Interview by Morgan Hermiston
In the last week or so, I had the chance to have a chat with British singer-songwriter Ellur. With tracks falling into categories such as indie-pop and britpop, each song she has released so far have demonstrated what has been described as “compelling originality”. We spoke about multiple topics including dream support slots, her excitement for festival season, and she told me who we should all be listening to.
I started off by asking Ellur to introduce herself. “I’m Ellur from Halifax, West Yorkshire“, she began, “I’m an indie lady who likes to write blunt and honest lyrics and then dance around on stage while I’m singing them“.
Ellur has recently shared a space on lineups and stages with some of the biggest names in music, supporting the likes of Jack Savoretti and Robbie Williams. I asked her how these gigs went and the feelings she experienced from such accolades. Ellur started off by stating that “they were amazing. I love playing in that setting“. Carrying on, “creating a big show and choosing what I wear, what songs we play and how we’re going to fill the space and engage people“. She further added that she’s “been wanting to be a performer forever, so every detail is considered when we do these shows. To meet such great artists backstage and get the chance to speak with them and show my appreciation for their artistry is also an amazing part of the experience“.
To continue, I was interested to know who she’d love to support in the future. Ellur replied, “too many to name one, but in my dreams I’m supporting Coldplay, Sam Fender, Chappell Roan, The 1975, Billie Eilish“.
On the Saturday at this year’s Leeds Festival (August 24th), Ellur will take to the BBC Introducing Stage, following on from the likes of Neck Deep. As part of an already incredible lineup, I asked Ellur how she was feeling going into such a massive festival slot. She started by saying, “I think this lineup is one of the best I’ve seen! Lana Del Ray, Catfish, Fontaines, Rachel Chinouriri, Matt Maltese, the list goes on!“. Ellur then continued by explaining, “I’m a huge fan of this festival, and have been attending in various ways for years. I once worked in a burger van just to get the chance to see some of the acts. I wandered around on my lunch breaks, dreaming of getting the chance to play. I can’t believe I’m playing this year!“.
With her “infectiously authentic” way of songwriting, I was keen to get a better insight into what an average songwriting or song making day is like for Ellur. She explained, “I try to write every day in whatever way I can. Sometimes that means picking up a guitar and humming some nonsense over some chords until a song falls out. Others, it’s writing poetry in the park or creating a Logic project, and having some fun with some demo production and writing over a beat“.
When I asked her which lyric or song she would love to have written herself, she started by telling me, “any song by Adrianne Lenker“. Ellur elaborated, “it’s an honour to be living at the same time as her. What a great writer!” Adrianne Lenker was also featured in Ellur’s list of artists that she’s been listening to recently. This was along with, “Dora Jar, Sarah Kinsley, Rachel Chinouriri, Lola Young, Chappell Roan, Billie Eilish, Hemlocke Springs, SOMOH, Charli xcx. I love women!“.
We moved on to discussing her upcoming release. The single ‘God Help Me Now‘, comes out on August 8th, and Ellur describes it as an “honest presentation of how I’ve been feeling about the world at the moment“. She explained, “it feels like we’re living in a really dark time, and I’ve been sat with those feelings for a while. Music is my main form of expression, and I wanted to use the chance to write a song that might connect with people and maybe uplift people in a scary place in time“. Describing how the song came about, “I wrote it with my two friends Ben Francis Leftwich and Jack Leonard in Jack’s garden last summer and it’s probably my favourite song I’ve released so far. I got to work with Joel Johnston on the production, who has actually produced all the tracks on the upcoming, and he’s really helped to bring to life the sound I’ve been after for so long. I can’t wait!“.
As my final question, I reflected back to Ellur’s introduction. She’s from Halifax, so I wanted to know if there were any local talents that we should be looking out for and listening to. “Yes!“, was how she began her reply. She went on to say, “EEVAH! Alt-pop duo from Halifax who are writing some incredible new music (that I’ve had the pleasure of hearing). I saw them twice on their recent tour and they were absolutely amazing“. Another person to note, according to Ellur is, “an artist from Huddersfield named Emmeline, a friend of mine, whose music is really really cool!“. And on a final note, Ellur concluded that she’d “like to shoutout my friends The Caymans who have just released a nice indie tune! Video was filmed by my best mater and her little brother“.
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