EMILIE aka Emily Atkinson creates dark, melodic electro pop with her latest single Eyes For You, out on September 9th 2016 via Stellar Recordings.
Eyes For You, taken from debut EP I See You In The Darkness, explores the feeling of suppression and how things can be seen as defeatist or unreachable. Tackling the subject with grace and dignity; Emilie allows the music to speak for itself combining electro pop beats and stunning ethereal vocals akin to the likes of London Grammar’s Hannah Reid.
Currently based in Edinburgh, Emily dedicates her time solely to EMILIE. On all her tracks Emily performs vocals and synths herself with the help of a producer and drummer for percussion and sampling. Having played the Scottish live circuit for the past year, including a support slot with SG Lewis in Glasgow, Emily is ready to introduce the rest of the UK to her broody take on electro pop.
In this interview, we sit down with EMILIE to discuss music, influences, the new project, and more.
Full Q&A, links, and streams below.
Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?
I became really fascinated with the 80s and in particular, synth-pop years ago, so it was just natural direction to start creating electro-pop music for me.
How long have you been creating and sharing your music with the public?
I’ve been writing for years but it was only in the last year I’ve been gigging under the name of E M I L I E. It was only on Wednesday just passed my very first single premiered so it’s all very new.
Who or what influences your playing and/or writing? Also, what motivates you to keep going?
Writing-wise I guess I’m just influenced by general life so it’s just anything that comes naturally to me. I absolutely love playing live to people and that’s what motivates me. If the songs aren’t right then I’m going to struggle to be able to draw in interest and play to more and more people so that’s definitely the driving force behind it all.
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?
Hmm nothing specifically. I’ve always wanted to do this so I really just wanted to create something I was happy with but could still be relevant to the electro-pop genre so to be appealing.
What was the last song you listened to?
‘No Place Like Home’ by Honne.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
Hmmm I don’t really have a preference – whatever floats your boat. Vinyls are a lovely thing to keep though.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Personally I prefer to use Spotify to stream and if I really like something I’ll go and buy it. It’s kind of a try-before-you-buy type thing for me. Spotify gives good suggestions on similar music too so I can always count on that for new music I will like.
Do you gig, tour or perform? Do you ever live stream? Where can music lovers see you live?
Yeah of course. No tours yet with it being early days for me but I do play live and my next gig will be my EP Launch on 17th September at the Mash House in Edinburgh. Live Streaming is something I’ve never done but I guess I’m always open to new things.
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more of your music?
Just now you can stream my single ‘Eyes For You’ from my Soundcloud. I’ll always share any new on future releases and where you can obtain it on my Facebook page too.
