Hello Ella! Where are you and what can you see?
Currently. I’m in Kentish Town. It’s really sunny but it’s fucking freezing. I can see the tube station and a woman pushing a pram. I’m in a car on my way to my record label. And I’m chewing gum.
Have you ever swallowed it?
Yeah, like when you’re in school and you’re not supposed to have it in lessons and the teacher goes “What’s that?” and you just swallow it.
Apparently, it stays in your gut for 25 years or something?(1)
I know, but so does red meat and not many people know that. I don’t eat red meat any more. It can ferment in your stomach and then you have to – this has gone way too far already – get your rectum vacuumed.
You mean colonic irrigation?
Yeah.
I like the idea of a rectum vacuum.
Do you?!
Er, let me rephrase that; I like the idea of it being called that.
(Laughs) That’s how it was described to me.
What’s the background image on your phone at the moment?(2)
A picture of me and my best friend asleep on New Year’s Day, ridiculously hungover. We look like little cats snuggling.
Your birthday is on April Fools’ Day. Has this led to any “hilarious” birthday-related pranks over the years?
Define hilarious, because a lot of people think they’re funnier then they actually are. There have been attempts, but I’ve always been a bit offended by them because it’s like, “Come on guys, you can do better than this.” I’m waiting for something I can remember. My mum used to wrap all my presents and then lie about what they were. When I was young, I had a sticker collection and so she brought me some stickers, but wrote on the label that it was tickets to the moon. So when I opened it and saw it was just stickers, I found it incredibly disappointing. I was just like: “Oh”.
Is it true you trained to be a competitive swimmer as a child?
I did indeed. I’ve got sensitive ears and because of ear infections I had to quit. The doctor said I could have gone deaf.
Why did you move from splashing about in a pool to dancing about on a stage?
I was at boarding school and had a scholarship. I loved my school so much but if I wanted to stay I had to swap scholarships, so I got into drama and then did musical theatre at the Brit School and then learned very quickly that I wanted to write songs.
Are you quite a competitive person?
Very. Literally in everything. I always want to be the first to get on a tube, for example.
Do you see pop music as a competition?
Not really. I enjoy listening to pop music, so I don’t see that as a competition, but it is the industry we exist in I guess.
You’ve been involved in the competition element of it all with the Brits Critic’s Choice and BBC Sound Of awards. (3)
They’re a bit like a competition, I guess. If anything, it’s quite character building. You have to be very respectful of everyone else, which is why I think those things are so enjoyable.
If it were a competition, you’d win Best Pop Star Hair I reckon.
Oh, thank you very much.
Either you or Zayn Malik (4).
What? Hm. Ok. He’s got good hair but he hasn’t got the volume of my hair. This is my competitive nature.
Would you ever shave your head for charity, like Jessie J?
I do a lot of things for charity, so yeah, actually, I would. It’s an admirable thing to do, but having said that it has taken me 20 years to grow this. I’d need enough to pay for my wigs for the next 10 years.
What if all your pop-star power was contained within your hair and then you’d lose it all, like Jessie J …
(Laughs) That was very cruel.
You had a couple of collaborations with Rudimental and Naughty Boy and recently you had another collaboration with DJ Fresh. Is there a danger that people will just know you as a voice for hire?
Not really. I can imagine why people might think that because I haven’t released my album yet, but it’s coming and it’s very much about Ella Eyre.
Are the album delays (5) frustrating or do you get why that’s happened?
I guess it is frustrating because I spent about three years writing it, but in hindsight the state that it’s in now is a million times better. I’m so excited about it and glad that we waited. I wanted to love this album because you don’t get a second chance to expose yourself as a new artist.
Do you read your YouTube comments?
No. My mum does sometimes. She’s stopped now. She’s like any typical mother, she wants to back me up. It was funny because my mum got in a Twitter battle with somebody because she’d misunderstood what they’d said. I was doing an interview in Holland last week and the photographer came up to me and was like: “I got in a Twitter battle with your mum.” This is why my mum shouldn’t have a Twitter account.
Footnotes
1) Actually, I think it’s more like seven years, and I’m not entirely sure if that’s scientific fact
2) Mine is the cover of the new Björk album, thanks for asking.
3) She was the runner up to Sam Smith in both.
4) This interview took place before he shaved his head okay.
5) Feline was originally meant to be out in October 2014 and still doesn’t have a set release date, although new single Together is out 17 May.
