Enfnts Terribles

What should people know about Earl Elliot?

I would like for people to hear my music as very autobiographical. I always think of it a little bit like the soundtrack of my own coming of age: how I learn to deal with doubt, experience love, and lose love again. Just everything from when I was sixteen-seventeen up until now.

What inspired you to become an artist and continue with it?

I have a very two-sided relationship with music. At first, I had the idea that I would go to university and music would be kind of a side thing. That eventually became less and less of a side thing, and then at a certain point, I decided to apply to the Amsterdam conservatory. I learned so much there and also changed a lot as an artist. Before university, I was making more guitar-based, alternative indie. Now it’s more pop with a lot of R&B and hip-hop influences.

Music is really what I can’t let go of. I often had moments where I thought I’d had it with making music, but in the end, I always come back to it. I can’t help myself. I always have lots of ideas for videos or artwork I want to make. Sometimes I even have ideas for a roll-out, and then later, I try to figure out what song would go with it.

Are you someone who puts themselves to it and starts writing, or is that a process that has to happen spontaneously?

I think both. In the notes on my cell phone there are lyrics for four albums if I were to put them all together and actually record them. Especially when I’m in the car, which is mega inconvenient, I often have ideas that I want to write down. But to actually write songs, I have to sit down. Especially because nowadays, I often start with the production and then I see how the song needs to pan out.

How did your move to Amsterdam influence your music?

It has had a huge influence. I studied pop music at the conservatory with all these people from different musical backgrounds. You learn a lot during class, but probably just as much from being around each other. The first two years were tough for me because I suddenly felt like I was being thrown into the water when I could barely swim. Everyone sang better than I could, played guitar better, knew more than I did… I had a crisis: what music do I want to make? Then after trying and failing a lot, I figured out some things that worked.

I can’t do everything, but I do know whom I trust to help me out. For example, my former roommate still mixes all of my songs because I trust him completely. The most important thing for me is finding the right collaboration where I can get the best out of it for all parties involved.

You’ve released only singles so far. How come you haven’t released an EP yet, for example?

I don’t really like EPs because, as a consumer, I don’t listen to them. To do an entire rollout with one or two singles and then you maybe get three more songs, that feels very unsatisfying to me. Whereas, I like singles. For example, in 2017, Frank Ocean released a series of singles randomly. That period was so exciting to me because I could wake up on any given day, and there could be a new song out. I also really like listening to albums, but I’m not there yet. I have some songs ready to go that I’m putting aside for a potential album, but I don’t want to start with that until there’s a real demand for it. You can only do your debut album once, so I don’t want to waste that opportunity. So I’m going to be doing singles for a little while.

You recently released “Shades.” How did that song come about?

I wrote “Shades” at the end of my previous relationship. It’s from the perspective that we both felt things weren’t going well. It wasn’t working, but at the time, we also didn’t realize that a breakup would be the end result. Everything outside of that last verse is about us seeing each other, but it’s hard, and how do we get through that? One or two days after the eventual breakup, I wrote that last verse where I’m coming to terms with it really being over.

He flees the city to try and get his mind off things, and yet the only thing he can think about is what happened back home. He can’t escape it. We worked that out nicely with different phases of that grieving process. From numbness in feeling, scenes with obvious sadness, anger and coming-to-terms with the fact that this is just how it is going to be from now on. At the end of the video, I pack my things and realize that I can’t ignore life because I’m going through something. Life has to go on. I’m glad that the stories compliment each other without being a literal translation of each other.

Finally, is there anything else you want to say?

Check out my videos, even more than I would want to say stream my music because, in those videos, you get a complete story. Actually, sometimes, I have the idea for a video before I make the song. For “Training For A Marathon” I had the visual of a marathon as a metaphor for an image of success in my head before I wrote down a single note. I’m glad I ended up writing a nice song with it. So if you really want to get to know me, I think it’s best to watch my videos and listen closely to the lyrics.

Follow Earl Elliot on Instagram and Spotify.

Earl Elliot is wearing full looks of Igor Dieryck‘s graduation collection.

Pictures and interview by Maxim Meyer-Horn
Production assistance by Lune Weymeersch