My Interview With Holy Ghost!

My "Popping Up" feature/interview with broody electro-pop duo Holy Ghost!, who I'm totally stanning for, is up now over at Idolator.

Ellie Goulding: The Chart Rigger Interview

After racking up four hit singles in the UK last year—including the smashes "Starry Eyed" and "Your Song"—24-year-old Ellie Goulding, recipient of the 2010 BRITs Critics' Choice Award, finally saw her debut LP Lights get a U.S. release this week. I nabbed a copy of the dreamy set of pop jams on import last spring and its been in heavy rotation on the stereo D'luv ever since.

And so the London chanteuse set aside her guns and horses long enough to chat with me about her upcoming North American tour and her early ideas for her follow-up album to Lights. Head below to read the Chart Rigger interview with Ellie Goulding!


Lights is finally out in the States. Are you excited?
ELLIE GOULDING: I really am!

When you were recording the album, did you ever imagine it would at some point be released all over the world?
EG: I didn't really think about it that much. When the album came out [in the UK], the only thing I could about was that I'd made an album and it was really amazing that I managed to achieve something like that. It really didn't cross my mind until my manager said, we're going to do some shows over in the States. And then it kind of became more of a possibility. The reaction from [last year's] L.A. show and New York show was so immense that I feel like I can come over there and do some more shows.

Did you have any nervousness about doing those initial shows in the States?
EG: I was actually feeling okay about them because I had been told that American audiences are just so different—like, so much more enthusiastic and positive and smiley and cheery. And actually it was true. It's just different [in the UK]. People don't really express their emotions much, unfortunately. I went to see a band recently, and they're quite big, and they kept having to get people to cheer. I don't know, it's just not like that in the States. So I'm really just hoping that—even to boost my own confidence—if people end up liking it, they'll cheer. That will be good enough for me. [Laughs]

Will there be a supporting act on your upcoming spring tour across North America?
EG: I don't know. I think there are going to be different support acts. I know that I'm playing with The Knocks in New York, but that's about it, actually.

Two noticeable differences on the U.S. version of Lights—the absence of "I'll Hold Your Breath" and "Wish I'd Stayed." Was it tough to lose those?
EG: It was kind of tough, but it was my decision. I feel like I've grown out of them slightly because I wrote them so long ago. "Wish I'd Stayed" will always be very special to me because that was one of the very first songs I wrote, when I was just really free-writing. I just prefer "Animal" and "Human." They're an example of how I've progressed. And the reason I kept them for the repackage and not the [next] album is because I think I'm going to progress even more. But those other two songs, I kind of felt like they were holding me back a bit and I wanted to have a fresh start in America, and be happy with the tracks.



"The Writer" is probably my favorite song of yours. What was the inspiration for that song?
EG: "The Writer" was particularly emotional because I was feeling really down about someone. I really liked this person, who's a musician, and he just basically told me one day out of the blue that he didn't want to see me anymore. I was like, Noooo! I was paralyzed with being heartbroken, and I wrote that song.

Did Elton John's wig fly up and hit the ceiling fan when he heard your cover of "Your Song"?
EG: He said that it's good to see such a calibre of artists coming through at the moment, and that I was one of them. So he was just really complimentary. Really good vibes from Sir Elton John. [Laughs]

You recently spent time in the Irish countryside working on your next album. How did that go?
EG: Oh, it was so good! I just spent a lot of time reflecting and being by myself. It actually sounds funny, but I just haven't done that much lately. I took time to read books and watch films. I read poetry and played my guitar—did stuff that I would do if I wasn't surrounded by distraction in London. And I ran every day, too, so I was really energized.



Will you be enlisting Starsmith again to produce the next record?
EG: I don't know. Maybe. I haven't really decided yet. It's possible, but I think I want to expand and go to other people and see what happens.

Who would you love to work with?
EG: I'd quite like to work with Paul Epworth. I mean, he's kind of an obvious choice but he's done so much good stuff it would be ridiculous to not just try something out if he wants to. There are also these people I want to collaborate with like Kanye and Drake—really, really talented producers and rappers. I don't know why! I'm really drawn to Drake and I love his record. But also, Patti Smith, randomly, because I read her book recently and kind of fell in love with her a bit.

Ellie's album Lights is on sale for $7.99 at both the iTunes and Amazon MP3 stores.

My Interview With Alex Da Kid

My interview with Los Angeles-based, London-born producer Alex Da Kid (Eminem & Rihanna's "Love The Way You Lie", Diddy-Dirty Money & Skylar Grey's "Coming Home", T.I. & Christina Aguilera's "Castle Walls"), who's up for five Grammys, is now posted over at Idolator.

Here's a hot quote from our one-on-one:

"My dream collaboration is definitely Lil Wayne and Cher. [Laughs] That would be fun! I would make Lil Wayne sing and have Cher do some gangster stuff. It’s sort of a joke, but at the same time I think that would be cool. I want to do things that have not necessarily been done in hip hop, things that create interest for people. So I’m joking when I say Wayne and Cher, but it’s not too far from what I think."

My Interview With Corinne Bailey Rae

My interview UK soul songstress Corinne Bailey Rae is up over at Idolator. She talks about her upcoming release The Love EP, which contains cover versions of songs by Belly, Paul McCartney, Bob Marley, Prince and Doris Day.

My Interview With Mark Salling Of 'Glee'

I interviewed Mark Salling, who plays full-lipped, mohawked jock Puck on Glee and has a new album called Pipe Dreams coming out on Monday. The one-on-one is up now over at Idolator.

My Kylie Minogue Interview (Part Two), And 'Aphrodite' Charts In The U.S. Top 20

First off, congrats to Kylie Minogue for landing Aphrodite at #19 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart here in the States. Her only LP to reach higher than that was Fever, which hit #3 in 2002—and that one had the benefit of her massive hit "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" behind it.

To cap off the Kylie mania, Instinct has posted the second part of my d'luvvly interview with her on their website. So be sure to check that out. (Read the first part here.)

And below are some leftover bits from the interview that you won't read in either the magazine or on the Instinct site.

You expressed some thoughts you have now about X in hindsight. But I have to say, I still have that CD in my car and I listen to it at least once a week.
KYLIE MINOGUE: Oh! A lot of people tell me they still listen to it all the time. Like, they absolutely love it. And I think there were some amazing moments on it—perhaps even some moments that were a bit ahead of their time, like “Speakerphone.” People in the wider sense didn’t quite get that, but now I think you could put that on radio today. So, it’s just trying to get a lot of things right. I feel like this album [Aphrodite], the boat is rocking less. It feels like we’re a bit more on track without sacrificing those feelings of hearing something new and something exciting.

Let's discuss some of your unreleased work. [Note: she goes into much more detail in the magazine on this topic.]
Sadly I didn’t have songs like “Flower” or “Ruffle My Feathers” on X. And part of me wishes I did, but that’s another story. But at least I was able to do them on tour.

“Flower” is such a beautiful song and seems very personal. Sigh. It’d be nice if that were to see the light of day in a recorded version sometime!
Aww! [Laughs] I will do my best. Promise!

I’m interested in who you’re a fan of at the moment, music-wise. What are you listening to these days?
Let me just look on my iTunes. What have we got going on there? Ellie Goulding.

I just got that CD yesterday!
It’s brilliant. The first single is amazing and the second one just is doubly amazing.

The “Guns And Horses” one.
Yes. What have I purchased…just going down my file. I’ve got Deadmau5 on there. I was really taken with Flavors Of Entanglement, Alanis Morissette. She’s got a song called “Giggling For No Reason,” which I really life. Miike Snow. Santigold. Cicada. Bird And The Bee. Lady Gaga. MGMT. Etta James. The Killers, The Killers, The Killers!

They worked with Stuart also.
Yes! Exactly. Animal Collective, I love them. So my taste is diverse.