Q&A: Talking With EFÉ About New EP ‘VITAMIN-C,’ Creative Control & Her Love of Music Videos
WITH A DIRECTION THAT IS CLEAR, SUNNY, AND PICTURESQUE — EFÉ’s vision so clearly reflects a romanticized longing of “doing it yourself.” Her second EP, VITAMIN-C, produces a dreamscape where all that life has to offer is viewed through an essential pair of rose-tinted glasses. Listening to the EP feels personal — any recent 22-year-old university graduate can feel it. But just as powerful is the connection to who you long to be. There are moments within the 15 and a half minutes that leave you with languid and cozy memories and others in which crazy guitar loops surround you with the best torment, such as in “Loving Girl.”
Working on the new EP was not purely sonic for EFÉ. Self-directing and conceptualizing her music video for “LIME” and set designing her live performances showcases how her creative outputs emit a newfound self-trust. Without a doubt, the singer displays this on the stage as well. She opened for JPEGMAFIA in Dublin and performed at a slew of festivals such as The Great Escape Festival, Glastonbury Festival, and at Longitude and Latitude festivals, as well as Dublin’s Academy 2 on Aug. 11 and will accompany Still Woozy this November on their UK/EU tour.
Read below to learn more about EFÉ, VITAMIN-C, her love of collaboration, and more.
LUNA: I'm wondering if dreams have any inspiration in your project? And if not dreams, then was there a theme for this EP?
EFÉ: I feel like there is a theme, but I feel like it's more like romanticizing a life that you'd want. I feel like “Before Sunset” really does that — just the romanticization of life. I remember when I was writing this EP, about to enter the last year of college. And I was not motivated at all. I was watching something and was like, “Oh, wait, I can just make it through by romanticizing this right now,” even though college is the worst. Yeah, you romanticize in a way to make you feel better.
But overall, I think the theme would be codependency. I remember I was like, “Oh yeah, I want to name the EP VITAMIN-C, and the C stands for codependency.” So writing the EP there was a lot of that like, “Oh, I need this person in order to like achieve this” or “I need this or that,” and there are multiple songs that kind of speak on that and how I can actually believe in myself and try and to make what I want reality just by trying.
LUNA: When you started the album, was that the intention? Or did the intention change from when you started versus to when it was done?
EFÉ: I feel like it kind of had meaning … during the process of making the EP, towards the end of the EP. It was like, “Okay, this all makes sense.” Blindly seeing where it goes because I am writing about experiences that have happened.
LUNA: You mentioned school and how, when you started writing, you were about to go into your last year, and I'm wondering if the structure of school impacted how you make music?
EFÉ: It made it very stressful for me. Luckily, there were times where I did have to focus on music when I didn't have any school during the break, where I could actually go in and just finish songs and make songs. It was a lot of trying to plan around college time, which wasn't the best, but obviously I have to graduate.
Even with “Loving Girl,” it was during the Christmas break that we finally finished the song. Just because of college, and I knew that I would be free during that time. I feel like making “Grapes” … “Before Sunset” — it used to be called “Grapes.” “Before Sunset” was definitely the time where I did have to romanticize. So I guess college life did seep into my music, but other than that, not really.
LUNA: You mentioned “Before Sunset” and you mentioned “Loving Girl.” I want to talk about both of those. I love “Loving Girl.”
EFÉ: Oh my gosh! Thank you!
LUNA: It’s so good! The guitar, it kind of makes you feel like you're drowning. But then at 50 seconds, it kind of changes and then you realize you have enough water and you can say what you mean. What was the process of you making the song and what is a “loving girl”? Is it a character? Or are you talking to someone?
EFÉ: The process is actually kind of funny because it was supposed to be a joke song. I love making just jokey songs. So with the theme of codependency I was like, “I don't know how to produce. I have to rely on someone to produce constantly, that's just the way it is.” And then one day, I was just like, “Okay, let me just try. Let me just stick to one thing and try to make a song fully.” And so then I was strumming with my guitar — I think maybe I started with a drum beat on splice. And then I had the guitar. And then I liked the chorus and was like, “Oh, this was kind of going somewhere.” And then I kind of freestyled. But I was like, “This is a joke. I'm not going anywhere with this.” And I sent it to my friends like, “Haha, listen to this, look what I made,” expecting them to laugh or whatever but they were like, “Oh, this is good!” Then it was developed and I went to London to finish with Dania.
Um, what is a “loving girl”? I feel like in the writing process, there's just relationships with different people, like, friendships, and it was just a really sensitive time when I was writing. And I was just like, “I don't even know how to act with people anymore.” Yeah, I think maybe COVID has something to do with it. But just, “How am I supposed to be liked by and loved by these people that I was already friends with?” It was dealing with that and… I don't even know how to explain it. I probably should be able to but I feel like it was from a lot of free freestyle, but also mending those lyrics to actually kind of make sense at all.
LUNA: The next song I want to talk about is “Before Sunset.” Why did you choose to make that one the last song of the EP?
EFÉ: Yeah, it was actually very difficult trying to figure out what should be the last song. Initially, it was supposed to be “LIME,” because that sounds like the end of something. And then it was supposed to be “Loving Girl,” which sounds like the end of something. But I think “Before Sunset” takes you through this journey. And the whistling at the end of “Before Sunset” was the first ever idea that I had for this EP. I was like, “I want a song that's gonna have, like, people whistling. I mean, whistling very badly at the end.” It brings me to that time of kind of making the EP. I feel like it just encapsulates that whole world and idea. And it's kind of like, “And this is what happened, and this is how it was.”
LUNA: I want to talk about your EP — this is your second one. What was different about your first EP for you versus this one?
EFÉ: So, the first one I had no managers for it. So I was just like, “Whatever happens, happens.” Yeah. I didn't know what I was doing. I just kind of like, “Okay, let me just see, let me just express myself and just have cool visual aspects.” I already had the main idea that I wanted it to be about: summer and the nostalgia part of it. But the making of each song was kind of spread out because of college. So it was whenever I had the time, free time — it wasn't, like, well, I have to finish.
Compared to this, the recent project, VITAMIN-C, was all closely written together. Both of them still touch on things that happened in my life and how I felt. I guess this one is more mature in a way — in terms of themes and things that I talked about. And I think the sound [is] wise; I think it's a huge step up and I'm so proud of it.
LUNA: I saw that you also self-directed and conceptualized the “LIME” video. I'm wondering how important that is to you, being a part of the creative process? What was that like for you?
EFÉ: I feel like when I wanted to start making music, I feel like the leading reason was to make music videos. I really wanted to have my own music video. That to me was just such a driver. And I've always had my own YouTube channel so I feel like I understood certain things in terms of editing. And I don't know, creative control is just so important to me. The only thing is it can get difficult, just ’cause you want to take on so many things and you want to be a part of something. It can be a lot, but it's very fulfilling to see your own ideas come into fruition.
LUNA: What are other ways that you try to have creative control while you're performing?
EFÉ: In my music video for “KIWI,” there's a bear in it. So for “KIWI,” I bring the bear on stage on stage and dance, and then for “LIME,” I bring my friends to dance and they have all the wigs on. And I just love incorporating like, stupid stuff and funny, humorous kind of stuff. So I feel like it can be dangerous for people to give creative freedom to me. I could probably do some stupid things. But it's really cool! And I feel like I've recently been doing that with this EP — incorporating things in photoshoots or videos, and then I can incorporate that on stage.
LUNA: What is your collaboration process like? I know that you said when you were finishing one part of the song you finished it in London, was it Daniya you said?
EFÉ: Daniya, yeah, so he just helped with doing the live drums and I forgot the chords so he helped me and just finalized the song, basically. But that was only for “Loving [Girl]” though, but most of the time I'm working with who.killed.romeo. He's my best friend — he’s produced all my songs. He’s so talented and we just collaborate musically.
LUNA: Do you think that collaborating with friends is easier?
EFÉ: Oh it's so, so much easier to collaborate with friends. And even my boyfriend does most of my photos — he’ll help me to take them. It's just so much easier to just work with them, people that I know just ’cause, number one, they're already really talented and really good at what they do. And so I don't feel bad giving directions on things. So there's a comfortability that “Oh, they won't shun this idea.” You know? And I can also trust them to bring this idea to life.
LUNA: Okay, our interview is almost over. But I don't want to leave our conversation without asking, what are your inspirations? What drove you to make music? You talked about music videos — are there any specific music videos that you were like, “I want to be able to do something like that?” That just completely blew your mind?
EFÉ: I think it kind of started off when bedroom pop was crazy in 2017 and 2018 with, you know, Rex Orange County and Clairo. Oh my gosh, the music videos are, like, effortless, so cool, and they just work. And so that was definitely something that drove me to feel like, “Oh, I could do this. I can make something with my friends and it would be so cool.”
But then, like recently, I was watching music videos from the ’90s [and] early 2000s, and the Black Eyed Peas had really cool music videos. I was kind of shocked! Even… what's that one… “Lets Get it Started.” That one — I’m just like, “What?!” And the music videos, I’m like, “How did they do that?” That’s what I want — that's the goal! Stuff like that inspires me so much.
And also, I feel something that really inspired me to keep doing music is just, I feel like there aren’t enough people … making this type of genre-ish [stuff]. I don't know, maybe I don't know much. But for me, I don't see it a lot. And I feel like I've already received messages like, “Whoa, this is so cool to see a Black girl from Ireland doing this type of music.” And because I know that I want that. So if I can be that, like someone else…
LUNA: I like to end off with a fun question: What are some songs that you're listening to and enjoying?
EFÉ: Oh my gosh … I guess this duo called Jockstrap. Okay. And they're incredible. I was at their show in Dublin, like a few weeks or months ago. And just insane. Like, so great. I don't know how they aren't as big. But they're just insane. And forever will love this artist called Whatever, Dad. They just make guitar [music] and are very soft, very lofi. And they haven't made music since 2017. It's actually very sad because I just love them so much. And they're nowhere to be seen. No one knows where they are.
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