Tipped to be the Next Big Thing in 2010, Ellie Goulding is splitting her time between touring with Little Boots and working on a much-anticipated debut album. She tells us how it’s shaping up and what advice she’s been given from her popstar pal…
You’re touring with Little Boots at the moment. How is your material going down?
I think it is going down well. It’s a weird phase where people are liking it but they don’t know me at the moment, and watch me and are pleasantly surprised. I think it’s a really good reaction generally. I think people are shocked as I come out with this big show. It stands out a lot.
Has Little Boots given
you any advice?
This time last year, she was tipped for big things and now it’s your turn. Is it quite flattering to be getting so much attention already, or is the pressure counterproductive?
Surprisingly, I don’t feel the pressure. I don’t feel like I’m being over-hyped, or under-hyped. I feel people are just being really nice at this stage. It could go either way. Currently I feel quite calm. I feel like nothing much has changed since I got signed. I just get more cabs around.
You’ve been working on tracks with people like Frankmusik and Mark Ronson. How has that experience been?
Frankmusik definitely helped me decide the direction to take. He made realise I didn’t just have to use my guitar and that I could use my other things. Working with Mark Ronson was a totally different way of making things. There was not much programming going on. It was all live and there was a big band. It was definitely insightful into how different people record. Mark was very different to, say, working with Guy Sigsworth who will spend hours perfecting just one beat. Mark Ronson called me the other day to see how things are going and I was literally unphased, but I know some people would be like, “Oh my god!”
How is the album shaping up? Are you getting excited about its release next year?
I am! I’m just excited to have an album of songs that are mine. I’m really desperate to get it just right. I don’t want to listen to it in a year’s time and think, “Ooh I shouldn’t have done that.” I think its going to be good. Its about half finished at the moment. It’s a pop album essentially, but there is a broad use of the word “pop”. It doesn’t sound like Dido pop. I’ve got a lot of folk influences and electronic influences. It will hopefully be a well-rounded album.
The single Under the Sheets is out now. Ellie Goulding’s debut album is out next year.
