If you haven’t already immersed yourself in the soulful glory of Never Gonna Bring Me Down, the new single from Elwyn, stop what you’re doing and go listen to it now. The song is a dynamic and irresistibly sultry slice of music that we’ve had spinning on repeat ever since we first laid ears on it.
So fresh off the track’s release, we caught up with the artist herself to chat all about it, her musical influences, and what the future holds.
With an amazingly soulful new single fresh under her belt, we caught up with Perth-based artist Elwyn to chat all about it.
HAPPY: Hey, how’s it going? What are you up to at the moment?
ELWYN: Everything is going well. I’ve just returned from a three month stint in the US mentoring at Girls Rock Santa Barbara which was incredible. I recorded in LA and played some sold out shows throughout California. I’ve also just got back from a South West Australian tour supporting Your Girl Pho. My music video for Never Gonna Bring Me Down directed and shot by Canadian/Los Angeles based film producer Laura-Lynn Petrick (known for her work with Mac Demarco, GUM, Girl In Red and many other incredible artists) is being premiered at WAMFest’s Mini Music Festival on Nov 2nd at Perth’s Rooftop Cinema which I’m very excited to be featured on the big screen. Then my six-piece band will be gearing up for our Melbourne tour starting on the 14th of November, after the tour we’ll be heading back to the West Coast for my Never Gonna Bring Me Down single launch at The Aardvark, Nov 22nd. Then we’ll be touring the South West again playing a show at Six Degrees in Albany on the 6th of December. Then returning to Perth to support my great friend ‘Georgia Reed’ at Mojos on December 21st upon her return from London. I’ve also got some new tunes that I’ll be releasing in the new year.
HAPPY: We’ve been loving Never Gonna Bring Me Down! How does it feel having the track out there in the world?
ELWYN: I’m so glad that you love the track as much as we do! It feels AMAZING to have it out in the big wide world!
HAPPY: Could you tell us a bit about the song?
ELWYN: I wrote the song after ending my first long term relationship. One of my best friends rang me in tears on my way home from WAAPA back in 2015 telling me that my ex had been inappropriate with her during a friends party and made her feel very upset and uncomfortable. I was so disappointed that he took his grief out on her to try to hurt me. When I hung up a started saying a mantra to myself in the car, “You’re Never Gonna Bring Me Down, You’re Never Gonna Bring Me Down”. I was smoking a cigarette and driving past Lake Monger in Perth and the lyrics just started pouring out of me. When I got home my parents asked me how my day went, I didn’t respond, I just ran down to my studio grabbed a guitar clicked record and Never Gonna Bring Me Down was born.
HAPPY: You’ve gone in a bit of a new sonic direction for this new single. Was it intentional to go down a more soul-pop route? Or did it happen naturally?
ELWYN: I’ve always been into that soul-pop vibe. When I recorded my last EP I was really into electronic music at the time but since growing stylistically into who I am today I realised that I wanted to make music with that warm, vintage soul sound that I love so much and that’s true to me so I decided to stick with my gut and go full vintage with it.
HAPPY: Could you walk us through how the song came together? Where did you record it?
ELWYN: Once the song was demoed out my band and I took it to ‘Tunafish Recording Company’. The band and I recorded it and co-produced it with an incredible up and coming producer/engineer Jack Seah (Airline Food) in one day. Jack and I just clicked straight away in the studio because we have very similar taste in music and he’s just an all round top bloke to work with. We had a lot of fun! The track was then mixed by Jack Seah and Jay Brandner (POND) and mastered by Broderick Madden-Scott at ‘Tunafish Recording Company’.
HAPPY: Are there any other artists you’re really loving at the moment?
ELWYN: I’m really into Kali Uchis, Tame Impala, Pond, Lana Del Rey, Ari Lennox, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and soooo many local artists such as the queen herself Your Girl Pho.
HAPPY: What’s next for Elwyn? Any other exciting plans in the works?
ELWYN: Next year I’ll be releasing new music all through the year and travelling/touring.
HAPPY: Cheers for the chat!
ELWYN: Thanks for that chat! Have a good one!
Never Gonna Bring Me Down is available now. Listen above.
