 Originally published in GLAM Magazine, October 2013.
Eli Lieb is an artist to watch and a breath of fresh air in an era of stale air waves. Talented, driven, and grounded, Eli is the real deal, in every sense of the word. The young singer songwriter is not only a true musician, blending acoustic and pop music into a sound that is uniquely his own, but he has also made a name for himself simply by staying true to what makes him happy. Gaining a loyal following by posting YouTube videos of his own original songs and covers of chart toppers, Eli has remained genuine and in control of his own fate. In a culture where many young musicians seem to lose themselves to the expectations put on them by the music industry, Eli already knows who he is and what he wants out of life and for his career. I recently caught up with Eli, while he took a break in the recording studio, to talk about how he got to be where he is, what he wants his career to look like, and what he’s up to currently. GLAM: So when did you start singing? Eli: I started singing when I was like 12 years old and as soon as I realized that I liked singing, and could sing, I started doing musical theater from age 12 through being a senior. GLAM: Do you come from a musical family? Eli: I don’t. My dad was good with numbers and my mom is creative. GLAM: If you didn’t get musical ability from your family, were there other influences? Eli: I don’t think so. My mom says she remembers before I could talk, I was always humming. I think some things are in your DNA. I’ve always been really going in one direction and it’s always been music. GLAM: So you’re a natural. Eli: Yeah, but within that you still have a lot of room to learn. I’m always learning, too. GLAM: That’s a good attitude to have. Who are some of the musical influences? Eli: I have so many musical influences. Growing up, I basically learned to play guitar from listening to Ani DiFranco. I loved her. And Bjork I loved as well. Fiona Apple, The Beatles, Joni Mitchell. I think those are the ones who sparked me into wanting to write and then now I’m writing much more pop music. (laughs) GLAM: It’s interesting that you say that, because all those musicians are folk songwriters. Eli: I think listening to [folk songwriters] sparked my songwriting process and started the process of me finding my own voice and own style. I think I was able to shed and take influence from them and develop my own thing, what comes naturally. I’m realizing that pop music is what comes naturally to me. A lot of people look at pop music as selling out, but I think selling out is only if you’re just doing it for money and aren’t happy doing it, but I happen to love writing pop music. Everything has a different way about it, in what it takes to create a song, and I just love it. GLAM: You’re definitely good at it, too. Eli: Thank you. GLAM: Feeding off of that, and speaking of staying true to yourself, I read on your website that you started in New York City and were approached by labels, but ended up deciding to go home to self-produce. Eli: That’s sort of part of the story, it’s actually a little more complicated than that. I went home because my father died, and that happened at the height of meeting with all the record labels, and it really pulled the rug out from under me, so I went home and stopped everything. GLAM: I’m sorry to hear about your father. Eli: Thank you. My reaction to it was that I just felt lost and I lost my drive and inspiration, and it wasn’t for a couple more years that I got back into it, and I really wanted to get back into it on my own terms. I think when you’re going to record labels and have a team of people around you, your own terms become much less, and it becomes more of what other people are doing. After stepping away, I saw that it wasn’t sustainable for me to be happy that way and I wanted to be in control and be happy. So if there’s something I see that does not facilitate being happy, then I don’t want to do it. For me, my happiness comes from me being in control of my environment and who I work with, and I try to create a good positive atmosphere, which is why I started doing things on my own and started doing the YouTube thing. GLAM: I think going the YouTube route is part of what makes you unique and makes you, you. That path is authentic because it is coming directly from you, and you found your following just by putting up your videos, and letting them come to you, versus having a label mold you and force you on an audience. Eli: You have to really believe in yourself and what you do, but it’s been a really cool experience to not compromise, and believing what you do will reach people, and then seeing it actually happen. It’s been really gratifying and I hope that more people know, and I’ve seen others do it, that there isn’t just one way to make it. Many people think there is a certain way to be and I don’t think that is always the case. People see someone who is very popular and then want to model upcoming acts after them, but the thing they’re modeling was that acts own authentic thing, that never existed before and others want to replicate that. I really advocate for everyone to be their own individual, and just stick with it and never stop, and just do it, because people love authenticity. I don’t know that [people are] fully aware that they’re missing the authenticity, but when they come across it, it feels different. And when you’re at that level, there can be imperfections and that’s part of the authenticity and part of the appeal, because I think it’s more relatable to people and it helps them feel empowered that they can do it too. GLAM: I agree. I feel music is more identifiable for people if they feel that it’s coming straight from who the artist is at the core, and you are, which then strikes something within your audience. Eli: Sometimes you really have to understand yourself, and what you want. Like I know who I am and what I want, I don’t want to be the next Justin Timberlake. If I wanted to be the next Justin Timberlake, I wouldn’t be able to do it the way I’m doing it. I think for that level, you do need a big company push, but for me, this has worked out great, because that’s not something that I’m striving for. I openly will accept anything that comes in, so if ironically something like that happened I wouldn’t say no, but it’s not my pull and my drive. My drive is ultimately to be happy and music makes me happy, but there are a lot of other things in my life that also make me happy that I don’t want to compromise for the sake of my career. GLAM: You sound very grounded. Eli: I like to think that I am. I think even a grounded person has moments of not feeling the ground, but for the most part, I think in my life now I’m grounded and happy. GLAM: The things you’re recording now, are they for an upcoming album? Eli: I came to LA not only to write for myself and advance my performer career, but to write for other people, as well. I’ve been co-writing a lot with other people for already established singers and I’m loving it. GLAM: Do you think you’ll collaborate with them and perform with them at all? Eli: You know a career goes in many stages and different evolutions and right now I’m in the process of figuring out how to maintain my performer artist side and this singer songwriter side that I’m doing, and I love them both, but it’s a hard thing to sustain. It’s tricky to figure out how to do it all at once. GLAM: Right, you have to find that perfect balance. Eli: That’s the thing about being independent, though, is that you really are doing it all at once; you don’t have a team of people helping you. I do have a great manager now, but all the emails and stuff, like between you and I, I’m doing that on top of performing, and all these writing sessions that I’ve been really busy with a lot. But I’m very grateful that I’m in a position to be very busy. GLAM: Yeah, definitely. I wish you the best, and I really like where you’re coming from and I hope you can continue doing it from a place where it makes you happy, and that you can stay genuine to who you are. Eli: I think I’ve gotten to the point now where that’s how I’ve made my career so I feel good knowing that’s a part I won’t be able to compromise, because I’ve been so open about just wanting to be happy through it all and not compromising that. That’s the most important part of my life and who I want to be, and when that’s part of what people know about you, you kind of can’t change that, so I feel lucky that that’s something that’s part of my “thing.” . . . I’m eager to see where Eli takes his career next, and I am confident that it will continue to lead him to happiness, no matter what doors may open. I think we can all take a page out of that book.
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