Old News and Spittakes: Q&A with meg elsier
- Emma Zoe Polyak
- Dec 20, 2024
- 11 min read
As 2024 comes to a close, I want to look back at an artist who has had a phenomenal 2024: meg elsier. Her debut album, spittake, was released earlier this year in June, and showcases her versatility with standout tracks like “ifshitfuq” and “oldnews.” 2024 also saw meg’s first tour as she supported Finom on their Not God tour.
Beyond her music, meg’s creative vision extends into visual artistry, collaborating on striking music videos and fashion styling that further define her unique aesthetic. I had the pleasure of asking her about these creative choices, as well as about her artistic journey and highlights of the year. Keep reading to learn all about meg’s inspirations, and what she’s listening to!
Emma Zoe Polyak: This has been such an exciting year for you, from the release of your debut album to several tour dates, how would you sum up your year? What was the biggest highlight for you?
Meg Elsier: I feel like every moment has felt sooooo special just because it is my debut album and kind of the first time introducing myself outside of the Nashville scene! But I think there are two moments that really stood out for me. The first was the album release show at Soft Junk in Nashville – we literally had a spaghetti dinner with candles and a full table and chair setup. It truly was a show like no other with INSANE music (Razor Braids and Baby Wave blessed us ALL with their sets) blended with this white tablecloth Italian restaurant vibe.
The second moment was playing at Baby's All Right in Brooklyn with Finom. That was a MASSIVE highlight for me. The energy at that show was fucking infectious and electrifying – it was so easy to get lost and just vibe out on stage with that energy in the room. I think I gave myself dimples from smiling the whole time!!!
EZP: What was touring like?
ME: Touring was absolutely lovely!! It was my first tour, so I really didn’t know exactly what to expect but I had a lot of friends give me advice. (try not to vape as much, sleep when you can, bring a lot of socks, Toronto shopping recs, etc.) Also touring with Finom, Hayden and Jashaun (drums and bass, baby!) truly spoiled me. I wouldn't have wanted to spend the first 2 weeks post-election results (ahh...) any other way, and it felt really special to get to connect with everyone over the course of those weeks. Oh, also, I got a rice cooker that has a cigarette lighter plug so I could make rice and soup in the car. GAME CHANGER!
EZP: Do you have any pre-show rituals or a favorite song to play live?
ME: We joked about how we didn’t really create a pre-show ritual this tour, but we DID consistently eat a large amount of food a few hours before the show. It was always not the right move, lol, but it's the thing we did most consistently! An example of this was the Philly cheesesteaks we ate 2-3 hours before our Philly show. Why? We have no clue! But, to be honest, it was worth it!!
My favorite song to play live is normally "forlyleinsanfrancisco." I love changing the lyrics and just getting to yell and jump and trip over everything. This tour my baritone was acting like a DIVA though, so I only ended up playing it once or twice. I think for this specific tour, the song I loved playing live was "ifshitfuq." It was the first song I ever released so to have people singing it back to me was just so fucking special!
EZP: What prompted your move to Nashville? How important do you think that move was for your music career, and would you recommend budding musicians to take a leap and move to a big music city such as Nashville?
ME: I went to music school in Boston (I grew up 45 min outside of Boston, so it felt like going to school in my backyard) and once I graduated I felt like I was left with 3 options: New York, Nashville, or Los Angeles. I'm not going to lie and say that rent WASN'T a factor in the move, because it was, but I also think there was something that just drew me to Nashville. There was a community of people in Nashville that I knew from school, and I knew they were the people I wanted to continue to connect with. Also, when I was at school I'd really fallen in love with the folk song form and its simplicity, so I think I just had this gut feeling that this city was the place for me to be.
I think the move was necessary not only for my career but just for personal growth. I’ve been here for a while and have tried on so many faces and voices, and it's always felt like a safe place to do that. I've been able to experiment and really find my sound and the music I want to make, no matter how long it takes. I think if it wasn't for Nashville and the people I've met here then I wouldn't be able to make the music that I feel truly represents me.
As for recommending a big city move to other musicians, I think it truly depends on the person. I think one of the beautiful things about bigger music cities are the communities you can find and form. Nashville specifically wouldn’t exactly seem like they would have an incredible DIY scene, but they do, and I think it’s unlike anywhere else. It felt amazing to have that sense of community after growing up in a small town and I love having people to talk to about my music, collaborate with, and just get advice. But I do think it's possible to find that community anywhere you are as long as you're open and looking. Something on tour that I discovered was how special, specific, and important the music scenes in each city are. It doesn't matter if there was a giant BMI building downtown, what matters is the listeners, local artists, and independent venues – that's what truly makes it so special. So, longggggg storrrry short, I loved being in a bigger music city BUT I don’t think it's a necessity, there are still ways to create and connect in smaller communities.
EZP: Did you always want to be a singer? What drew you to creating music?
ME: YES! What's really funny is I truly always knew I ONLY wanted to do this, but I literally wouldn't admit it to anyone or myself until it was time to make a decision of what rabbit hole I wanted to spiral down, and luckily enough music was an option for me. I've always loved to sing, and my grandmother said I was gonna be an opera singer because I wouldn’t stop SCREAMING (aka my lungs were STRONG AF). I think I got a guitar and a microphone for Christmas one year (I was young but I don’t know how young… it's all a blur) and I locked myself inside and just day-dreamed and acted out being on stage in the safety of my room. I think ever since I was little, writing songs and expressing myself through music has always been the only way where I feel like I can translate my thoughts into words and have it make sense to me. Music became such a special and necessary outlet for me.
EZP: What is your process for songwriting? Do you just let ideas flow as they come, or do you have a more structured process? What are some places you draw inspiration from?
ME: The process for writing definitely switches up all the time. Sometimes I’m in my room with an acoustic guitar just trying to sort out why I’m feeling numb, or sad or uppity! Other times, I'll be in my little home studio trying to sonically pin down an idea while simultaneously trying to write lyrics and record it all. I love recording while writing because I find these gems and mistakes that REALLY inspire how I can vision the production or the live performance. An example is one of the songs we've been playing live (a new one, heheh, wink wink), I played the drums on it and would constantly mess up and stop for like 15 seconds to get my rhythm back, but we ended up loving how that sounds so we kept it in when we played it live!
There is definitely structure while writing but I don’t notice it at all until it's done or something clicks. I feel like I really just let the ideas flow and come to me. Inspirations truly come everywhere, but I usually end up focusing on either whatever the fuck is going on in my life that I can't handle, or MOVIES! I am such a visual listener and person, so I get incredibly inspired by film as an art form. I love the way all the pieces fit together, like editing a scene, blended with the acting, colors, and score. Move scores were a huge inspiration and atmospheric reference for spittake. Another place I find inspiration is in books! I get really inspired by specific authors' language and phrasing. I'm drawn to how they convey these honest emotions and visuals with such simplistic language. I was reading Banana Yoshimoto recently and I would say her books and writing style have been really inspiring me.
EZP: I read that you’re involved in the fashion direction for a lot of your videos, photos, and shows – could you talk a bit about that? Are your visuals mostly inspired by your music, or do you take inspiration from other places as well?
ME: OoOOoo it’s like a scenario of what came first: the chicken or the egg. I truly think they inspire each other. Whatever thoughts I have while writing are translated into images and scenes and textures in my head that are then translated through the music to portray the atmosphere I saw and felt. I think "iznotreal" is the best example of where the thoughts in my head were really this industrial, AI metallic world that really inspired the tones and atmosphere of the song.
When it comes to videos and photos, I think it is a mix of being informed by the music and lyrics but giving freedom and trust to who I'm working with. Jacqueline Justice (who made the videos for “ifshitfuq,” “iznotreal,” and “LA”) is truly my best friend and my favorite artist in general. We live in the same world creatively and I think it inspires us to take chances and experiment because of the comfort level and trust we have. We talked extensively about what videos we wanted to make, always knowing how visual the album felt and therefore we would for sure have more than just one video. I sent her some images of the world I envisioned when I wrote each song and she injected those with her ideas and built out those worlds even more. Once we had those ideas locked in, Mary-Violet Woosley – who is the most talented art director, prop maker, and sourcing expert – joined in on the production and we just plowed through producing the whole thing ourselves with months of prep until the 3 psychotic filming days we had in a row.
It was really important for me to style the videos myself; I think fashion is one of my favorite ways to express myself and to show how float-y I am with fashion and my feelings. I love playing with femme and masc moments and time periods. Fashion is something that makes me feel more like me, so it was really important to be in charge of that and the image and side of me that I wanted people to get to see.
EZP: spittake is a wonderful album, and feels very vulnerable, even if self-contradictory at times. Its sound also takes several turns. Could you tell me a bit about the process of creating it? Did you ever have a clear vision of what you wanted the final album to be, or was its creation more organic?
ME: Thankkkk UUUU <3. I never went to my producer thinking about an album as the first release as an artist. I met with Ryan McFadden just because we were friends and to listen to the songs I brought in, which was a lot lol (some good, some shit, some goofy). I had been going as an artist and person and was really honing in on hearing more than just guitar and melodies/harmonies. I started making demos that created a world that I felt more comfortable to share. Sometimes I struggle with the translation from my brain to my mouth, but by creating these more in-depth demos I felt confident that I could express myself in the right way to start this process.
Ryan was the first person to say "I think this is an album," as opposed to an EP or singles. We decided to just really hit the ground running and we spent so much time just the two of us exploring the world I had created in my head. Working with someone like Ryan allows me to expand my truth more and helps me to find the right tones that really represent the world I'm creating. We'll also add in these little sneaky easter eggs that are just for us but really end up complimenting the whole song.
EZP: For the last few questions, I like to ask about your music taste – as a music fan I’m always curious about what type of music my favorite artists like to listen to, and I’m sure your fans would love to know too! What is the last song you listened to?
ME: Lololololol! I was making an instagram post and I needed to find a song to put with the post so the last song I have pulled up is "Axel F" by Crazy Frog (I feel like this statement is damning...). BUT, before that, I was listening to "Icon" by Finom because I love that song and I miss being on the road with them!
EZP: What song or artist have you been obsessed with recently?
ME: Omg, also perhaps damning, but I am only just now figuring out Oasis, haha. So I've been listening to "Don't Look Back In Anger" A LOT!
EZP: What 3 albums would you take with you to a deserted island?
ME: I remember Ryan asked me this question when we first started working together just to kinda gauge my album taste and what I like and dislike... and I realized I barely listen to albums. I listen to a lot of specific songs scattered throughout the time and space of an artist's career. But, if pushed, I would probably take the following albums to a deserted island:
1. I'm between Depression Cherry by Beach House or Carrie & Lowell by Sujfan Stevens. I'm leaning towards Sufjan because I feel like with "John My Beloved" I could have a Call Me By Your Name moment and stare into the fire (hopefully I'd be able to make it on this desert island...)
2. Maybe something like Reign In Blood by Slayer, just in case I needed to rage or get hyped to hunt something or fight for my life (I don't think I could kill any living things so I do think I would starve...)
3. I'm thinking something dance-y incase I accidentally eat a hallucinogenic plant, so for that I'm between either Syro by Aphex Twin or Brat by Charli xcx, lol.
EZP: Controversial pick: What is a song that you love but others hate, OR what is a song others love that you dislike?
ME: I don't believe in guilty pleasure songs in THIS HOUSE, but I guess "Diet Pepsi" by Addison Rae could be considered as a song that I love but others might hate. I love the bubblegum deliciousness Addison Rae is releasing. I think some people judge her as an artist, but I don't give a fuck. "Diet Pepsi" makes me want to roll my windows down and hang out of the passenger seat, I don't even care if it's November!!
EZP: What is your go-to karaoke song?
ME: "It's Oh So Quiet" by Björk. Not to toot my own horn, but I rip that shit!
EZP: In your opinion, what is the best song of all time?
ME: "White Ferrari" by Frank Ocean. That's such an impossible question to answer, but I never skip that song when it comes on and it always makes me cry.
Find out about meg elsier’s upcoming live dates here.
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