We had the pleasure of interviewing Ben Ellis, and here’s what he had to say:
Q: How long did it take you to create Runner Up?
ELLIS: Honestly not too long, I wrote the track with my friends Michael Dunaief and Lev, and it only took us a couple of hours over Zoom to have it written. Then Michael made it sound super cool by producing it up 🙂
Q: What inspired it?
ELLIS: Basically I’m a huge simp! I drove a girl I liked to a psychic and waited outside whilst she was in the house having a reading, kind of silly to think about now but it got a great song out of it.
Q: What did you enjoy the most about this song and making music in general?
ELLIS: I think for me, the initial process of writing a song gives me such a rush. Writing a track that you know is good is the best feeling. But I also love seeing how much people relate to the tracks I write.
Q: What do you do to get your creative juices flowing when you feel stuck while creating a song?
ELLIS: Get frustrated, maybe scream for a couple hours until something breaks through the block! Honestly, I feel like if a song isn’t going to come it’s good not to force it, I think that it’s better to leave it and come back to it later.
Q: In what way(s) do you think your sound has evolved since you started making music?
ELLIS: I’m always learning after everything I write, working with different people and listening to different music always helps. I will often hear a track and think “I have to write a track like that”. I’m also putting so much time into the lyrics that I write, I can be really inspired by the lyrics in songs, and it’s definitely something I’m putting much more time into!
Q: Did you always know you would become a musician? At what point did you reach this realization?
ELLIS: I definitely always wanted to be a musician, but for the longest time I didn’t know how to write songs. It only came a couple years ago when I began to learn how to write. It gave me such a rush, I think that’s when I realised that this is everything I’ve ever wanted to do, and I’ve been so lucky to get amazing opportunities so far!
Interviewed by Zoey King
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