Last week I got to have a chat with rising pop sensation Example (real name Elliot) on the back of his tour bus with Lily Allen. To be honest, his debut single "Watch The Sun Come Up" was a bit of a slow grower for me in terms of the song, but the video itself was pretty phenomenal in all it's "I'm In London, look now I'm in Ibiza" animated glory. It wasn't until I heard his new electro-pop song "Won't Go Quietly" that I really "clicked" with his music and I'm really looking forward to his new album coming out in 2010.
In this EQ interview with Example, you get to read all about touring life with Lily Allen, the making of "Watch The Sun Come Up", the real meaning behind "Won't Go Quietly" and why his music is described as "dysfunctional electro-pop" – enjoy!
If you haven't discovered Example yet – make sure you check out his MySpace.
EQ: Well hello Elliot – how are you today?
Example: Alright dude!
Congratulations on your success with "Watch The Sun Come Up". Are you happy with how well the single was received?
Yeah yeah definitely – it was certainly got attention in all the right places. I've been waiting for that attention for about four or five years now so yeah, it's as good as it gets!
So tell me what was the inspiration for the video? I love the whole live action/animation feel to it – it's very a-ha.
Yeah a lot of people have said that. We weren't actually going for that. To be honest, I think that the animation was black and white is what tied it to a-ha. For it's time that a-ha video was amazing and everybody remembers that video. People will always compare my video to it, but I think my video has a different scope and story behind it.
How long did it take to concept and make that video?
Well the guy who directed it is a good mate of mine. We basically met up (he's done about five videos for me before) and discussed all the ideas. I told him all the things I wanted – there needed to be a beautiful girl in it and we wanted to shot it in Ibiza or Majorca. It took about a month to plan and two days shooting in Ibiza, one day in London and then a week of post-production – there was a lot going on for that video!
It certainly turned out pretty well – so congrats on that! So how did you come up with the name Example anyways?
Well it's my initials – EG. It says so on Wikipedia as well…I don't know if you read a lot of stuff on Wikipedia, but on there is a lot of fake stuff…
Well you know, wikipedia doesn't have a good reputation, so I try to avoid it when possible…
Fair enough, fair enough [laughs]
You're just coming off a UK tour with Lily Allen – how is it going?
Yeah, we are just going to Cardiff at the moment, we've done about thirteen gigs and there's about four left. And as you can tell from my voice it's been fun but hard work. We've been playing to like 10,000 a night, so it's a good opportunity to get new fans for my music.
Is Lily as outspoken in person as she comes across in the media?
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah – she's lovely. I love her chats. She's very cocky, but I like that!
What has been the most memorable city on the tour so far?
Probably Dublin y'know. I've never played Dublin before and the reception there was amazing – the kids are like non-stop bouncy if you know what I mean. That was definitely a highlight.
You've got a big gig coming up on New Years with Calvin Harris and Deadmaus among others – are you looking forward to that show?
Yeah yeah yeah – that is going to be amazing – we've sold a lot of tickets and there should be like 15,000 people there.
How do you prep yourself for such huge performances?
I don't know really. I don't really have any rituals – I just get on stage really and love performing. I don't have to psych myself up or get in the mood for it. You know half way through the first song I get a little injection of adrenaline and then the rest of the show just happens I suppose.
So on your Myspace you describe your music as dysfunctional electro-pop – I was wondering why you chose to describe your music this way?
YEAH! I didn't actually choose that one – The NME penned that one for me. I suppose essentially the music is pop because it's catchy. But with my conventional pop music, it's got a little bit of an edge to it – so I suppose that is where the dysfunctional comes in. I'm quite a dysfunctional character as well I think. I'm not disheveled – there is no live band or instruments on my album – it's all about the production and produced on computers so that's your electro vibe there.
So tell me about your new single "Won't Go Quietly" – what's it all about?
Yes – it's out January 18th. It's actually about an ex-girlfriend from about 4 years ago who was just like this crazy, sexual creature – actually a fucking lunatic. [laughs] It's about not being able to leave crazy women because they are good in bed. [laughs] Like when you try and break up with them and they "won't go quietly". I suppose when some women will hear it they will and won't listen to the lyrics and will assume it's about being in love. But it's actually about a really really mad violent woman who used to throw things at me.
Let's watch the new video shall we…
Tell me about your album…you're still working on it right?
It's gonna be amazing. It's most likely going to come out in April as I'm spending all of January finishing it. The album has got all sorts of genres on there – electro, drum n base, pop, garage, house, dub-step all sorts of genres on there – maybe even a hip-hop song or two…very dysfunctional.
Well that's it Elliot – thanks for your time
No worries Raj – talk to you soon!