Interview With Isac Elliot

Interview With Isac Elliot

I got to sit down with Isac Elliot and ask him questions.  I think you will pleasantly surprised by his answers.  What an extremely literate and interesting young man.  This definitely was my pleasure.

1. How did it feel to have had a number 1 hit in your home country at 12? Was the pressure on to remain at the top? How did you handle it?
It felt unreal. It was nothing I expected at all. I was 12 years old, did my first single in english which is not easy over here. It is easier to break through if you sing in Finnish. It hit #1 and became a hit all over Scandinavia and the Baltics. I remember when it was playing on radio for the first time. I was in school and my teacher let me stay inside during recess with a few of my friends and we watched the radio show online from their webcam. The song came on and the radio hosts freaked out. They danced around and screened in the mic “can you guys believe this! He is 12 and he is from our country!”. It was surreal. Everything was new, the publicity, the hysteria. But I have a great team and especially my family and friends are the once that always feel safe and they were there before all of this started and will be there when it all ends. I try not to think of charts and sales that much. I just got a plaque for my last album and my my last singles. It feels good. But it feels good cause it tells me I have made good songs for my fans and they have liked them. That is the most important thing. That my fans like my music, that they take it to heart. I am 15 and I let other people, labels and managers think of the business side, about charts and numbers. I just enjoy this and have fun, connect with the fans and have a lough.

2. I see that you’re Swedo-Finnish? Do you speak both languages?
Yes, I speak both languages and we have to learn both languages in school. Swedish is actually my mother tongue. 5% of the Finnish population is talking Swedish as their main language as Finland is a bilingual country. It has helped me a lot as I can do all my interviews in Sweden in Swedish, Swedish is quite close to Norwegian so I talk Swedish there too. Then again Finnish is close to Estonian and the Baltic languages so whenever I am there I can use that a little bit. Not a lot but enough to make it fun and interesting. I think the fact that I speak Swedish has helped me a lot with my English and my pronunciation. Finnish is so completely different from english but Swedish and english has a lot of similarities.

3. Who are some of your main influences musically?
I listen to a lot of different music styles. I don’t go for one artist. I pick good songs and my playlist includes everything from pop and rock to rap and dance. I listen to Justin Bieber and I think his new album is amazing. I love Justin Timberlake and I really look up to him, his music and they way he has handled his career. I also listen to a lot of urban pop and rap. Trey Songz, Beyoncé, Drake, Tyga, Desiigner, Future. Love cool beats and massive drops but most of all I enjoy big strong melodies. I love the emotion of rock bands like My Chemical Romance.

4. Are you still in school? What are you studying? What are your plans for the future?
Yes, I am still in school. We have a structure here where 9 years i mandatory. Then you can choose if you want to start studying for a profession or continue school. We call it “gymnasium” and it takes 3 more years. It can be quite hard to get in and as I was away for a good chunk of my last 3 school years I really had to work hard with my dad who is a teacher and always traveling with me. I got in to the gymnasium I wanted which is a music oriented school. They also have an understanding for what I do and that I am traveling a lot. School is important as you never know about music. The only think that is certain in the music biz is that everything is uncertain. In one way or another though I want to be involved in music in the future as music is my true passion.

5. You have an unbelievable voice? Did you have lessons? I also saw that you were on stage in musicals. What do you think is harder, solo work or being in a chorus?
Thank you. Super happy to hear you feel that way. I sang in a boy choir from when I was about 6 or 7 to when I was 10. From there I was picked to do musicals at the national theatre in Helsinki and the last musical I did was put up by Björn and Benny from ABBA. So I have had great learning environments. But I have never really taken private lessons. A few times before tours and stuff to go through the set, the right keys and so on. And when I recorded my second album it was in the middle of my voice dropping. So I had a coach with me in the studio to help me out. But I would say most of my singing and my way of singing comes from singing along to records and songs in my room and at home. At times so much and so loud that my mom would ask me to please be quiet at least for a little while. The biggest difference between musicals and shows that I now do is probably the audience. It is quite different to perform in front of 1000 adults or a mixed crowd of adults and young people who have come to see i play compared to 1000 girls who has come to sing along to your songs at a show. You connect with them on another level. But a live show is in a way a musical piece. There needs to be drama. some acting, dancing and making the audience feel the emotion.

6. Do you have any words of advise for the fans out there about the music business, your influences, or anything else?
I think you should just focus on having fun and doing things that you really want to do. If you get into things half hearted or work on things you don’t really love it won’t work. It won’t be fun, you won’t enjoy it and the fans will notice it. Also the music business in a bit tricky as there are a lot of people who wants to be in it. People that are not professionals, people that are not honest and sincere. Make sure you surround your self with good people and people you can trust. Listen to the adults cause they know even though you feel you know. And ALWAYS respect the fans and treat them equal and right. Cause they are the best. They are to real deal.

7. If you were an animal, what animal would you be?
Well first I would have to say a dog cause we have three dogs and I am really a dog person. They have quite a chill life. Eat, sleep, run around in the yard and they are always in a good mood. If not a dog then maybe a bird. Imagine being able to go wherever you like. Like really. A bird can be in the forrest, on top of a building, down at the market square, fly over the ocean, visit a mountain top or another country whenever it feels like it. Can a fox do that?

The only thing is that the food of the birds is a bit lame.