Interview With Jean Elliot
What’s the story behind your artist name — and does it reflect who you are today?
'Jean Elliot' is a stage name with a very specific sentimental backstory. My first ever kindergarten music teacher used to call me 'Layla Queen of Hearts,' after the children's book of the same name. The main character of the book's name was Layla Elliot. We shared a first name, but I decided to take Elliot as a way to honour the woman who was first to encourage and inspire my deep love for music. Jean was simply a name that called to me, as I feel like a lot of my favourite 'greats' have J names.;Jeff Buckley, Joni, Joan Baez. I discovered recently that my great great grandmothers name was Jean, and I feel that solidified that the name choice was a good one. I chose a stage name initially because I felt that I wanted an escape where I could be someone else for a while. Ironically, I feel that the name is so reflective of who I am that it's less of a new version of me, and more of a facet of myself. The surname honours where my dreams of being a musician started, and the first name honours where I dream to go.
Which song of yours means the most to you, and what inspired it?
'Double Edged Sword' will always hold a deep and bittersweet place in my heart. The song is about a very personal experience of heartbreak that though I recognised as for the better, stung all the same. It is imbued with the what-ifs that still haunt me, the fears I still harbour, and the unresolved feelings that still linger around street corners and in memories. When I was first writing it, it came from a place of desperation to understand feelings I was having for somebody that I couldn't make sense of, and that I knew were ill fated. I wrote it all in one sitting one early morning, and no changes were made after the first draft. I had tried to no avail to record it, but nothing seemed to work. Sure enough, when I finally finished it over a year later, I had lost that someone I was writing about. The song now feels like a self-fulfilling prophecy that applies to both times in my life, and though it embodies so much hurt, I believe it is one of the best songs I have written, and love it so much.
How would you describe your sound in three words — and why those?
Melancholic, intricate and ethereal.
Melancholic feels like the obvious first pick for me. My music is so contemplative, musing on deep emotional themes like loss, love and memory. However, the sadness inherent to my music is never hopeless, but pensive and philosophical. Thus, melancholic.
The music is also intricate due to my recording process. There are small little details that probably get lost in the mix, but I feel are so necessary to creating a lush, intentional soundscape. I love layers and layers of guitars and vocals that speak to each other.
Finally, I think the word ethereal captures the element of ambience in my music that I am obsessed with including. Reverb and the drone of organs, with soft stacks of vocal harmonies are Jean Elliot must haves. An ethereal, ambient foundation for my songs gives all the instrumentation a soft place to land, and adds a dreaminess that I adore.
What was the moment you truly felt like an artist — not just someone making music?
As a completely independent artist who also self-produces all of her work, the battle with imposter syndrome has been colossal. I think to truly feel like an artist, I just had to champion myself as one. 'Fake it til you make it,' as they say. The moment I started taking myself seriously, and hyping myself up in emails to venues and radio stations, it felt like what I was doing WAS serious. You have to be your own biggest fan before anybody else can be, and I think that the confidence snowballed for me from there. Suddenly, people started to listen and like what they heard, and reply with shock when I told them I made the song in my bedroom. The home process I felt embarrassed about suddenly felt cool, and I decided to flaunt it instead of downplay my own skills. I have always been someone making music, but giving myself a chance to be more than that made me feel like a real artist for the first time.
Who are your biggest musical influences, and how do they show up in your work?
I think I'm influenced by little details in so much of what I hear. Ethel Cain's voice and melody choices are breathtaking, with her drone/ambient works inspiring much of how I create the soft surrounds for my own music. The intimacy of Lizzy McAlpine's music inspires me to write with harrowing honesty. Searows proves that an acoustic guitar can rouse emotions you didn't know you had with the right chord choices and tunings. Jeff Buckley, Sam Fender, Radiohead; they all challenge me daily to write a lyric better than my last and sing them live like i'll never sing again. Phoebe Bridgers & Taylor Swift make me want to tell stories that feel like sharing my secrets. I could list artists forever, but I'm sure theres a word limit.
What’s your creative process like — from a blank page to a finished track?
I always start with lyrics. Lyric writing is my bread and butter, and I often find that if it takes me too long to write the song, it never makes it out of the drafts. My best songs are done in one sitting, that pour onto the notepad as fully formed ideas. From there, I grab my recording gear and get to work. Much of my recording process is improvisational, down to vocal melody and lead guitar riffs. It feels so much more authentic for me personally to experiment in the moment. Later, I'll listen over and over again to the track to find moments that need more detail, places where I can do more with my voice to fill space, etc. I am heavily detail oriented, and am an utter perfectionist, especially with vocals and delivery. My process may be an absolute mess on paper, but it is always fulfilling.
If someone’s hearing you for the first time, which track should they start with — and why?
'Thaw' is the last track on my most recent release, and is the last track of this foundational era of my music. The track goes on such a journey, from acoustic ballad to soft indie band song, through to an overdriven, emotionally charged powerhouse outro. It's a song about fighting through the fear of things changing; about letting yourself grieve bygone things, but letting yourself embrace the space they make for the new. The sentiment at the heart of the song brings closure to so many past themes of mine, raising a flag half-mast in honour of them, but recognising that it's time to put the past behind me. I think that sonically, it also indicates where my sound is heading next, with some of my most ambitious production I've ever attempted. If someone wants to hear every part of me, 'Thaw' holds all of it beautifully. It's a track I'm super proud of, and therefore will recommend to everybody and their dog.
What’s been your most unforgettable moment on your music journey so far?
Finding a collaborator in whom I could trust the world. Ollie is my live guitarist and musical confidant, who walks me off self-doubt ledges and inspires so much music to be made. I always had this mentality that I was in it alone and needed to figure out how to do so, but the crushing weight of expectations and complete independence never go well together. Ollie makes the highest of goals seem magically possible, and is the best motivation a musician could ask for. I'm choosing meeting and working with him as my unforgettable moment because it marked a brand new optimistic trajectory, fun gigs (and a lot of them,) and the prospect of dreams becoming a reality. Shout out to the best partner in crime around.
What do you want people to feel when they hear your music?
I hope people feel things they didn't expect to feel. Like something I'm singing about unearths a deeply buried memory, or reminds them of something they once felt that they haven't in a long time. So much of my music is about musing on the past, and what bygone things meant for you, with my latest songs being about letting go. I want Jean Elliot to be a cathartic listen, where they make the journey from stuck in a carousel of memories to learning how to let them be just like I do. I feel my music will always be a constant evolution of revelations and breakdowns and questions and wondering; and I want people to not just feel what I felt, but take their own emotions on that rollercoaster with me. I always leave a place for the listeners own experience in my songs, and hope they feel comfortable enough with the music to feel things they haven't had the guts to in a while.
What’s next for you — and what should fans be excited about?
There's a project in the works that expands on the world I've already created with my music. I've been cooking it up for quite a long time, and now that I have a band to reimagine my music with, listeners should expect to hear favourites in a whole new light. Even if you can't make it to my shows, I'll be documenting much of my live performances this winter to try and showcase what its like being a new artist in my local scene, so keep checking my socials for updates, there's lots of content and music on the way.
