Eilish Gilligan
Hi Eilish and thanks for taking the time out to speak with us at Musicology.
No worries at all!
Firstly congratulations on the release of your new single Creature of Habit. Can you elaborate a little on the concept of the track and the subject matter at the heart of it?
Thankyou!! I can still remember sitting down to write this song really clearly. The heart of this track is its helplessness in lots of ways; how you can try and try to control how you feel, when you feel, and who you feel for, but at the end of the day it’s truly impossible and you might as well just admit it and go fall in love.
You have been receiving high praise from high places. Does the positive peer reviews reaffirm and bolster your vigour to push on harder and to try out some ideas that you were less certain on up until now?
Oh sure!! But if I’m being honest, it’s the advice and critique that I get from my friends and colleagues that really works for me. I know they’ll always be honest with me about anything I do, and that trust is more important than anything. I’ll never release a bad song, because it wouldn’t make it past my friends, haha.
What settings or instances provide you with the most creative inspiration when working on new material?
Unfortunately for me, it seems that I need to have some form of emotional trauma to call upon when writing. I went through a very difficult period earlier this month and I’ve suddenly got an albums’ worth of material by now – not all amazing tracks or anything, but I think it proves that I use song writing as therapy first and foremost.
On a technical level, what’s in the kit that helps shape your signature sound?
I use Ableton and my Nord for piano sounds (they’ve got the best piano samples in my opinion and I’ve tried a few!). Pretty regular setup really, nothing special here!
Your cover art is fascinating, are the concepts and creations of your own making or a collective process with fellow artists/photographers?
Thankyou!! I’ve always collaborated with my beautiful talented friend Giulia McGauran, who is an incredible photographer and artist. We usually have a debrief where we listen to the song we’re shooting for and discuss ideas – we’re so in sync now, one of us will mention a concept or an animal and usually the other will say YES immediately. I would trust Giug with my LIFE.
You recently performed a string of shows including the Conservatorium of Music. How was it bringing the new material out from the darkness and into the spot light?
It’s always exciting for me. It takes a lot of fiddling to bring a new song into my set, because the whole thing is mixed just so – when I do add new songs, you know they’re absolutely ready to go!
What does music give you that nothing else does?
In truly desperate times, music is my only comfort. It was extremely humbling and a bit scary to realise that during a really awful time. It made me realise I didn’t have any other choice than to pursue this.
What is on the horizon for the remainder of 2017 and into the new year?
I have three more gigs for the year – November 11 at Sad Grrrls Fest Melbourne, November 18 at Melbourne Music Week with Jack River and I Know Leopard, and December 8 at the Workers Club in Melbourne with Mallrat. I might even have a new single come December (non-Christmas themed unfortunately).
