Ella Isaacson in conversation with FAULT Magazine

Ella Isaacson is one of the most exciting emerging talents to hit our radar. Despite still very much being in the advent of her musical journey, her notable releases ‘Expectations’ ‘Hard Lessons’ and Maybeline’ have received praise far beyond her years. With more music on the horizon and no signs of her hard work slowing down, we caught up with Ella to find out more about her musical journey, her process and of course, her FAULTs.

What would you say has been the most challenging aspect of creating your upcoming EP?

This Ep has been a long time coming and it represents my growth as an artist over the past three years. The songs and their creation also span over that time period so the challenge with tying these songs together for my team and I was the sonics and production, I was really specific on how I wanted the sounds to still feel organic. Also, doing that in a pandemic with producers and writers in London, Sweden, Greece, and New York over zoom. I’m super hands-on with my music and love to sound design in the room so switching that to over the internet has its challenges. But I’m really proud that it has come together and I didn’t have to compromise on the sound I wanted.

What’s been the biggest change you’ve seen in yourself between your debut and now? 

I think I’ve spread my wings a lot since “Naked” and with every release, I’ve been getting more personal with my lyrics. And I feel like I’ve really figured out my sound which can take artists a long time to do but once you do it’s extremely powerful and inspiring then you get into a groove and the process is so much easier and enjoyable. 

What would you say was the theme that runs throughout the whole EP?

There’s a bunch of themes actually but they all centre around growing pains and my need to constantly question things. I tend to be in my head a lot funny enough, it’s just who I am and the EP is definitely that of the musings of an extreme overthinker. Questioning where I am in life in relation to where I imagined I’d be by now, who the world and people I know see me as vs who I really am and where does my authentic self sit in that dynamic, hating the party to be over because then it’s just me myself and I, and what happens when that kind of person finds love for the first time. But the irony is that I think all of us have these insecurities whether we’re open about it or not, I’m just telling the stories of my experience.

Are you regimented in your songwriting or do you prefer to write whenever inspiration hits? 

It’s a mixture, I have had a lot of songs that I’ve put out where the initial idea and lyrics came to me at these really exciting bursts of inspiration moments and then I just write down a million lyrics and poetry to bring into the studio to build around. But I have a bunch of sessions where I go into a room with cowriters and I’m not really sure what I’m gonna write about that day and something amazing comes out of it. I feel like the key to writing really personal narratives on a consistent basis is just to not hold back in sessions even with new people you don’t know and certainly not well enough to tell such intimate details of your life to. I’ve learned to just kind of forget about that when I’m in that space and be willing to be vulnerable because that’s the only way to get something really special when it didn’t just come to you in the shower or your car.

When can fans expect to hear the EP?

We will be dropping singles over the next few months leading up to the full EP drop

When you look back on your musical journey, what’s been the hardest hurdle you’ve had to overcome? 

I think the need to constantly be putting out content faster than you can make it is quite a hurdle. As someone who is an extreme perfectionist when it comes to my music wrestling with trying to keep up with the current pace and still making something that had the time put into it to reach its full potential is a dance. My team will laugh at me when they read this because we’ve had a lot of conversations about it, but as open as I am with my songwriting I struggle with that on social media. It’s just a muscle memory I need to create so it’s something I’m working to overcome.

If you could go back to the start of your career and leave yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?

Travel and make music. I have met mentors, music collaborators that became like siblings and had so many experiences I wouldn’t have had if I just stayed in New York or LA where I was living. LA is amazing and certainly has incredible talent so you can feel the pressure to stay put, but there’s a whole world of creators out there that are not in LA and it’s important to step away from the belly of the industry as an artist. When you want to be creative go places where you can get inspired, change it up and you can bring your new inspiration back to where you live.

 What’s one key message you’re trying to convey with your music? 

Honestly, honesty. I don’t sugar coat my lyrics and I’m very unforgiving to myself even, in my writing, throwing myself under the bus if I have to. I want people to hear a song and be like wow she went there, didn’t she. 

What’s something positive you’ve done this year to protect your mental health? 

That is a beautiful question! The answer is a lot of different things. I think having a better morning routine has really helped me to start the day in a way I feel good about and replenished. In covid times I found myself slipping into patterns of waking up later and rolling into zoom sessions, drinking too much coffee and then writing all day staying up late recording. Which if you struggle with any type of mental health issues, too much caffeine, bad quality sleep, overworking and not enough sunlight is just a recipe for you not to feel your best. So switching that into an early wake-up, nice morning walk, making time for myself in the mornings and evenings to journal, read a book or listen to affirmations/ meditate. I’ve always been someone who tries to stay on top of my mental health and am a believer in therapy, but recently I decided to take a different approach and instead of going to therapy, work with a life coach on practical ways to implement change and work around my mental health triggers that come up while working towards my goals.

What is your FAULT?

My overthinking disease 100%. But it also makes me a better artist and songwriter, so it’s both my blessing and my curse.