We were lucky to catch up with Elishéva recently and have shared our conversation below.
Elishéva, appreciate you joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
Hi! My name is elishéva, I was born in Paris and raised in Tahiti. My dad was a doctor in the French military (hence Tahiti) and accidentally inspired my 4 siblings to also become medical professionals. I, however, was inspired to heal people in a different way. I was never exposed to music growing up, so when I had to take choir as a high school graduation requirement, I was distressed haha. Turns out, it’s the best thing that ever happened to me. My senior year of high school I started taking music seriously and declared to my parents I’d be applying and auditioning for admission to Berklee College of Music. My religious immigrant parents, to my surprise, we’re 100% supportive. At the time, I’d never written a song and my voice was farrrrr from worthy of an artist career, but my parents had faith in me. I got into Berklee, learned everything from zero, practiced and performed nonstop and very quickly realized the risk I was taking pursuing this industry. It wasn’t until I started releasing music, playing the social media music promotion wheel of fortune, and constantly performing live that I understood this bitter reality: There are a million ones of me. Young recent grad singer-songwriters/artists trying to make it, posting their music on TikTok and getting 300 views for months even years, performing live for 30 strangers that don’t give a shit, cold calling venues for performance opportunities and getting told there’s no pay because there are 20 other singers and musicians that’ll play for free… The majority of us have the talent, the brand, the vision so I had this reality check and asked myself: what makes me different than them and how am I gonna be the one who makes it? It takes a certain kind of personality to gamble with your life like this. It’s borderline obsessive, actually, it’s definitely obsessive. It’s human nature to want stability, and this career is literally the opposite. You have to be okay with the uncertainty, you have to be okay that it’ll suck for a while before it doesn’t, but you simply cannot be okay with the idea of loss. And yes, you could call it delusion, but I believe if you prepare for acceptance of failure, it becomes inevitable. So I decided to commit, despite the risk, and moved to LA 2 weeks ago to pursue an artist career. I decided my fear of failure would simply have to stfu because if there’s one thing that could scare me into ‘giving up’ and choosing a less competitive path, it’s ruminating in endless ‘what if’s.’ I call those ‘scary thoughts’ and the way I shut them off when I start spiraling is by remembering the unwavering faith my parents have in me. Now it’s time to go nonstop, stay focused on my goals and keep my head down, stop comparing my growth with others’, and remember why I’m writing and singing in the first place: to help people start healing.
(If I don’t blow up this interview will be so embarrassing hahahahah)
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I think the last slide covers most of this too haha. I write my deepest, most vulnerable thoughts to help people realize theirs and start their healing process.
I would classify my music as indie folk-pop. I just released a song titled “For Us” on 9/1 and will even release an acoustic version on the 15th hehe. I just write about stuff that hurts and scares me! I know I’m not alone in the way that I feel and I can help people that relate cope with their own pain and traum and start healing from them.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
At this stage of my career, the most rewarding thing has been when people come up to me after I’ve performed and express how much they relate and connect to my words. There have been times where people have asked me for links to listen to unreleased songs they couldn’t find online because they think their family or friends hearing it would help them and their mental health.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
The stress and pressure on having to be creative drains you of creativity. What do you do when you literally can’t afford to have writer’s block but it hits anyways? Or when you spend hours making a hundred TikTok videos to promote a new song and you get less than 200 views on all of them? It’s so draining making art for money, especially when you don’t get the ‘respect’ other early career positions get from society and non creatives. I guess it feels like it’s only cool to be a rising artist if you’ve risen enough to be famous online.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.elishevalilla.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elishevalilla/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elishevalilla/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIUyuQbi0oeLtpp87okBZLQ
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@elishevalilla
Image Credits
Steph Larsen