Eliza Doolittle is no Fair Lady

8 August 2008

Photograph by Erin Barry

No it isn’t the star of My Fair Lady, this Eliza Doolittle is in face the latest singer songwriter to take a shot at the charts.I caught up with her to find out what makes her stand out from the crowd.

What have you been up to this week, anything exciting?

I just got back from a festival in Brighton and I’ve was at Camp Festival a few weeks and I’ve been writing in the studio, I’ve just been doing loads of stuff over the past few weeks.

To anyone who hasn’t heard of you, how would you describe your sound?

That’s a really tricky one because I can’t really tell, it just comes out and I don’t know how to describe it, I suppose it’s just good pop song music with some soul and me, I really don’t know.

Do you ever find yourself getting compared to anyone?

Yes all the time, people always compare me to the female singers out there but I think it’s a bit silly, I think Laura Marling once said “We’re not a genre or a gender.” so I’m sticking with her on that one because I think it’s quite a cute motto.

You just released your first single Piano Song, what has the reaction been like?

It’s going really good, I’ve had it on download on iTunes and we’ve had a video up too and we’ve had some nice comments written about it.

You’re also working in an album, tell me a bit about that.

Once again I find it really difficult to describe! I just want to write really good songs and put it down what’s in my head into music and I think I have been inspired by hundreds of different types of music and different artists but I wouldn’t be able to put a singer on it, I just like lots of good music.

Whereabouts is the album up to in terms of ready-ness?

Well I’m writing all the time and I’m not really sure which songs are going on there yet, but hopefully it will be ready soon.

How did you get into the music industry?

I’ve always wanted to be a singer really, when I was about 12 I started writing and since then I’ve just known it’s all I’ve wanted to do and it’s all I can do really, I’m not very good at anything else.

If you wasn’t a singer what would you be doing?

If is wasn’t a good singer I think I’d be a crap singer, I have to be singing! I don’t know what else I would do!

Who do you look up to within the music industry?

The legends like Stevie Wonder and Prince, just hundreds of artists and bands! I like The Kings of Leon and The Arctic Monkeys and I really like Christina Aguilera. I grew up on R&B music like Destiny’s Child and I also listened to a lot of the older soul stuff and rock and roll. Oh, and Eva Cassidy!

I like a lot of different music, when I was younger I listened to a lot of old school garage and R&B but as you grow older your music tastes can change, I know its quite general but I like loads of different kinds of music! However there is a lot of crap out there as well!

Oh yes, a lot of crap! So is there anyone in particular you don’t like?

Yeah, but I think everyone has their own right to do what they want to do so I’ve got nothing bad to say about anyone in particular?

Is there any genre you don’t really like?

Yeah, that American Hip-Hop ‘crunk’ music, I’m not a massive fan of that but we don’t get much of that here nowadays. Luckily the radio has been playing more and more English music recently so we don’t really need too much of that anymore.

What makes you different from everyone else?

I have no idea! I just want to write good music and just want to have good song. I’m not trying to be different in any way, I just want to make good music and make people happy when they listen to it, I wouldn’t be able to make that comment on myself, I can’t really see myself from another angle, I just do what I do.

Why did you choose the name Eliza Dolittle? Were you worried that people might think you were trying to cash in on the success of the My Fair Lady character?

It was a childhood nickname, Eliza is my real name, but everyone used to just call me Miss Dolittle or Eliza Dolittle and I just liked the sound of it! I’m not worried about people thinking I’m using it to further myself, I don’t know if anyone thinks that, I just like the ring to it, but if it does make people talk about me, all the better for me I guess!