Getting to Know Eleanor Dunlop
Former member of now-defunct-but-once-awesome band Cameras, Eleanor Dunlop is back with a new single, Rough Side Of Town (above), and EP. We found out more about her:
I am obsessed with horses. Anything horse-related and I’m automatically transfixed. I’m a big fan of silence which is quite ironic because I live in an inner city apartment and the city noise does drive me mental sometimes. I’m a massive Sci-fi fan, I love the Alien franchise. I’m also prone to getting hooked on certain foods and then eating them until I can’t stand them anymore. I also write songs to compensate for my sometimes overwhelming feelings on whatever life throws at me. I’m also not very girly and love androgyny.
My new EP is brighter and poppier than I have normally written in the past. To me it feels like holidaying on a tropical island with a stopover in Paris. My next songs will probably be a bit darker, back to my comfort zone. I really wanted to explore a lighter, softer side to me but I think in my heart I’ll always be drawn to a more somber feel – I find it’s more interesting to explore the darker aspects of life. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get away from the ethereal/dreamlike feel though that always seems to come out in my music.
My upcoming show in Sydney will be a mixture of both some brooding action over a piano and/or a mic and some very quiet intimate moments. I think overall we’re a lot louder and moodier live than what my recordings sounds like. Or I like to think so at least. The live band I’ve got together are all really amazing musicians in their own right, my drummer and bass player are both from the more post/prog rock scene and my guitarist is a super talented guy who studied at Sydney’s Conservatorium of Music.
I’m currently listening to the first Klaxons album, a bit of Joy Division and some Michael Jackson. I’ve also been getting into some Marilyn Monroe docos, her singing/performing and her life has always fascinated me. I try not to listen to too much current music or the radio, not because I don’t like it, but I never really want to be influenced by it. I have been getting into some local acts like Holy Holy who I played with a couple of months ago and a band called Flamingo from Queensland and I’m pretty much always listening to my favourite woman, Janelle Monae
Sydney is the most naturally beautiful city in the world. I’ve been going on these hunts lately to find hidden beaches around the harbour, it’s such treasure trove of little beach gems. I also love that it’s so multicultural and that I’ve been exposed to all of these amazing different cultures my whole life. I grew up in the Inner West where I went to a very multicultural school and I think it really reinforced how lucky we are to be able to experience such diversity. And eat all of the amazing food that comes with it.
I spend too much time sleeping, I wish I could function on less sleep as I would have more hours to be productive but sleep is so important to me that I can’t ever go without my full 8-9 hours. And watching awkward videos on YouTube like this one of Thurston Moore interviewing Beck.
It might surprise people to learn that I studied business at uni and am very shy. I also normally take months to write a song, it’s a very long, drawn-out process, I’m definitely not one of those people who can write hundreds of songs. I can sit on the same set of chords that I really like for months until something eventually comes about and I’ve got a song. I am also very gullible, take things very seriously and have been told I have a dry sense of humour.
Eleanor’s debut self-titled EP is out on April 11th. Her Sydney EP Launch will be on April 17th at Brighton Up Bar with Something You Said’s best buddies New Brutalists. Details here.
Interview by Bobby Townsend
