Q&A Today: Elison

Their first release "Meet me halfway" came out last year, earlier this year they released "Hopes & Horoscopes" and continued their musical story, now they are our guests and we are able to say, we proudly present "Elison"!

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Q&A

What's the story behind your latest song "Hopes & Horoscopes", respectively what was your inspiration?

As I've (Marissa) gotten older I've found myself sitting with my decisions more -- being self-reflective and questioning the process in which I came to be where I am today. This song is a collection of little vignettes of various moments or habits that I'm not particularly fond of but can't deny as parts of me. 

In putting them out into the world it felt confessional, but in reality none of them are exclusive to me. I love how art can be a vehicle to connect us in our shared experiences and I'm glad this song has done that as others have found their own stories (or bad habits) within the lines of the song.

If you are looking back to your debut song "Meet me halfway", what are/were the differences concerning the creative process?

I think Scott and I both grew in our strengths in what we brought to the table. For me, (Marissa) the main difference was that 'Meet Me Halfway' I felt like I was writing in the dark, I had no concept of how to shape a song other than my own instincts. I had never done it before and I leaned heavilly on Scott's affirmation that it was indeed already a song and we just needed to produce it. I think I was overthinking everything and sitting in my insecurities. 

I also had to learn how to sing in front of someone. I had only just started singing for myself. I was terrified to do it in front of Scott. In Hopes & Horoscopes the song came to me fairly effortlessly I felt like I was chasing the notes and melody in my head and trying to put them into song form. Singing in front of Scott was still difficult but was starting to get easier the more I had done it.

If we would ask Scott what's typical Marissa, what would be the answer?

I’d describe Marissa as an idea machine. She’ll have five creative ideas to my one in any typical moment. 

There’s nothing worse than feeling stuck on a new song, and with Marissa I don’t foresee hitting that road block at all. She’s also an absolute workhorse. Typical Marissa? Reliable to a fault.

...and of course if we would ask Marissa what's typical Scott?

For me typical Scott is chatting for an hour meandering around various topics before we get started but when we dig in he's measured, level-headed and opinionated. He's also a great listener with amazing instincts musically. He's a wealth of knowledge but not in a boastful way. 

He's a great teacher, collaborator and seems to be eager to help at any chance he can. When I'm sitting backseat while he's producing I'm always pleased when we end up aligning before we even discuss the sounds. We seem to have a similar sound aesthetic or enough to cross over to make the decision making process easy which has made this whole process super rewarding and fun.

The way from the idea of a song to the release could be very long, what's the hardest part of it in your opinion?

I would agree that the lull before the song is released and after the final master is the hardest part. I get really excited and want to share it immediately. 

By the time the song is released I'm alreay ready to move on to the next one so finding ways to continue to share it with the enthusiasm I had before can be hard at times, but it's exciting when people connect and share that with you so it's like hearing your song for the first time through someone else.

At this moment what would be your "All time Top 3 Songs"?

The three songs I'm (Marissa) currently listening to on heavy rotation in this moment are:

"Blurred View" - Big Thief
"Sick & Tired" - Lime Garden
"Everything is Simple" - Widowspeak

Scott:
“VBS” - Lucy Dacus
“The Smoke” - The Smile
“Valentine, Texas” - Mitski

What’s next for you?

We just finished recording two songs and we are looking to release them at the end of March. We also have a music video to accompany one of them. We hope to continue to steadily release songs throughout the year and eventually work to put out a full album.

Photo credits: Jordon van Zante

The story behind the photo:

If was our first photoshoot after we had the discussion that felt like we were asking eachother out -- "are we a band?" In that awkward back and forth "if you want to be, I do" kind of way. 😆 (-Elison-)