Interview: Beth Elsden

Tell us a bit about yourself. Has music always been a dream?
‍I definitely have always been pulled towards music. I got into musical theatre from a very young age, and I think I wrote my first song at 9 years old (though it was a total rip-off of a Hannah Montana song). It wasn’t always my intention to pursue it though. I went to Otago Uni and studied Psychology, Theatre Studies and Music, which sort of kept my options open in a way. I think music has always been the dream, but I didn’t really believe in myself enough to go for it when I was younger.

Who have been your music inspirations or people you look up to?
‍My number one has been Taylor Swift since I first discovered ‘Our Song ’, and since then I have always found myself drawn to singer-songwriters, especially women around my age. People like Maisie Peters, Lizzy McAlpine, Holly Humberstone, and Eli and Mori are all so good at being incredibly vulnerable and poetic in their writing, and I’m really inspired to be as open as possible in my own storytelling because of this.

You have a new single out, ‘Peace Comes With It’. Tell us all about it: how it came to be, how you’re hoping people feel listening to it.
‍I was prompted to write a song about peace for a documentary, which I didn’t necessarily feel qualified to speak on as a 22-year-old girl at the bottom of Aotearoa. I took some time to consider what peace means to me, and the first line that came to me was the start of the chorus, “Oh my, I’ve never seen the stars like this, they could swallow me whole, and I’d be fine with it”. It grew into a song about how important it is to notice the beautiful aspects of the world and humanity even when it can feel like the world is descending into madness every time we turn on the news. I hope this song gives people a sense of calm and hope as they listen and inspires them to notice what makes their lives joyous and peaceful, even amidst the chaos.

This song comes as the second single from your upcoming EP, The Waiting Room. Tell us more about this. The name in particular feels personal. What does this mean to you?
‍The Waiting Room encapsulates how I felt while writing the songs on the EP, from ages 20 to 23. My early twenties felt like a liminal space, where I watched everyone around me progress and succeed in their endeavours, while I remained slightly stagnant and unsure of where I was going. I also felt pressure that I needed to hustle and achieve things in order to be fulfilled in my life, particularly as I was starting to pursue music. I feared that it was too late to even try, as so many of my inspirations began their music careers as teenagers. Ultimately, the songs in this EP find beauty in the moments where you aren’t quite living as the main character in your life. Now that I am 26, I look back on that time in my life as a really necessary and healing experience. I’m less concerned about getting to the next life milestone and I now just focus on enjoying my life from day to day, rather than chasing an abstract state of “fulfilment”.

How do you go about the songwriting process? Do you draw from personal experiences, create the sound first, or do you find the lyrics first?
‍Generally, I draw from a mix of my own personal experience, experiences of the people I love and books/media that I resonate with. Over half of the songs on this EP were written about things my friends were going through, but I always put a piece of myself in there too. It generally starts with an idea or a lyric, and then I go from there, but Losing You Slow (my debut single) was written with the beat and chords first, something I’d like to do more of going forward. I think in this project, I may have subconsciously hidden behind my friend’s experiences in my writing so that I didn’t have to put anyone in my own life on blast. These days I’m writing much more from a place of my own experiences, and I’m really happy with the honesty that is coming from it.

How do you decide which songs make it onto a project like this?
‍This project was my first venture into recording and music production, so I think you can hear me experimenting with my artistic identity throughout the five tracks. Since I was writing most of my songs acoustically on my guitar at the time, the songs were just chosen out of curiosity for what they might sound like with full production, as well as being some of my favourite songs that I've written. I have a fair number of songs written in that time period that I’d love to share as an acoustic B-side to the EP. I’m currently in the process of making that a reality!

What do you have coming up that you can share with us?
‍I’m currently gearing up to release my third and final single from the EP, and then I’ll be jumping straight into planning a fun release party for the EP when it drops in June!

What burger do you think ‘Peace Comes With It’ would be if it were on the BF menu and why?
‍Peace Comes With It seems like a vegetarian queen since she loves the earth, so I’d probably go with the Combustion Tofu.

What would your ideal BF burger contain?
‍My ideal burger pretty much exists already, which is the T-bird. I love that it has jalapeños, chipotle aioli and fried chicken, but if I could modify it, I would add Swiss cheese and caramelised onion. Or maybe even put a jalapeno popper in there for fun!

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Sound Check, Vibe Check

1. What is your go-to song to jam out to in the car? Truth of Pursuit by Sarah Kinsley (at the moment).

2. Who is your favourite artist at the moment? Eli, she just keeps putting out banger after banger, and I fully support her campaign to open for Ariana Grande on the Eternal Sunshine tour.

3. One thing you can’t perform without? My nerves, unfortunately! But they usually settle down after a song or two.

4. One artist or band you would love to collab with? Sam Fender for sure!

5. Go to BurgerFuel order? T-Bird, Spud Fries and I love the Espresso Thickshake from time to time as well.

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Fire or Backfire?

1. Pickles in burgers – Fire

2. Crocs – Fire

3. Karaoke – Fire

4. BurgerFuel Aioli – Fire

5. Acoustic performances - Fire

6. NZ Music Month – Fire

7. Festivals – Fire

8. Singing in the shower – Fire

9. Supermarket in bare feet – Backfire

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Check out Beth's latest music HERE and stay up to date with her HERE.