don't think I would choose to go back to be honest. If I went back, it would cause a ripple effect of events that would change everything and I think that my adversities and life events have all come and gone in my life at their appropriate moments. So I just wouldn't go back at all. Probably not a popular answer but that's just me! 6- What are some of your favorite songs at the moment? I'm weirdly obsessed with Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears For Fears right now. It just that introduction, it gets me everytime. It's so joyous and lifts the energy. I love everything about it, the chords, melody, lyrics, vocal performances. Heat Waves by Glass Animals is exactly the same, but makes me feel nostalgically sad. It's a really jammy, cool song but lyrically and melodically it's a really sad song. I love music like that. In terms of synthwave music, I love Kelly by L'Avenue, and Stranger Love by Ollie Wride and Sunglasses Kid. Oh and I also am obsessed with a song called Can't Rely On You by HALAN, who is this super hidden gem of an artist. 7- Do you listen to your own music? Absolutely, all the time. I just hear it like I hear other music. Look, I've been toplining as a songwriter for like 5 years now, I've done hundreds of songs in that time that are gathering dust on publisher hard drives. You get so used to your voice after a while because when you work that hard and do that many projects, you don't really have a choice haha! I'm very comfortable with my voice and sound and genuinely enjoy the content I create. 8- Which musician would you like to collaborate with next? I've mentioned the 2 I want to work with the most above- L'Avenue and Sunglasses Kid. Legit, L'Avenue is making productions that compete with The Midnight in terms of the richness of the sounds in his productions. And Sunglasses Kid is just such an experienced and established producer who really knows his stuff. I kinda want to slide into their DMs but I'm also kind of terrified haha. 9- What is one of your favorite memories so far in your music career? Well, my career as an artist is very new, so I only have a small range to pick from if I focus on that! For me, it was when I was in a twitch stream and they were playing Mother Mania, and I could see the hosts eyes just nearly popping out of their heads, they were so blown away. And everyone in chat was just going nuts. It really felt surreal and awesome to see something that I felt might be a little too unique in lyrical content to resonate with people really hit in a way I wasn't expecting. 10- What advice would you give to someone that is just starting to get into music? I'll be a little controversial here. I would honestly say wait. Don't rush it. Don't release the first thing you write or want to release. I really feel like part of the reason that people struggle is because they want it to happen NOW for them, without doing their 10,000 hours. I know that might seem a bit rich coming from someone who only just released their debut, but keep in mind that I've been working behind the scenes in the music industry as a songwriter and topliner. I originally wanted to start my artist career at 18, then pulled out, wrote for myself for a few years as therapy, then came back as a songwriter, failed at that for 5 years and now I'm 29 and I have come full circle. And I 100% needed all those years. To build a thick skin. To develop my craft. To understand exactly who I am, what I sound like, what I look like, how to market myself. So my advice is to slow down, take the years to learn, to grow your knowledge and develop yourself and your brand so that when you hit, you are hitting with intention, purpose, and have a way higher shot of finding your market and riding the right wave. There's no time limit to this stuff. Use feedback groups, soundcloud, reddit, discord, to connect, network, and build relationships and your skills and get feedback on your work first without having to smash it on spotify. But I honestly think people who just launch because they're so eager to get their stuff out there are making a bit mistake and missing a crucial step in their artist development to the detriment of their career.
Elyxir currently has a hot single out called "Feels Like Magic." You can hear it on Bandcamp, Spotify and other sites. Check out her profile page for videos, pictures and music by clicking below.
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