Sitting Down with Elijah Woods
Step into Elijah Woods’ World with Us
September 13th, 2024 | Written by Christine Bradshaw
Photos courtesy of elijah woods
I want to start off by congratulating you! You recently got married and just came back from your honeymoon, right?
Thank you! Yeah, it's one of those life things you don't really expect to actually happen. There was so much around it, just getting married and planning the whole wedding — it was tough to actually be present for the whole thing.
And then the actual day came and we were so happy with how it turned out. We had all our loved ones with us and it was really cool, but it was definitely tough to just soak it all in because there's so much going on.
It's weird to think that I'm just married now, like I wear a ring, I'm a husband, I can't believe it. I never thought I'd get married and then I met Hannah and I was like, okay, that's it for me.
Your musical journey started at a pretty young age. Could you tell me about some of the earliest influences that shaped your musical style?
It started a bunch of different ways. I think the earliest was watching my dad playing music. I grew up in a really musical family and my dad plays guitar, drums and sings. I grew up with watching him in bands playing cover music and original stuff.
When I was maybe six years old, he got an eight track recorder, which is this super old piece of technology that you could record eight tracks onto. We started messing around and recording stuff. And I had no idea what I was doing, but I had so much fun doing it.
And then I forgot about all that for like a long time. My mom put me in piano lessons and I hated it. I was like, “I'm a cool sports guy. I don't wanna play piano.” Idiot, absolutely idiot. Should've just kept with it, cause it's literally the most valuable skill you can have. And then I had to like relearn at the age of 20, which was impossible.
I kind of pushed it [music] away in my teenage years and I was really into sports and I didn't play anything but a bit of guitar, which my dad had taught me. I only kind of came to songwriting when I was maybe 16 or so. I think it was at that point that I knew that I wanted to do something in music. I was DJing a lot and I really liked that. But then it just didn't fill my soul in the same way. So I started producing — I was producing other people's music and then I started writing songs through that.
From there I found my voice, like five years ago or something like that. It hasn't been that long, but I'm trying to figure it out. I really love writing songs. I feel like it's worked out to a certain point so far. So I'm just praying people keep liking my stuff.
I always, always, always loved music. And I had a deep appreciation for it. I thought I'd always just be like, I don't know, involved in music somehow. But I never was trained properly or learned anything specific about being a musician or being a performer or a singer or anything.
You just came back from a sold-out tour across Asia, what were some of the highlights and most memorable moments from that tour?
The whole thing was kind of a whirlwind. Culturally it was so wild for me to just go to a place that I've been dreaming of going for so long and have that reason be because of my music, because people wanted to hear me sing.
I don't think I was really prepared for that level of fandom, which is so hilarious to say. And I don't want this to come off as cocky at all. I'm just used to being like a normal human. And then going there, it was wild. It was insane to just be at my hotel and there's people trying to scalp tickets for the shows and people making bootleg merch at one of the shows. And I was like, who do you think I am? I live in a condo in Toronto. Do you think I'm Justin Bieber or something? (laughs) But it was really, really cool and really eye-opening to the fact that my music is resonating there.
It kind of gave me some perspective on how important music can be to some people. I mean, I guess that's the way I've always seen music, but I just didn't know that my music had sort of transcended that border and that's a really fulfilling feeling. With that comes its own pressures because you're like, ‘I don't want to let you down’.
But I think my biggest takeaway was I couldn't believe people showed up and they continue to show up for me. So I left really, really motivated and really excited to go back. We're already talking about sort of the next chapter of it and going back next year.
What, like, were there some highlight places in Asia that you went to? Did you have time to go explore and travel a little bit, or were you kind of more go, go, go?
I mean, have you seen the Celine Dion documentary? She talked about traveling the world and seeing nothing. And it was the first time in my life that I'd really felt like that. Because in the past, I've toured in places that I've already traveled. And this was the first time that it was somewhere that I really wanted to be. I just didn't see anything. I had no off days.
So it's like, you're in a hotel or in a radio station or whatever it is, or in the back of a car. So I saw a lot of hotels and I saw a lot of really good restaurants. That was my one thing — if I'm going to eat, I want to eat in the best places.
I feel like everything has so much to offer, but I will say that like my biggest takeaway from maybe a highlight of the trip outside of the shows was food. Asian food is my favourite in general. I love Japanese food. I loved Thai food. Malaysian food was incredible. I love spicy food. I'm jonesing to go back for that.
You opened for Niall Horan in Indonesia, that must have been a crazy, incredible experience. Could you share how the opportunity came about and what it was like performing with him?
It was pretty wild. I think it's the first time in a long time I've gotten stage fright. When I started singing, there were some nerves and being like, what am I doing on stage? What am I doing with my body? But now I'm kind of just like, you go up there and you try your best and that's about all you can do.
The immediate thing with Niall was that he's just such a lovely dude. I looked out during my sound check and he was there and I hadn’t met him yet— it was an amphitheatre for 12,000 people and not a soul in there, and to look up in the third row on the left-hand side, Niall Horan is just sitting there, just jamming out — I was like, what, I can't focus! And then all of a sudden, like, my pitch goes away. And I was like, “I'm cool, bro. Like, I promise this is gonna be a good show!” (laughs)
It was really intimidating. And I was like, holy shit, this is wild. Like, that's Niall Horan. Like One Direction— that's my childhood. He's a huge inspiration for me.
The opportunity came through his manager knowing my manager and them being aware we were in Asia at the same time. It was just kind of like the world's lining up.
The more, I guess, metaphysical version of that story is I journaled…Every January 1st, I write out sort of what I want for the year and my goals. This January, for whatever reason, I wrote that I will open up for one of the members of One Direction this year. And on February 15th, I got the call being like, hey, do you wanna open for Niall? And I was like, that's crazy, cross it off. It was so weird.
I mean, the universe has been like that since I started doing music, which just leads me to believe that like I'm on a path and it feels like the right path to me. So I follow that energy and keep doing that thing. But it's, I don't know, it's so weird. And I'm just so grateful that that happened because I got to meet him and he was lovely and just so cool and just such a professional and such like a humble dude too.
Yeah, he seems like such a sweet guy. I was a Directioner back in the day. I mean, I still love all those guys now. Maybe not so much Liam, but everyone else I like.
Dude, I hate to even say it, but every time I see him in interviews, I'm like, I wanna root for you. And he just seems mean or something. I don't know, like not approachable.
Yeah, he's bitter now for whatever reason, but what are you gonna do?
Yeah, I mean, I'm sure those guys — I can't speak to anything about what they've been through… I mean, there's that new Backstreet Boys documentary about their manager that's crazy and the whole thing. I'm sure there are horror stories and that sort of stuff — they were one of the biggest boy bands of all time. So when you have people's interests like that, I'm sure it gets spooky and I'm sure it can really affect you. So I can't speak to being like, do better. I don't know.
Your music blends various genres and styles, how do you approach genre blending in your production and what inspires you to mix different elements?
I think that the beautiful part about 2024 is that people don't really pick genres anymore. You just kind of pick artists or songs that you like. And for me, that's how I grew up. I didn't grow up in the playlist era. I grew up in very much an album era.
Now, because I have this production-first mindset, I choose to take those songs on my own projects and make them sonically interesting in a way that maybe scratches some sort of little itch that I didn't get from the music that I was growing up as a kid. My goal as a musician is to fill a hole that I think is there in the music industry.
And that's not like a broad saying of like, oh yeah, there's something missing and I'm gonna do it. It's more just like, I have to stay true to my own voice and what inspires me pretty much daily is just finding new sounds. So ‘Bright Orange Everglow’ that I put out last summer, I was in a huge country pocket and it's funny to watch the world now because now the entire world is like, let's go country music. And I was like, if I had it just been a year later, it would have been great. (laughs)
And now my music is more indie rock, a little bit of slide guitars, but more Fleetwood Mac in terms of sort of slide guitar stuff or electric a little bit. I wanna say rocky, but it's not aggressive. It's light and more like “rom-com” rock. And I mean, for me, it's just finding a sonic palette that like I like to live in for a period of time, and then I'll get over that thing and move on to the next thing.
So as a producer first, I really have a lot of control, which is a double-edged sword because you're just like second guessing at every step being like, is this the right bow for this thing? As long as the songs are good, then that's really the thing that matters to me.
But it's, yeah, it's sometimes impossible to make those decisions, but I'm just finishing up my debut album and it's all done as of yesterday, which is awesome. It's been so much work and so much love and attention in the whole setting and finding a palette for that was a journey.
I had sort of four, five, seven versions of it that I wanted to put out and then I finally came to a place where I was like, this feels really good. This feels like the authentic story and this is how I want it to sound and watch.
When you're creating a song, what comes first? Is it the beats, harmonies, melodies, or lyrics? What is your entry point into creating a song or an album?
I think initially when I was making music, it was very production first. And then I kind of realized it was like, it takes a really, really, really special production. Unless you're doing something like hip hop or maybe like, maybe like a Tame Impala kind of thing where it is very musical first and people aren't paying as much attention to the lyrics as there's a melody or the counter melodies or whatever. But then when I kind of got into pop music, I was just like, if you can play it on the guitar, that's generally a pretty good song. Then it's how does it make me feel when it's just like bare bones? And sometimes the best ones are completely reinvented and taken really, really far away from that.
But like in terms of an album, I'm very, very song first, especially with this project, I was very song first. There's like two or three of them where I was just kind of like, I don't really know what I'm saying yet. And then as I wrote the lyrics, I was like, oh, this is like really impactful and really powerful and really real because I wasn't thinking too much about it.
And I think people get on themselves a little bit about being like, oh, this is the best [song] I've ever made and that project sucked or this one wasn't like intentional, whatever. I just look at them as like little, little seasons and things to like look at and things to grow on and things to take and things to leave. I looked at a project I did called, ‘What If It Was Great?’ It was just so lyrically overcooked and that's okay. Cause I needed to do that in order to get to this lackadaisical kind of like, here's a lyric that means something and it doesn't have to mean the world, but it means something to me. And it's simple and not so on the nose or not so literal or not so heady. And I'm in a pocket where I'm trying not to be as heady right now.
I like your use of the word, “pocket”. Is that, that's like a sports term, isn't it?
It might be. Or is it a musical term? It is used in sports too, actually. I feel like it's synonymous with sports and music. It's like when a drummer plays really well, it's like, oh my God, that guy's pocket as hell. Like he's like right in that little thing. But then yeah, I feel like sports-wise that makes sense too.
I feel like, yeah, that probably is a basketball thing. You mentioned, that you kind of had like a sports period too. What sports did you play?
I predominantly played basketball. That was my main one. I played a lot in high school. I played AAU. And then I got a couple of college offers, a few in the US and then some in Canada. At that point, I was just so over it. I couldn't be bothered. I'm not going to go pro. So like, what am I playing this for? I think when music really started taking off for me, that was kind of like my exit from basketball.
This is so cheesy to say, but you're like a real-life Troy Bolton.
Oh, that's the first I've gotten that! And I was just watching some clip of him watching himself in High School Musical. I'm sure everyone on the internet saw it. But after I saw it I was like, “I'm kind of like Troy Bolton…” (laughs)
How do you stay motivated and creative, especially during times when you might feel more uninspired or face creative blocks?
I think I look for new channels for it. I'm a big proponent of not forcing things. I, especially just cause I've been making music for so long and only successfully for a few years, but because I've been really familiar with my, familiar with my creativity for so long, I've realized that like, there's such a huge piece of it that is out of your control. All you can do is show up and like, I think about it like a conveyor belt.
I'm not sure if you've read Rick Rubin's book on creativity. He uses that example of creativity, just being a conveyor belt and your job is just to show up. And I think that's great. It's exactly how I see it. So it's not about waiting for inspiration to strike. It's about showing up every day and being like, is there something here? And I'm going to try to make something. And if there's nothing, no stress, I'll show up tomorrow and try the same thing. But when it strikes, it often outweighs all of the hours that you put into like, this like, like you can't work the creativity. It's like, it's a muscle you have to exercise it. But like, it's not, it's the one hour of inspiration that doesn't equal 50 of non-inspiration.
So for me, I just try to find new things that inspire me, whether that's learning a new skill. I'm like, I don't even know, this may be like a, I'm quoting this term, but I'm like a huge like skill slut. Like whatever it is, I get really, really good at it for like two weeks. I got right into cameras last December because I got sick and I couldn't sing. So I was like, what else am I going to do? So I got right into cameras and I learned everything there was to know about it. And I started vlogging and started editing all that. I learned everything there was to know about it. And I was like, I don't like this. And I just kind of put it all away.
But whatever it is I'm doing, I learned everything about it. And I think that keeps me inspired. It keeps me feeling like I'm moving. But yeah, it's lately, it's more going into nature and just being alone and having silence. Cause I think it's so easy to just be so busy. We got phones and iPads and laptops and then TV and friends and family and social media and the whole thing. And sometimes the best thing is just to actually just be quiet and listen to what things are telling you.
You recently released your new single, “2 thousand 10”. What was the creative process like for that single and how does it differ from your previous singles?
I'm stoked about it. It kind of gave me the sonic palette for my upcoming project. It taught me where I wanted to go with things and how I wanted things to sound.
I wrote ‘2 thousand 10’ with TMS, who did Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi and Jack LaFrantz, who did Beautiful Things by Benson Boone and his wife, Meg LaFrantz and Andrew Goldstein, who's done like Blink 182 and Sum 41. The only reason I'm even name-dropping these people is because I solely work alone. This is the room that I make everything in; I write the song, play everything, then I mix and master it. And then I send it off to Spotify and then I promote it myself. So it was such a weird thing to be in a room with all my idols doing this thing.
We wrote it in like five and a half minutes and it was super fun, super easy. The lyrics were impactful and easy and just really, really light and fun and also kind of heavy and kind of existential, it’s a really fun one to play live. It summed up where I was for this chapter of my life. Jack predominantly, helped me write the rest of this album. And then the TMS guys and Andrew Goldstein helped me with a bunch of the production on this project as well.
So it's cool to be collaborating but I go through this existential crisis all the time: I'm like, does it make the product less me if I'm opening up my world and including other people in it or does it make it more me? Because they're pulling things out of me that I naturally wouldn't. Every time I listen to songs, I think, oh, this is great. And then I'm thinking, I don't know if I'm just a control freak, but then I think about it and I'm like, oh, I didn't do this all myself. So maybe it isn't like the purest form of me.
But I'm stoked about the music. I'm so excited to see what people think about it. The album's, I don't have a date yet, but it's close. It'll be within the next couple of months. I'm going to say fall. But once that's all slated and done, I'm really excited to see how people react to it and see what it does. It's so authentic and so true to me. It's a new way for me, just collaborating and exploring this like other, other pieces of me. This may be more, more vulnerable and more like the real version of me…or the version of me now, I don't want to say a more real version of me, but the version of me today.
What media are you obsessed with right now? Like TV shows, movies, music, video games; any media you're obsessed with?
I wish… I have this thing with video games right now where I can't get into one.
Movies-wise, I just watched the first two Back to the Futures recently. They’re sick, like entirely my vibe. And it was kind of intentional, for work. Cause I love the aesthetic of the Marty McFly, 1985 kind of energy. Really, really cool.
My wife is a huge TV buff. So we, we kind of watch everything. We went and watched Long Legs recently. That's a spooky one. It's gnarly. Yeah, it was definitely like one of those things where I was sleeping at night and I was like, ooh, I don't like this. But he's great in it. Nicholas Cage is great. And the story is great. I actually saw it twice. It was really, really good.
Yeah, music-wise right now, what am I listening to? I'm kind of boring. Cause I'm just listening to myself. So like when I'm finishing stuff, I live in a vacuum because I hate comparing my music to other people's music and its final stages. Cause then you're like, oh, everything sucks. This song sucks. This isn't Dreams by Fleetwood Mac. This isn't Rockstar by Post Malone. It's like, oh, this is terrible. When in reality, it's like, no, it's just its own thing. It sounds, it sounds like its own thing. So I try to be in a vacuum until it's like finished and done.
But the biggest inspiration for all this project is like all this stuff here (points to his record wall behind him). I don't know if you can see that. It’s Fleetwood Mac, Frank Ocean, Paramore, Jeff Buckley, Brian Adams, Harry Styles, Coldplay, Linkin Park, Death Cab for Cutie. Like that's kind of my staples. Those are some of my favorite albums. And they were the, they were the poster for this album.
I think I'll have to pull it down soon cause the next chapter's incoming.
