Spotlight: Eli Jonathan 'Princeton'
HE’LL GET YOU MOVING, SINGING AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN - Eli Jonathan exudes bold energy with his latest project, Princeton. Filled with synth and pop-esque elements we all love, the EP touches on the themes of relationships in a heartfelt, though upbeat way. We last chatted with Elijah after the release of his debut EP Kennedy, and it’s been a pleasure to see him continue to grow. Listen to Princeton and read below to learn more about the making of the album, plans for visuals and more.
LUNA: A lot has happened since we last chatted - how have you been? How are you taking care of yourself these days?
ELIJAH: In short, I’ve been.very grateful. It seems like life has slowed down a lot but I’ve definitely kept going for better or for worse! I’ve been looking for new ways to rest and to slow my mind down in such a crazy time and I’ve been finding them! So I’m very grateful.
I’ve been reflecting on a lot of shows and memories I may have taken for granted, so I’m excited for the moment big exciting things can be normal again.
LUNA: Congrats on your latest EP Princeton! I’m sure it feels great to have this out. You’ve described the EP as “bright, loud and colorful” - sonically, how does this EP reflect your growth as an artist?
ELIJAH: Thank you so much! I am very proud!
I think it definitely reflects myself, as an artist, growing towards who I am as a person. It represents how I’ve been approaching my own positivities with a little bit more acceptance recently. I think those words “bright, loud and colorful” embody what I frequently find myself wanting from music and also who I find myself to be. Yes, It’s very optimistic but I need it to have substance and I’ve been finding nice balances of the two.
LUNA: What’s the story behind the title of the EP?
ELIJAH: I’ve been very interested in the fact that everyone has a unique passion and drive for wildly different things in life. I have my own individual passions for music and personal growth and they’ve been present for a long time. However, everyone else has their own dreams. Nobody can share my mine exactly.
The university Princeton, and the thought of getting accepted and being there, is a giant dream for a lot of people, different than my own dreams but easy to identify with. The word “Princeton” is a really concise (and maybe even disrespectful) way to boil someone else’s entire life dream down into two easy syllables.
LUNA: The project touches on the theme of relationships - how do you get comfortable tapping into such vulnerable subjects when you know others will listen?
ELIJAH: It really helps to claim that the songs aren’t written about yourself while you write them. I don’t really try to embody my own relationships in the moments that I’m songwriting because I don’t often feel the need to spell out a clear story. I try to reflect on the feelings and the experiences of relationships rather than the specific situations or names.
The nicest part about this process may be that you really can’t get away from writing personally. You get to listen back to those same songs later on and you’re able to hear pieces of yourself very clearly attached to them, just like you might with a song written by someone else.
LUNA: What was the overall creative process like for this EP? Do you tend to start with the music or lyrics first?
ELIJAH: Definitely the music! The music all the way. I believe I write my best in a state of excitement and the music is the best way I’ve found for me to grab ahold of that excitement out of nowhere. I stay much longer at a dead stop when I’m trying my best right off the bat to say the right thing. Starting with the music lets me make sure that I’m feeling the right thing before I say anything out loud.
LUNA: Were there any key inspirations that shaped the feel of the album?
ELIJAH: In the month before tour cancellations and quarantine I attended a final run of shows, road trips and events that I thought was never going to stop. It obviously stopped and It felt like my life got put entirely on hold when it was just changing. There are for sure friends of mine hit way harder by similar circumstances. Hearing their worries, along with my own personal anxieties and uncertainty, definitely added a feeling of desperation to everything I was writing at the time. I finished these songs on Princeton quicker than anything else because they felt a little more desperate to me.
LUNA: Which track means the most to you & why?
ELIJAH: “They want to see young love”. From the second I started writing for it I was ecstatic and I stayed ecstatic about it until the very end. A lot of the usual doubts and hesitations I’ve felt in the songwriting process before were not present for this EP. TWTSYL most of all felt very easy to love and not doubt the whole process through.
The song is also about a huge amount of attention on you and you loving someone. I think a lot of people break under that pressure while other people crave that attention. It makes the concept very uncomfortable or invigorating depending on what you individually need.
LUNA: On the flip end, which track was the most difficult to finalize? Why did you stick with it?
ELIJAH: “Only Us” only started as a lot of percussion and vocal parts, saying “only us”, layered over each other. And those two lines could’ve meant so many things! I struggled to find what I needed it to say for a significant amount of time. After leaving it alone for a long while and listening back to it, I found it sort of overwhelming. Rather than fix that I wanted to use it that feeling of being alone with someone and feeling overwhelmed. In that light, it really sounded like head-over-heels, dangerous optimism to me. I knew that’s the feeling I wanted the EP to start with.
LUNA: Can you share a favorite moment from putting this EP together?
ELIJAH: There was a moment right before most of the content was finished and I was out of town trying to figure out what I wanted the EP to look like. I had images in my head of harsh golden hour sunshine and the outdoors and potential EP cover from all of that. It could’ve easily worked, but with inspiration from my favorite picture ever taken of myself (now the Princeton EP cover (taken by the lovely Gemma Cross)) I started pairing it with other content, at a different time of day with colored lights and flashing strobes. As soon as that happened, everything clicked. Every song I’d written for the EP seemed so much more powerful in that frame.
LUNA: Are there any plans for some visual components to the project?
ELIJAH: There are so many plans. Some of which will definitely come to fruition as official components! But I think the planning for those components is always exciting enough that I could dream up a million bits and pieces and be content without needing to make them actually happen. Surrounding myself with people that have a passion for seeing those components brought to life has been extremely helpful and I believe will make sure those bits and pieces get seen.
In the meantime there is a visualizer for “They Want to See Young Love” out on my Youtube channel and I love it. And its also got lyrics so that you can tell what I’m saying!
LUNA: Now that the EP is out, do you have any plans/goals you’d like to share?
ELIJAH: I’m very excited about all the new friends I’m making, artists, bands and creatives, etc. that I can work with once things get a little safer. Other than that I can only say to stay posted because there are things in the works I’m going to be so happy to share. Some of which are mine, so stay posted on me as I stay posted on my friends!
