“Can You Hear Me Now?” A Conversation With Canadian Pop Artist, ELIO
Interview by Mallory Thompson
Graphic by Rebekah Witt
In early 2020, Charlotte Grace Victoria, better known in the music world as ELIO, released her debut single “My Friends Online,” a dreamy electronic pop song about internet friends and the idea of your IRL vs. internet social life. Since then, ELIO has gone on to release 2 EPs, a few standalone singles, and 2021 brought the release of her second EP, “Can You Hear Me Now,” as well as a bunch of fun collaborations with Valley, CHARLI XCX, and most recently, Winona Oak. In other words, 2021 has been great for the singer.
In a small world setting, ELIO and I attended the same high school together in Ontario. When we sat down over Zoom in late February to do this interview, we caught up and started talking about all things music, special projects, and how it's been growing as an artist during a pandemic. ELIO has also had the opportunity to write for a variety of other artists, such as K-pop group TXT (Tomorrow X Together), so I wanted to dive into how it’s been developing her sound and growing as an artist over the last year.
How are you doing with this crazy world?
Not too bad, been writing a lot. I’m actually working on some new music right now. The next project is the remix EP, which has been really fun to put together. But it’s been fine, not many changes for me, obviously not being able to travel, but I don’t have to leave to go to work and can just do my work at home.
I know in high school you played in a band, so how did you get your start past the band, and what made you decide to go in a solo direction?
I started a band in grade 10 that I was in until my first year at university, GREY // WATER. After a while, I started listening to more pop music and started writing more pop music. For the guys that I was in the band with, it wasn’t totally their vibe. So, I just started doing pop stuff myself, and it was probably 2-3 years later when I released “My Friends Online.” I started listening to artists like The 1975, Ariana Grande, and LANY, as well as a bunch of pop-R&B-indie combo artists, and then I started writing it. Then I dropped out of university in my 3rd year, flew to LA, met my managers, and then within a year of that, we released “My Friends Online.”
How did you decide that “My Friends Online” would be your first released song?
So, my original first song was going to be “u and me, but mostly me,” and then we named the EP that. I remember I was at Charli XCX’s house listening to all the demos, and she said “My Friends Online” was her favourite. She insisted that that was going to be my first single. I was back in forth for a couple of months because the song is a little weird because it’s mostly pop, and then “u and me, but mostly me” is very R&B so it was like both of them weren’t exactly mainstream. It wasn’t a very easy choice to make, but I liked the idea of the EP being “u and me, but mostly me,” so I figured that should be the focus track.
I remember when your song first came out, and I watched Troye Sivan in a GQ YouTube video saying how much he loved it. I freaked out saying, “OMG, that’s Charlotte’s song,” and I remember immediately DMing it to you.
Yeah, that was so crazy! So cool.
I know you discussed Ariana Grande & The 1975, but what other artists do you take your inspiration from?
Kacey Musgraves is so good, Golden Hour (chefs kiss). And honestly a lot of my friends: Valley, The Accents, and then probably Clairo and HAIM. I feel like that’s what is so nice; I can take from so many different genres, even though they’re not necessarily pop. I can kind of take different elements from each artist’s style and put them into a pop song.
You recently collaborated with Charli XCX on your song “CHARGER,” so how was that process? Would you ever want to write more music with her?
Yeah, it was fun! I sent it to her with the verse free and she just sent me her verse back, so we didn’t really collaborate on it much, but we write together anyway. She will send tracks and stuff that she gets sent for me to write over, and she will also give me advice for whatever song I send her. We pitch together a bunch, and we are currently writing some songs for TXT—we wrote their song “We Lost the Summer” together. I’d definitely want to write with her again. It’s fun having her as my manager and songwriter together.
I know she’s quite involved with your team, so what’s her specific role? Manager?
So yeah, my managers are her, Twiggy, and Sam. Twiggy and Sam are the logistical admin powerhouses, and Charli is great to have because she’s an artist and I can talk to her about what songs I love, what songs I don’t, and what I think the visuals should be. She’s just really good for advice—I mean she’s done exactly what I’m doing. She’s a master artist and songwriter all in one.
It must be so cool to have someone involved in your career who’s seen success and also been through the industry and can give you advice.
Yeah, it is. She’s great.
I was actually planning on asking you about the K-pop song you wrote for TXT. How did you get that opportunity, and how was it writing a K-pop song?
Twiggy sent me the track, and I wrote it in May of 2020 when we were in a full-on lockdown. I wasn’t writing anything for my own artist project, so it was nice, kind of like a laid-back, fun song to write. There wasn’t the pressure that comes with writing your own songs, but I wrote the melodies, sent them to Charli to see if she liked them or wanted to tweak them. K-pop is so fun; I love it.
Is it harder to write K-pop? I mean you’re writing in English and not Korean, so would you say it’s more challenging to write that vs. an entirely English song?
I’ll write the melody and put in the English lyrics, and usually what they’ll do is take the parts they like in English. In the chorus, they go “We lost the summer,” and that’s a part that I wrote. They’ll obviously translate the rest or replace it with their lyrics that maybe work better in Korean that don’t translate well in English or vice versa, so yeah, it’s just writing a song.
Would you ever want to write stuff that’s outside of the pop genre?
For sure, eventually. I grew up on alt-rock and stuff like that, so eventually, I may get there. Right now, I just love writing pop music; it’s really fun and comes in so many different forms.
I know you’ve told me a little about this before, but how did you decide on the name ELIO? Did you go between any other names?
Not really. In high school, the band I was in was called Grey // Water, and it was so confusing and annoying to relay to other people, so I wanted something super simple for this project. When I started writing, specifically to release music, I had just gotten back from Italy. I was in Sienna for about 2 months, and I watched the movie Call Me By Your Name when I got back. I was just so sad to be in Canada in November and it was freezing cold, and I just missed being in Italy so much. I just love the movie and I love Timothee Chalamet so it just felt super easy and super straightforward.
For those who don’t know, ELIO is the name of Timothee’s character in Call Me By Your Name.
We were debating on the name for a while and my lawyer said, “Honestly the name really doesn’t matter because the name will make itself throughout your artist project. You’re going to find your own artistic journey with your name.”
Your first EP came out last summer, and your most recent EP, “Can You Hear Me Now?,” came out recently. How do they differ from one another, and how have you grown since this EP?
For the first one, I wrote a lot of the songs by myself in my room because I wrote them before I knew anyone. I feel like they are a little more rambly, and I don’t know if they’re more emotional, but there’s definitely a genuine “This could do great or this could fail.” At the end of the day, I don’t care.
For the second one, I had something to go off of, and there’s probably a little more confidence in the last EP since I figured out that I don’t need to make a cohesive EP. Every song that I sing is going to be cohesive because I’m singing it and I wrote it, and there’s a confidence in owning that.
I think the first one is a little timider, and the second one’s a little more confident and open. I also talk more about my personal experiences in the second one.
Where does the inspiration come from for the EP titles?
So they’re both from songs. “U and me, but mostly me” is a song in the first EP and “Can You Hear Me Now?” is from a lyric in “@elio.irl,” which is a song in the second EP. The song “u and me, but mostly me” is about so much; it’s not even about a particular thing and when I was writing it, it was like “What’s this song about?” It’s about me and my boyfriend, but it’s mostly about me. So I put that title in the song and that lyric wasn't originally in the song, so we added it after we made the song. ‘Can you hear me now’ is in the song “@elio.irl,” and I thought it was really interesting cause it can be like “Can you hear me now? The phone’s breaking up,” or it can be “Can you hear me now? Please listen to me.”
Exactly, I saw the first EP title as your defined ‘This is me’ first project, and when you approached the second EP, it’s almost like “Can you hear me now, are you seeing me? Are you listening?”
So now that we’ve talked about your evolving sound, how would you describe your specific sound to anyone who’s never heard your music?
I would say that it’s all different types of pop songs. I feel like every song I’ve put out has been a pop song, but it’s been very different each time. “My Friends Online'' is a very different pop song compared to “CHARGER” and “CHARGER” is a very different pop song to “hurts 2 hate somebody.” It’s all pop music, but it comes with different influences for each track so it combines into this weird pop world.
Can you pick a favourite song from the new EP? I know a lot of artists say they can’t choose between their songs because they all mean something different to them.
Yes, yes!
Or which song is the most meaningful to you?
It changes so often. Last month, it was “CHARGER” because I was on a “CHARGER” high, and now maybe it’s “@elio.irl” or “When U Saw Love.” I’m going to say right now it’s “When U Saw Love.”
What was your inspiration for your song “CHARGER?”
“CHARGER” was interesting because it’s not really about me at all. It’s kind of the first song I’ve released that’s not really about me, like I’ve definitely left my charger somewhere and had to go back and get it, but I’ve never broken up with somebody and had to go back to an awkward situation. It was really fun to write, I wrote it with my friends Andy [Seltzer] and Brett [McLaughlin], and it was like writing a story. We were writing the chorus and were like “And I wanna go back ‘cause left my, left my, left my,” and then Brett goes “charger?” It was a super no-stress session, which is great.
So it came naturally?
Yeah, weirdly, it just kind of came out during the writing.
I know you started this project during the height of COVID, and a lot of artists are having to build their careers entirely through digital means, so how has that been for you having to do it all digitally and not rely on that in-person fan interaction through live shows?
I don’t know much different, so it’s been fine for me. It probably could have moved faster if I had toured, but honestly, I’m happy. If I had toured straight off of the singles on my first EP, which is when I was planning to play shows, I would have been stressed, and I feel like I wouldn’t have had the time to sit and write the music that I have now so I don’t mind It. I feel like having this to get as much material as I can, meet other artists, and form relationships in the industry has been great for me. I really want to play a show. I’m so excited to play shows.
Who is your favourite artist you’ve found through quarantine?
I’ve been listening to a lot of Isaac Dunbar, which has been really fun, and I knew about him a bit before, but I started listening to him recently so that’s been a good one. Honestly, I haven’t been listening to much music, not gonna lie.
Because you’ve been writing all of it?
It’s honestly such a curse. I feel like I was always such a music head, and then I started writing music and releasing music. I feel like all you do is listen to your own demos to find out what you would change. But yes, Isaac Dunbar and Bree Runway. I love Bree Runway.
If someone had never listened to your music, what should they start with?
That’s so hard. I feel like it should be “Jackie Onassis” because I feel like that’s a good sum-up of all of my songs. It’s a pop song that’s very structured and has everything you’d expect it to have. Then the end goes into an alt-rock, drum guitar solo yell-y thing, and then the bridge is soft and acoustic, so I feel like it’s a lot of my songs just wrapped into one.
Who would you most like to release a song with? What’s the dream collab?
Maybe Ariana [Grande], but I’m a little scared for that. I would definitely do it, but I would be terrified to be on a song with a singer like her, and then maybe Taylor Swift? Love her.
Do you have any upcoming projects or things you’re excited about?
The remix EP is fully going to be out in April with a couple of singles getting released first with a couple of features later down the line. Lots of collaborating, which is exciting, because this is the first time in my career that I’ve been able to release a song with another person.
Anything else you’d like to add?
That’s it for me!
You can listen to ELIO wherever you stream your music, and her recent remix of “@elio.irl” with Adam Melchor just dropped on April 2nd. I can’t wait to see what’s next for her, and I’m sure I’ll be waiting for tickets to go on sale for a show once the world re-opens. Find her on Instagram (@elio.irl) and Twitter (@elioirl).