Indie-Pop Star Ellie Dixon Talks Career, BENEE, And Upcoming EP

If you have never heard of this singer before, then I think you’ve “Spaced Out.” A Cambridge powerhouse with over 500K+ Music streams under her belt already, Ellie Dixon is quickly becoming a household name.

When listening to her catchy music, expect funky bass lines, witty lyrics, earworm melodies and joyous production made from her bedroom studio, bursting with her love for groove and infectious sense of humour.

Ahead of her summer music projects, we have had the honor of interviewing Ellie on all things career, first time hearing herself on the radio, and sneak peaks that will make any fan excited!

Q: What inspired you to start music?

E: “I’ve always been very musically inclined – my parents would play music around the house (a particular Irish folk CD would be the only thing that stopped me crying as a baby), I grew up listening to my Dad play Billy Joel on the piano and learning to play it myself, sung in school choirs, played in bands, tried to learn clarinet for a bit; music was always there. I started actually taking it seriously around 15 when I started singing lessons as part of my Music GCSE. I was already producing at that point and so the two fell hand in hand – I started songwriting, recording, and taught myself guitar so I had something a bit more portable to take to gigs. My singing teacher and music teacher were huge parts of that as well, they both pushed me to perform at open mic nights and school concerts which terrified me so I needed that encouragement. It all just continued organically from there, I wrote, produced, and gigged around my town throughout school and Uni before deciding to start it professionally.”

Q: Which artists are you most influenced by?

E: “It’s been such a mix throughout my life; I listened to jazz, folk and pop as a kid and obviously had to go through the ‘no one understands me’ MCR and Paramore phase. I always had a connection with female singer-songwriters and artists – the first song I got obsessed with was 9-5 by Dolly Parton, my first album was Kylie and I listened to La Roux’s self-titled album on repeat for years. I think my initial songwriting was influenced a lot by KT Tunstall and Adele (her 19 album at the time) and their fusing of pop and jazz. My production definitely started out very folky and acoustic, I took a lot of inspiration from Ben Howard and my production equipment was basically a mic, my guitar and my voice.

As my setup grew I got to play more with electronic sounds and now I’m very firmly in the Alt-Pop world – I just adore the wobbly soundscapes, the groovy basslines and the melodies that have that catchy pop feel but maintain a much more personal element. Artists like Easy Life, Still Woozy, Remi Wolf, BENEE and AJR are really the lifeblood of my production. I’ve also fallen in love with rap and R&B over the last few years which I think has added a bit of a twist to my sound. I adore Duckwrth, Anderson .Paak and Doja Cat – their rhythms and the way they incorporate a sense of humour into their writing is something I strive to achieve in my own writing.”

Q: Where do you get your music inspiration from, is it someone you knew personally?

E: “The inspiration for my songs is very rarely from a literal person or situation. I tend to produce backings I like and then write to the vibe – what does it make me think of, how does it make me feel. I think subconsciously most of my subject matter comes from personal journeys and mental health. I want my songs to carry positive messages, they feel like advice for myself and others for how to live and to process feelings. I can’t write a love song to save my life, I think I’ve heard way too many. I feel much more inspired by the weirdness of the human brain – whether that’s self-care, working through hardship or just laughing at how weird it all is. “

Q: When and where was the first time you heard your song on the radio? How excited did you get?

E: “The first radio station to play my music was a local station called Cambridge 105 and they played my song Run Wolf Run which I had made in my parents’ bedroom. It was part of this chart for new artists to play their music and listeners to vote on their favourites. It felt so magical having it out in the world and seeing such a positive response too. The song still means so much to me, I’d love to remaster it one day for release. Hearing myself on the radio still feels surreal every time, I don’t think I’ll ever get over it to be honest.”

Q: You have your family members help you sometimes during your music videos, what’s that like?

E: “Honestly my family are the absolute best. They’ve supported my music from day one and just accept me running round the house hitting things, making noise, asking them to film me titting about. They just go with whatever mad ideas I have and it really means so much to have that unconditional support. It nurtures the creative freedom. We did one shoot on a sports pitch with a women’s rugby team in the middle of winter and me wearing a giant pink princess dress. My parents helped coordinate the whole day, my mum brought lunch for the whole crew and a camping stove to boil everyone tea. They really go with anything. My dad and sister filmed me walking round my village and through our local shop in a giant inflatable space suit. The biggest shout out to all three of them.”

Q: Your song Sucker gives a very Harry Style’s type vibe, especially the heart suit you wear in the music video. Is he one of your inspirations since he’s also a UK based artist?

E: “I have a lot of admiration for Harry, especially the Fine Line album. I also funnily enough get told I look like him about every 10 comments on my social media. He’s definitely a fashion inspiration for me, I love androgynous clothing so that heart suit was probably my favorite thing I’ve ever worn. Sucker was a special song for me because I don’t really do the ‘rock star’ thing so having that punk moment, singing guitar solos, slicking my hair back and wearing an obnoxious suit was so freeing and exciting. Harry’s proper rock-out moments on stage definitely inspired that persona.”

Q: Do you plan on releasing an album soon?

E: “My next big release is an EP this summer. I’m keeping the details on it very hush hush because I want the concept to be a surprise but it’s going to be worth waiting for. This is my debut EP as a full time artist and it really feels like a musical maturity for me. All the songs represent important parts of my psyche and they like fresh new territory for me, I’m pushing my sound. It’s also just ridiculously fun, every song has a sense of humor and lots of tongue-in-cheek moments to get you giggling while still musically meaning business. The final single in the run up to the EP will be dropping next month and it’s definitely the closest to my heart so keep your eyes peeled for that one!”

Q: On Tik Tok, you do this game where you sing harmonies and ask the viewers to guess the song, where did it come from?

E: “I shamelessly spend a lot of time on Tik Tok, particularly watching other musical creators and I was seeing loads of harmony layering videos going around. I’m obsessed with vocal harmonies and have made various acapella covers in the past so really it felt like the perfect content to make. I wanted to add a twist to the established format I’d already seen so I thought that it would be fun to start with layers that didn’t make much sense by themselves. I’ve always been fascinated by isolating layers in songs and what makes a song recognizable, this was basically the ultimate experiment haha!”

Q: Where can we follow your amazing journey?

E: “You can find me basically anywhere by searching Ellie Dixon – Spotify, iTunes, all of those. My handle across all social media platforms is @elliedixonmusic which you should definitely follow if you want a musical giggle.”