Interview: Eliza Doolittle

Skiddle's Carla Pearce stepped into 21 year old popstrel Eliza Doolittle's dressing room for a quick chat about supporting Alphabeat on tour and found out exactly what new single 'Skinny Genes' is all about...
 
Hello Eliza Doolittle! How are you?
 
I'm great thanks.
 
How was your journey?
 
I slept for most of it, we were driving for about three hours.
 
Well let's have a chat about the new single 'Skinny Genes' first of all. It's great, and refreshing to see a 21 year old talking about the kind of things that a 21 year old can relate to!
 
Oh I'm glad you like it! I think it's important to relate to your own age group and I always hope that every age group will like my music but it's really important that my own age group does too.
 
Just for our readers, how would you describe the song in your own words?
 
Well it's about a boy who is really annoying, and I don't even like anything about him apart from that one thing – I'm sure I don't have to explain! And it's basically just quite summery and light and just like a fun song. I made it up it's just a fairy tale story that I thought would be really fun to write about basically, and the idea that just came into my head and was like 'yes! I really want to write about that.”
 
Aah I'm glad you explained, I was wondering if it was written through experience.
 
Fortunately no, well, unfortunately not!
 
Is this the kind of thing you've stuck with throughout your album?
 
That's actually the only song that's about a boy and that isn't even about a real boy. I don't really write about boys that much, I tend to just write about more important things really but just anything that comes into my head or anything that I see or do, I feel like a lot of what I write about tends to be a lot of quite like, a bit more thoughtful than just relationships or whatever.
 
So when you do think of a song is it a case of getting it down straightaway or is it more well thought out?
 
No, it's definitely not well thought out, I just puke it up basically! I usually, if I get an idea and I'm in the middle of nowhere I'll just write it on my phone or record a melody on my phone and then if I've got a studio session booked in – it could be for even a month after – I'll have all these things stored on my phone and I'll go in the studio and have a listen to them and I'll think 'oh yeah, that's really good' or 'what was I thinking?'. Sometimes I will read what I've written and not understand what I'm on about so sometimes you might lose a good idea but at the same time I'm not going to just stop and write a song wherever I am.
 
I suppose you've had a lot of practice anyway, because you've been writing since you was 12 haven't you?
 
Yeah, I mean, the first songs I was writing were terrible! The first song I wrote was called 'Mr Mysterious' and it was about a boy who I didn't even know, because I didn't even know boys like that when I was 12 and it was just something I made up from listening to too much Destiny's Child I think. And then I just kept writing and just got better at it basically...I think, I hope.
 
Has the whole subject matter just completely changed for you now?
 
I mean, pretty much straight away, even when I was about 14, I was always writing about different things and I didn't really want to write just about boys. The only reason I didn't want to write about boys was because all the songs I ever heard were about boys and I just wanted to be different and original and I was so determined to not be like anyone else that I made a thing about not writing about boys and it kind of stuck, unless there is something that I actually want to get off my chest.
 
Yeah,  I know what you mean – there are a lot of girls getting solo careers at the minute. That's probably a sobering thought - being compared to some artists.
 
I always feel like it's unfair for girls because there are so many boys out there who don't get compared with each other and the thing with us girls is that we all have different music, we just happen to all be girls so everyone gets put in the same pile. At the same time I think there's a part of me that doesn't care because people have had to write about it and compare people so that the audience can get a better idea of what it sounds like.
 
Now, it's one thing getting a record out but now you're on tour.
 
This is the first day!
 
Oh wow! Are you nervous?
 
Not yet, I usually get nervous about five minutes before and I get the best or worst, sometimes it's amazing, butterflies. Sometimes I feel really sick but sometimes it's really nice. It's such a weird thing because it's the same feeling but it can affect me in different ways. I'm kind of getting better with the nerves and just get on with it and the first breath I take is a little bit shakey but after I've sang the first line of the song I'm kind of relaxed so I'm kind of getting better at it.
 
Will this Manchester Academy 2 crowd be one of the biggest you've performed for?
 
Probably! I don't even know how many people are going to be there or if it's sold out?!
 
How are you getting on with Alphabeat?
 
We've literally just got here and we've just joined the tour today and we'll see! Apparently they're really fun.
 
Is there anyone else in the charts at the minute that you're really looking out for?
 
I was just watching Professor Green's video last night and that's pretty funny. He seems a bit of a joker. I've been listening to Corinne Bailey Rae's record which is really, really, really good. She's had some tragic times to go through but I think some of the songs she wrote are before that as well. And it doesn't come across like depressed or anything it's actually really like mellow. It's really nice.
 
Is that the kind of thing you like to incorporate into your music too?
 
Some of my songs are quite a lot more mellow than ‘Skinny Genes’. I kind of see things going, maybe a bit more soulful, I don't know though – I have no idea! We'll see what comes out.
 
And of course, first show tonight – you must be pretty excited. But is there anything you'd like from the crowd tonight – what would be your perfect audience?
 
Ones that whistle along!
 
One last thing – Eliza Doolittle?! Is that your real name?
 
My name is Eliza - and the Doolittle just followed from a childhood thing.

Read Carla's review of Alphabeat and Eliza Doolittle here.

See Eliza Doolittle perform at Liverpool’s Sound City, which takes place from May 19th – 22nd.