A solo artist with a penchant for travel and the open road, Australian musician ELEEA takes us on a climactic, heart-aching journey with her atmospheric new ballad, 'Space'.
The song was inspired by the night sky in the NSW outback after an eventful, day-long drive. "I drove 23 hours from the Gold Coast to Broken Hill with my chihuahua, Trembles," begins ELEEA."Sleeping in my driver's seat, bursting two tyres in the middle of nowhere and having to knock at stranger's houses to find a phone! It was a comedy of errors, but eventually I got there.
"After seeing the stars in the outback, I wrote 'Space' the next day on an ancient, out-of-tune piano in this late-1800s apartment.
"It's about a long-term relationship that ended because of the distance that had grown between us, both literally and figuratively, as we were apart so much."
After receiving the APRA Sustainability grant, placing Highly Commended in the 2020 Queensland Music Awards and with the release of 'Space', it seems it's written in the stars that even a global pandemic can't stop ELEEA from launching.
Here, she shares 5 tips to remain creative while in quarantine. "In this crazy time of uncertainty, isolation and lockdown, creativity seems to have either flourished or stagnated.
"As a singer-songwriter and freelance travel writer, I oscillated between hyperactive productivity during Queensland's first few weeks of lockdown in April; to a lethargic May due to a back injury, then steadily rose back to some form of normality, until I decided to travel to Tasmania in July and had to enter 14-day hotel quarantine.
"With new songs to write, my latest single, 'Space' to prepare for release, a music video to conceptualise and shoot, and press shots to edit, I definitely started to feel more creative as restrictions eased, but admittedly, I had to work at it.
"Sometimes building routines, getting inspired, or knowing which resources to access can make all the difference in lighting the creative spark again.
"So, here are five ways that I've been staying creative while in home isolation and hotel quarantine."
Make Your Mark With Morning Pages
One of the challenges I set myself at the beginning of isolation was to practice my own form of Morning Pages, borrowed from the book 'The Artist's Way'.I try to complete my morning pages before I check my phone in the morning, as I find that writing calms me, and making lists makes me feel organised and motivated for the day ahead.
The only equipment needed is a pen, a notebook and four blank pages:
• Page 1: diary entry, including my personal thoughts, feelings, emotions, experiences I’ve had, what I’m grateful for, etc.
• Page 2: brainstorm things that will progress my creative venture, e.g. planning my outfits for my music video, or locations I might want to tour to
• Page 3: free-form poetry, where I simply fill a page or two with any lyrics, poetry or verses, in whatever form they come in. I don't overthink it and it's great to come back to when I'm stuck on songwriting content
• Page 4: daily to-do list, in order of priority
Discover DIY
I'm definitely no Van Gogh, but there's nothing more fun than doing some DIY.Whether it's painting, drawing, collaging, sewing, cooking, interior decorating, making jewellery, knitting, or creating a crazy masterpiece including all of the above, there is something very mindful about tackling a DIY project.
I recommend Pinterest or YouTube for all of the inspiration and instruction you could ever need, then just let loose and have fun with it.
While in isolation at home, I actually crafted the Met Gala-inspired headpiece I wore in my pictures and music video for 'Space' out of supplies from Spotlight and a whole lot of gold spray paint.
When searching for an outfit to match my extravagant headband, I scoured through my dress-up box under my bed to find the black sequin jumpsuit that needed some DIY mending.
Why go shopping for a new music video outfit, when you can shop your own closet instead, right?
Step Up Your songwriting
While writing makes up a big portion of my jobs in communications and music, sometimes I like to set myself a challenge to get the creativity flowing.In fact, my latest releases 'Wasting Time' and 'Space' were both born from 'The Travel Collection' an anthology influenced by my independent backpacking trips to 35-plus countries, and a challenge I set myself to write a song inspired by each city/ country I visited.
Some of my favourite challenges are:
• Write a song an hour for as many hours as you can. While I was in hotel quarantine, I did this for five hours one day.
• Write a song starting with each letter of the alphabet.
• Write a song inspired by places you've been on holiday. 'Wasting Time' stemmed from waiting at a bus stop in Slovakia, while 'Space' stemmed from the night sky in the NSW outback.
• Get musical inspiration by taking the chords of a song you love, and playing them in the style of a different song you love. For example, The Killers' 'Mr Brightside' chords, fingerpicked in the style of Passenger's 'Let Her Go', then freestyle a different melody over the top.
Listen Up
Listening to podcasts and audiobooks are like having a really wise, upbeat friend chatting to me all day, which was especially comforting during my solitary 14-day hotel quarantine in Tasmania.Not only are they educational and/ or entertaining, but they also don't require you to look at a screen, which is a huge advantage when you need to give your eyes a break.
If a subscription-based audiobook service like Audible isn't feasible, many council and state libraries have free audio and e-book resources. Podcasts are available from your phone's Podcast app, or streaming services like Spotify or Youtube.
Some of my favourite podcasts for musicians are: Savvy Musician's Academy; And The Writer Is…; Magic Lessons with Elizabeth Gilbert; and Song Exploder.
For inspirational, educational and entertaining podcasts, I like: Good Life Project; Super Women with Rebecca Minkoff; Shameless; Interview with Andrew Denton; Encyclopedia Womannica; On Purpose with Jay Shetty; Unlocking Us by Brené Brown; Always Was, Always Will Be Our Stories, The Rich Roll Podcast; The Tim Ferriss Show; Awards Chatter; and Leave Your Mark.
If you're interested in something, chances are there's a podcast about it.
Content Is King
With a smartphone permanently attached to our hands, it's never been easier to develop your eye for photography or start shooting some great video content.The best part of this creative outlet is that you can do it anywhere. Even in my hotel quarantine, I shot some pictures, performed in the online Isolaid Festival and edited a bunch of old, travel content.
As COVID-19 has moved almost everything online, content has never been more important. To edit and create great videos on my phone, I use apps like InShot, Prequel, then Cut Story to break it up into 15-second clips for Instagram/ Facebook stories.
Since scoring a dream job as a travel writer in Europe in 2018, I have been developing my love of photography and photo editing.
There are so many editing tools to turn an iPhone picture into an amazing shot, including Picsart, LD or Afterlight. While it's a little more advanced, the industry favourite is Lightroom, which I found easier to master if you purchase some presets first.
With a bit of practice, your insta will be incredible.
