If there’s one factor to know concerning the singer-songwriter Eli, it’s that she loves pop music. Like, actually loves it, with an appreciation that stretches proper again to her childhood, a information that verges on encyclopaedic and a ardour that shines by not simply in her music and her visuals, but in addition after we meet up with her simply days earlier than the discharge of her debut album, Stage Girl.
The first time Eli remembers being stopped in her tracks by pop music was listening to Mariah Carey’s Christmas album as a toddler in her household house.
“I do know it’s a random one. I want I may say that Glitter was being performed in my home, however it wasn’t,” she tells HuffPost UK, referring to the oft-forgotten Mariah soundtrack album that finally grew to become a fan-favourite a few years after it was initially launched.
“My dad and mom would play that album throughout the vacation season, and it was one of many first instances that, in an insanely impactful approach, I used to be listening to one thing and I used to be like, ‘what the fuck is coming into my ears proper now?’.
“I hate to say this, as a result of folks say this about a number of singers and it’s cliché, however it felt like heaven’s gates have been opening. Hearing her, whereas I used to be hanging ornaments on the tree, I used to be like, ‘I must Shazam this’ – too scared to ask my dad and mom like, ‘hey, who is that this?’.”
From then, a younger Eli rapidly grew to become obsessive about Miley Cyrus – or, extra particularly, her Disney alter-ego.
“I reside for Hannah Montana,” Eli enthuses. “Now, later in life, I’m proudly owning the truth that she was such an enormous affect, as a result of perhaps from 15 to twenty or one thing, I’d not need to say that. I’d be like, ‘no, I really like Björk’, or like, ‘I’m actually into cool shit’. But Hannah Montana is cool as fuck.”
Looking again, it’s not too onerous to think about why Eli – rising up as a queer baby in suburban Massachusetts, with what felt like unattainable hopes of pursuing her personal goals – would really feel an affinity to Miley’s character within the present, an unremarkable schoolgirl by day, who may don a blonde wig and develop into another person fully.
“There have been so many layers beneath what the Disney company was placing ahead,” she says of Hannah Montana. “That is my favorite stuff, when it peeks by. It jogs my memory of myself, and my little repressed life.
“Until now, I really feel like a number of issues have been being hidden, that have been attempting to shine by – issues that I really like about myself as a human now.”
Eli’s love for Miley continued as the previous baby star’s profession developed, and she or he shed her Disney picture on songs like Can’t Be Tamed and through her headline-grabbing Bangerz period.
“Seeing all of it unfold, it was so cool to see somebody escape this place which will have been a bit repressed, or conservative, or ‘obtained to be bottled up’, ‘obtained to enchantment to the lots’ and ‘enchantment to the conservatives’ or no matter,” she says.
“I don’t need to intellectualise it an excessive amount of, however it’s freaking unbelievable. And Hannah’s additionally a drag queen, and in addition I’m Trannah Montana – so I reside for all of it.”
There’s an apparent cause Eli’s love of pop runs so deep. For the 25-year-old, it typically felt like a lifeline throughout the tougher and isolating instances she confronted in her personal adolescence.
“Growing up within the prime MTV music video period, I’m seeing Britney Spears, and I’m considering ‘who the fuck is that this lady?’, and every thing I ever wished is being mirrored again at me,” she remembers. “And I’m feeling ashamed about it, and confused about it. I’m additionally feeling invigorated and excited.”
For that cause, Eli is especially upset about how pop has traditionally been so readily dismissed by so-called “critical” music critics and commentators, which she places all the way down to the very fact it has all the time been a style loved by ladies and the queer group.
“It’s misogyny, and it’s patriarchy,” she states. “And it’s like, fuck your rock band. Fuck your boring dad music. It won’t ever be Britney, it’s going to by no means be Rihanna, it’s going to by no means ever be Beyoncé, it’s going to by no means be Madonna, it’s going to by no means be the glitz, the glam…”
“And not even the glitz and glam!” Eli continues, interrupting her personal practice of thought. “They tried to do the glitz and glam with fucking glam rock. It’s such an annoying factor, too, when folks worth [men embracing ‘glam rock’] as excessive fucking artwork. And I’m like… from California Gurls and Teenage Dream, I’m getting double, triple, quadruple artistry in that than any of those boring rock bands.”
“Not David Bowie,” she rapidly factors out. “Sorry, David Bowie, it’s not about you. But a few of these examples – what? You fuck with them as a result of they’re males, and so they can put on their hair all vibrant, and put on a jumpsuit, however [women] can’t? Fuck you!”
She laments that this “double normal” even permeates those that love pop, mentioning: “Growing up with Kesha and Rihanna and a number of others, it was like, ‘they will’t sing’. And that shit obtained to me. I used to be like, ’oh can they not sing? What is that this?’.
“It’s not good, as a result of it impacts everybody. You’re so younger and impressionable, and there’s a lot internalised misogyny, homophobia, all these horrible fucking issues.”
Because of this, Eli discovered that she typically felt a combination of feelings about proudly owning as much as loving the pop stars she idolised when she was rising up.
Listing key moments like seeing Katy Perry’s debut album cowl for the primary time at Barnes And Noble, or watching tour clips of Ariana Grande on YouTube, Eli remembers “crying in my mattress, feeling like, ‘oh my god, I may by no means be a ravishing female lady who embodies every thing that I really feel like life is about’”.
“They felt like these extremely vital moments in my life, that for some time I used to be embarrassed by, due to, most likely, a number of the judgement that comes from a number of the, like, horrible issues that males do…” she admits.
For that cause, when Eli was placing Stage Girl collectively, she had within the forefront of her thoughts that she wished to create one thing her youthful self could be pleased with.
“Everything from the titles to the lyrics to the sound selections in my manufacturing to the duvet artwork of the singles and the duvet artwork of the album, it’s all about little five-year-old Eli, six-year-old Eli, 12-year-old Eli… what would have grabbed her?” she says. “What would have sucked her into this venture and made her really feel like, ‘I need to take heed to this’?”
Much has been manufactured from the Y2K aesthetic Eli seems to be leaning into within the sound and visuals for her new music, one thing many different pop artists have had success with in the previous couple of years.
For Eli, although, there’s a deeper which means to all of it.
“It’s not a Y2K venture, it’s not attempting to recreate any type of sound from the previous,” she insists. “But it’s utilizing sounds and issues that existed at a time once I was not feeling protected, and was feeling dysphoric and really indifferent and a number of the onerous issues that [still] make me [sad] – and reclaiming and to attempting to offer newer generations a spot to flee into.”
Eli affirms that she’s blissful she’s reached a spot the place she feels extra snug “actually displaying up as me, and actually letting myself exist as I’m, even in a time when it’s scary to me”.
“It’s all the time, I assume, been scary to some extent,” she says, pausing, earlier than altering tact. “But additionally fuck that, who cares? Let’s ignore the truth that it’s scary. No it’s not scary, truly, pause! I’m dwelling!!”
At this, she beams a smile and lets out an excited scream.
“Being in a position to be in my physique and displaying as much as music in such a brand new and thrilling approach for myself” is one thing she suggests “subconsciously unfolded” an increasing number of as work on Stage Girl obtained underway.
“Everything was falling into place as I made pop songs that have been simply type of out of… inauguration [terror],” she explains. “The [2024] election to the inauguration is when it began. It was like, ‘perhaps I might be locked up and killed’, I used to be very scared, and nonetheless am scared! But…” she trails off once more. “Ugh, we’re again to the scared.”
“But,” she insists. “I wished to to lean into the enjoyment, and lean into the glamour, and I feel that’s the driving power. I would like that instance, and I wanted that instance, and I had that instance from ladies. And underneath the household tree of ladies, how superb would it not be if I’d had that from a trans lady?”
“It’s a small a part of the work to be finished,” she concedes. “But I do suppose artwork has an vital place to [create that space] the place a younger trans lady or a younger queer child may dive into and will exist in, and – on the floor degree, – gown up in a dressing up and have some enjoyable.
“But underneath all of that, they may actually discover, and unpack, and reclaim issues that newer generations may even must face as a result of sadly, issues are regressing in some methods. I’d like to exist on the joyful facet, or exist on the facet the place I’m offering the escapism that I wanted.”
And it’s not simply her personal sophisticated previous she needs to reclaim on Stage Girl.
For the previous couple of years, there’s been one thing of a reckoning over 2000s popular culture, whether or not that’s the best way sure feminine pop stars have been handled by the media, the overworking that many younger musicians confronted or the exploitation of contestants on reveals like The X Factor and American Idol (Eli notes that she tried out for each one of these reveals, however by no means obtained wherever with any of them).
Alongside the Stage Girl album, Eli’s accompanying visuals have centred round a fictitious actuality sequence of the identical identify, with which she hopes to create a extra inclusive and welcoming house out of one thing that might beforehand have been related to bullying and toxicity.
“There have been some beautiful, unbelievable issues about seeing anyone who I noticed myself in, who was like, ‘I’m working at the present time job’, or ‘I’m a 16-year-old lady and I’m from a random city and right here I’m, Jordin Sparks, right here to carry out’,” she says of her youthful years spent watching American Idol. “That is superb in itself. Her standing up there and displaying the limitless bounds of expertise she has, that’s stunning.
“What’s not stunning is… I don’t know if I ought to go into element. But even watching again Jordin Sparks’ audition, I’m just a little off-put by the best way these male judges handled her. I imply I’m very off-put, actually, by a number of the moments that occurred in all of these seasons. There have been so many examples.”
Eli’s publicity to these sorts of reveals from a younger age, and the “abuse and bullying” confronted by the contestants even led her to query whether or not the music business was for her.
“I liked singing once I was little,” Eli explains. “I liked singing a lot, it felt so joyful. But for the one who grew up watching all these reveals – and has now made a venture that touches upon expertise reveals and that type of factor – there was one thing so horrifying, that I carried with me for years, watching these judges abuse and bully folks, who have been displaying up with their ambition or with their goals, and simply getting fully made enjoyable of in a really terrifying approach.
“There was a interval of years, the place I used to be like, ‘effectively I can’t be a singer, as a result of not solely am I going to be bullied by these folks and judged and ridiculed, additionally how do I understand how what I’m displaying up as, and what I feel sounds stunning, goes to be acquired?’”
As for Eli’s personal pop goals, they’re one thing that have been established when she was a younger baby and “by no means left” her.
“My dad and mom all the time inform this story,… we have been at some type of household gathering and I used to be simply leaping on the tables at, like, 4 years outdated singing The Wiggles, attempting to carry out,” she enthuses. “And then I’d placed on reveals for my household. My brother and I assumed we have been like The Jonas Brothers. And then [came] the web – freaking singing on the web, as a result of the place else was I gonna do it?
“I went behind my dad and mom’ again as a result of they have been just a little conservative. They have been like, ‘you possibly can’t make a social media account’ – which perhaps is type of fabulous of them, wanting again. But I didn’t pay attention. I used to be simply posting covers with tons of hashtags… I had a enterprise electronic mail in my bio, and I used to be like, ‘I’m going to be a fucking star’.”
“And that by no means went away. I’m nonetheless mentally in poor health,” she provides with amusing.
Anyone who’s engaged with Stage Girl to date will know that Eli’s sense of humour is a vital a part of her private model. Her movies have a home-made, DIY really feel that enable her heat and appeal to shine by, and she or he’s additionally not afraid to lean into the ridiculous facet of issues to boost a smile or amusing.
Eli says it’s “refreshing” to be releasing music at a time when different artists (she particularly lists Sabrina Carpenter, Audrey Hobert, Zara Larsson and Chappell Roan, whereas additionally mentioning that early Katy Perry was additionally an affect on her) are permitting their senses of humour to shine of their artform.
“It’s disarming, and it’s additionally so inviting,” she says. “We must snort!”
However, she admits that injecting humour into her artwork can also be one thing she’s nonetheless “looking for the steadiness” with.
“Obviously laughing is definitely the life power, laughter is superb,” she says. “But it’s additionally typically used to masks up critical issues, and I’m attempting to verify I keep away from that.
“I typically lean into the humour to remove from my sincerity. Sometimes. So, as a lot as, sure, in my music there’s all the time going to be humour, and I additionally suppose humour is being explored much more in pop music in a fierce fucking approach, and I additionally love having the ability to have the humour and in addition be like inventive seriousness and have them exist on the identical time and have that be a ravishing collage of it… this previous month for a second I used to be like, ‘OK, wait, I’m being just a little too foolish’.”
“I simply don’t need to make a mockery of myself,” she admits. “I don’t need to be a parody act. I hate that phrase. Sometimes business folks name the Girl Of Your Dreams music video a parody, and I’m like, ‘child, no’.”
Eli factors out that her humour has additionally had its makes use of whereas navigating the music business behind the scenes, too.
“I assumed I wanted to indicate as much as an enormous label assembly with all the large canines, and actually put on my enterprise informal no matter or critical go well with, critical face,” she shares.
“But how fabulous to be in these rooms [as myself]. And the humour typically can be utilized as a power to be like, ‘guys what the fuck are we doing right here? Why are you doing this? Why are you exploiting me? Why are you exploiting tons of artists?’. It additionally challenges a number of issues that must be unpacked inside our methods, right here in America, the loopy capitalistic music business jargon and authorized issues that exist.”
“It must be challenged by a chubby 25-year-old trans lady who’s simply making a mockery of a few of this behaviour,” she says. “Girl. Oh my god.”
Having been “working at this endlessly”, Eli says she’s nonetheless just a little in disbelief that her debut album is now inside attain.
“I assumed I used to be simply going to really feel like each different launch, like, type of complicated emotions of, like, ‘oh why am I not Beyoncé?’, but in addition, ’oh my god, superb that anybody is listening to this’, which is the standard approach it goes with the singles,” she admits.
“But I went to mattress final evening, and I had this, like, tickle in my tummy that felt like earlier than Christmas. I used to be like, ’oh, it’s launch week’. I used to be so excited.”
“In some methods… that feeling is much like, like, when Yours Truly got here out,” she admits, referring to the debut album by Ariana Grande, one other of Eli’s private idols. “That is type of the epitome of an ideal pop album to me, a life-changing album.
“When that got here out, I used to be, like, on the Instagram, Twitter, social media, web wave along with her, I reside for a roll-out on the web. So, the thought of placing out an album? Living the album roll-out fantasy is, like… it’s loopy that it’s taking place.”
And for the previous Hannah Montana stan, her trademark 2000s-esque fedora has develop into like her model of the character’s transformative blonde wig, opening the door to her personal op goals.
“It actually is,” she agrees, accompanied by one other excited scream. “We have been working with a stylist a few weeks in the past, which is, like, a complete new factor for me, as a result of normally it’s simply me in my bed room. And they have been like, ‘lady, this fedora’. And I used to be like, ‘maintain on!’.
“You’ve obtained to struggle in your artwork! Like, they don’t perceive, this fedora represents much more than simply an unpleasant hat. Like, lady…”
Eli’s debut album Stage Girl is out now.
