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10 Questions with ... Eliza And The Delusionals
April 6, 2020
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1. When it comes to your music, what are you most excited about for 2020?
I’m excited to finally get our new EP out. We went through a lot of changes in the band and in our personal lives right before the songs were recorded, so the recording process was a massive creative release for us. We’ve been sitting on the songs for a while – some people might recognize them from our live sets over the past year or so. But it’s just really good to finally have it all together and out into the world. We just hope people enjoy it as much as we do!
2. How would you say that your tracks “Just Exist” and “Pull Apart Heart” prepare listeners for the rest of the EP?
I feel like the EP is pretty diverse for a five-track release and those two songs touch on both ends of the overall sound. Lyrically “Just Exist” was written about the balance between depression and creativity. It’s a constant bittersweet battle between feeling sad but feeling inspired by it. “Pull Apart Heart” was written at a time where I had to make a lot of decisions in my personal life, and the line ‘my pull apart heart’ really summed up how I was feeling.
3. Do you find that your band name still represents you and your music today?
I really don’t think so. I think it’s a cool name – it was originally inspired by a Blink-182 lyric – but when I first came up with the name and the vision to start a band, I expected it to be more like a solo project. I didn’t really expect to find such like-minded people that were as passionate about the music I was writing as I was. But I was lucky enough to find my band mates, and it’s very much the opposite of a solo project now. I think if I could go back in time, I would change the name to something less confusing to people.
4. How do you think your hometown has influenced the sound and how you all carry yourselves in this group?
Kurt (Skuse) and I are from a really small town called Pottsville in New South Wales, Australia. I feel like being from a small town you get a bit less distracted by things outside of your room. There isn’t a heap to do so you spend a lot of time at home doing things. I think that’s the way I see it anyways -- I guess I’m a bit of a homebody. I’m not sure if it’s had a huge influence on the sound but it’s made it easy to stay home and focus on music.
5. How do you feel the band has grown through the years? What has remained the same?
It’s grown and changed so much, especially in the past 12 months. What we are doing right now – although I’ve always dreamed for it to happen – I think we wouldn’t have been ready for it as a band and as individuals. We went through some tough times as a band over the past two years, but now we’re better than ever and we are in a much better place. Not a lot has remained the same – but I see that as a good thing. You always need change to grow and try new things.
6. Where do you think you are all happiest- in the studio recording new music, on stage performing or elsewhere?
I think all of it makes us happy. That’s why we do it I guess, because we get to be a part of every environment. We get to be in a studio for a week but then go overseas and travel for TWO months. It’s a wild lifestyle, but we love it so much.
7. What do you think makes for an ideal show for this band? What have been some of your favorite shows lately?
A great venue and a great audience. We get a lot of our energy from a crowd that is really into it. We have fun at every show we play but it’s extra special when the crowd is really engaged. We’ve just finished up our first American tour with Silversun Pickups (the best humans in the world, by the way) and every show was incredible. They are so supportive, and they have lovely fans that turned up super early to every show, which as an opening band coming from the other side of the world it means everything to us.
8. With all the different social media platforms out there, how do you balance it all? How do you think that social media has impacted this band?
I think social media is such a great thing for a band to have right now. It’s such a great way to connect with people. When our song first started to get spins on Alt Nation, we basically lived that experience through comments on Instagram and YouTube.
Although, as it is a really great way to connect it still has a lot of negatives. Online bullying is definitely a real thing – and it’s awful. People can use social media as a wall to hide behind while they share hurtful comments. I think as an artist you need to balance yourself with it and not read too far into it, but you can still have that platform to connect with fans on.
9. We are currently living through a very trying and politically charged time, so how you do think being a musician gives you the most joy in life today?
The world is crazy – there is a lot going on. I feel very lucky to have a platform with the band that people may feel influenced or inspired by. Music for me is like therapy. It’s something I can use to escape all the wild things happening in life and it’s something I can use to express my emotions when I can’t really explain them. So, I think no matter what happens we will always have that and that’s enough for us to keep going on.
10. What do you hope people take away your music
The great thing about writing music is that everyone connects to it in really different ways. My favorite thing is reading peoples’ comments and what the song means to them. It’s usually the complete opposite of what I was thinking about when the song was written but I think that’s amazing. You know when you listen to a song and you just think “wow, this is literally written for me right now at this time in my life” and I think that’s the best feeling ever.
Photo Credit: Luke Henery -
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