Q&A: Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine
REDEFINING WHAT POP ENCOMPASSES - Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine are bringing together a plethora of elements to create their soulful though upbeat sounds. They’ve crafted a sound that manages to grab your heart and quickly take you for a dance. Consisting of instrumentalist/composer Elijah Woods and lyricist/vocalist Jamie Fine, the Canadian duo has carefully built a foundation that showcases their willingness to explore sonic elements, all while showcasing their fun side. With a focus on authenticity and growing, Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine continues to move forward, gaining endless hearts along the way. Read below to learn more about their latest music video for “Want You Back”, their creative process and more.
LUNA: How are y'all doing lately? Have you picked up any fun new quarantine hobbies?
ExJ: We’re just over here trying to stay sane – hah. We’re doing alright! Taking it day by day like most people and writing lots of music - Trying to keep the creative juices flowing!
LUNA: Earlier in April you released a video for “Want You Back”? Can you talk a little bit about what the creative process for the video was like and what role you played in that?
ExJ: We wanted to create a music video that looked like how the song made us feel. The story behind the song is basically ‘confetti’, so it seemed appropriate to have a lot of that in the visual! We worked with an amazing company out of Montreal, REBL, and they really took our simple idea and made it so fun, and loud. We’re two fairly strange people with different sides to us, so we wanted to make sure all of them were represented. It was so much fun filming and we were really happy with how it turned out!
LUNA: How important is tapping to the visual side of your music?
ExJ: It’s a huge part of what we do! Visuals often help with showing people who we really are. Our music itself is very authentic to us and shows people who we are as artists. Having a fun visual, or any visual for that matter, helps tell the story of who we are as just people as well.
LUNA: What’s been inspiring you lately? Are there any non musical individuals that’s impacting your music?
ExJ: I think we’re both pretty inspired by what’s happening in the world right now and not necessarily just the dark parts. This time is definitely making us all reflect on a lot. Family/friends, goals, ourselves – whatever it may be, there’s lots of inspiration around us! We both have people in our life right now who we can write about, too, which is very convenient – haha.
LUNA: I love the energy of your music - you’ve got some great elements pushing your music forward. Sonically, what are some elements you’d like to explore more in your upcoming music?
ExJ: Thank you! I think we both love exploring different genres and finding inspiration in all types of music. We’re continuously growing and developing our sound and that often means incorporating sounds from genres outside of your typical ‘pop’, whether that be rock, reggaetón - even punk.
LUNA: Lyrically, do you find yourself drawn to certain themes or narratives? What role is the listener playing in the writing process?
ExJ: Great question! We write what we feel and experience typically. There have been a couple occasions where we were inspired by what we’ve seen people go through, but for the most part it’s very personal. If I’m going through a heartbreak, I’ll channel that, and Elijah will help narrate the story. If I’m in love, same thing!
We try to avoid asking ourselves what people want to hear because it can trap you into a bad routine of trying to write a “hit”. We want to check off (so-to-speak) as many boxes as we can, of course, but maintain a level of authenticity to what we’re doing, which is basically letting people into our personal journals. That way, I think people relate a bit more to the final product or song, because it comes from a real place rather than trying to tell a story we think people want to hear.
LUNA: What would you like people to take away from your music?
ExJ: We both just want people to feel something. We all typically listen to music very passively now. We’re doing the dishes and listening to music, working out and listening to music. We’re usually doing something and listening to music. As bold and odd as it may sound, we want people to ‘snap out of it’ after listening to a song or project of ours and realize they were just staring into space for that time, listening to the music; feeling the music. Obviously, there are some songs like ‘Want You back’ where we envision people working out to it, but with a lot of our other music, we want to stop time.
LUNA: If you could share some advice to those that want to pursue music but may feel like they don’t fit the typical mold / feel like an outsider, what what you say?
ExJ: I’d say right now is the time for people that don’t ‘fit the mold’! Now’s the time for different or unique, because right now it’s seen as refreshing. Now, more than ever, people are willing to admit that we’re all a bunch of weirdos – haha.
The best thing you can do right now is be you. I guarantee there are people who can relate to it. It’s the people who are trying to be something they’re not who are the outliers.
LUNA: The label “Pop” has become a lot more inclusive now and genres definitely aren’t as important as before, so what are some other ways you’d like to see the music industry evolve?
ExJ: POP music is definitely a much broader definition of music now, we agree. The music industry is constantly evolving, and it’s usually catered towards what people want to hear! Every once in a while, someone will pop out, do something different, and change the game for a while. Drake did it, The Chainsmokers did it, Lizzo did it. There are constantly new waves and it’s kind of excited as an artist to keep trying to ride them. It keeps you growing!
LUNA: I know so much is up in the air right now, but do y’all have any goals/plans you’d like to share?
ExJ: We’re both working on our personal stuff and other people’s projects as well. We’ve been getting back to our roots of writing music and it feels great! We have some acoustic stuff coming out in the next few weeks in May which we’re very excited about. Right now for most artists it’s time for creating so we’re pretty focused on that for now!
