Ellie Dixon was only 13 when she first started making music, and not long after, she fell in love with singing, as well, which she says came very naturally to her. From then, it was only a tiny step to writing her own song, which are characterised by positivity and optimism, two things that every so desperately needs in their lives. No wonder then that she quickly found her audience, given that her captivating, energetic personality truly shines through her songs and her TikTok videos. Oh, and did we mention that to this day, she makes all of her music in her bedroom, on her laptop?
The 24-year-old British singer-producer released „Swing!”, her first single with her label a little more than six months ago, which was followed by „Big Lizard Energy”, a song about her conquering her anxiety by imagining that she is a giant dinosaur. Her single, „Dopamine”, which came out at the beginning of May, was inspired by her exhaustion after her tour last year, and it’s a bit different from her other songs in a sense that it’s slower and more heart-felt. Maybe we’re going to get another, similar song from her soon, as she was touring all over Europe with The Pentatonix this year, however, we’re going to have to wait for that a little longer. Her latest single, „Bounce” was released today, and it’s upbeat, optimistic, positive, and playful – basically a thousand smiles captured in a song.
Her tour this spring has been her biggest and longest tour yet, and as a part of it, she performed in Hungary, as well, on May 22 at the Budapest Arena. It was a memorable visit for her for a handful of reasons. One, this has been her biggest show so far, and two, Budapest was one of the few cities she could properly go around on this tour. Of course, she was absolutely amazed by our capital’s beauty.
We sat down with Ellie before her show to chat about her beginnings, her inspirations, her single „Dopamine”, she told us what helps her remain positive and optimistic, how touring with The Pentatonix has been for her so far, she shared a message with her Hungarian audience, and of course, we taught her a little Hungarian, as well – exclusive interview with Ellie Dixon.
It’s so nice to see you! How are you today?
I’m good, how are you?
I’m fine, thank you. Alright, so we’re so happy that you’re here in Budapest, did you get the chance to explore the city a bit?
Yeah!
So we got in yesterday, and it’s one of the few cities we’ve actually been able to properly go around on tour. It’s amazing! It’s such a nice city. We were just proper tourists for the day, which is really nice.
We went down by the river, saw the Parliament, Basilica, and the sun was out. It was so warm, we were in the sunset, so yeah, it was really, really, really nice. Nice trip.
I’m glad. Let’s take it back to the beginning for a moment. When and how did you get into writing songs and producing music?
So I got into producing music first. My dad actually downloaded some software onto the family computer, which let you sort of drag and drop loops and things like that. I found it amazing how you could just get the computer to make any sounds you could imagine. That was when I was about 13. I started making just all kinds of music. I really liked to making film music and I was sort of composing more orchestral pieces and things like that. Then, I got some free singing lessons as part of a music course that I was doing and fell in love with singing.
It was a very natural progression into singing and then writing my own songs and then performing those songs and then producing the songs I was writing.
They all came very, sort of, hand-in-hand, naturally together. And then, yeah, just kept doing it, here we are!
Who were your biggest inspirations when you were growing up and who are they now?
Well, one of the first songs that I was obsessed with was „9 to 5” by Dolly Parton. I loved the sort of everyday sounds when you start, you hear the cash register and they’re like „ding” in the music and stuff and I remember I fell in love with that so Dolly Parton was quite a big inspiration really early on. I was also obsessed with this album from La Roux. I would just play that on repeat and repeat. Then, as I started songwriting a bit more, I was listening to KT Tunstall, Adele, and then now, I think I’m listening to less sort of the singer-songwriter sound, and I’m really liking a lot of the pop, alt-pop, hip-hop, jazz world. I’m really inspired by Anderson .Paak, Easy Life, Remi Wolf. Artists that have really sort of fun, cool, kind of bobbly sounds. I like to call them bobbly.
Now, your latest single „Dopamine” came out at the beginning of May. Well, first of all, congratulations on it!
Thank you very much!
Can you tell me a bit about the background of the song, like what inspired it, and what is the message that you’re trying to get across with it?
So the song is called „Dopamine” and actually, it’s one of the first slow songs that I put out in ages. It was inspired by coming off touring last year.
I had done lots of intense touring and I had loads of fun but I’d come home and I really needed to rest. That’s not normally my first instinct, I’m always, like, very high-energy, and I wanna be playing shows and having fun and making music and I hit a point where I needed to stop.
I was sat at the keyboard and sort of almost started speaking, really, and then the first line of the song, „I need to slow down sometimes” kinda came out. I wrote it really quickly because it was a very sort of natural, almost just me talking. But it’s a very special song to me because I don’t normally indulge in that kind of slower moment and it felt very therapeutic to make this song. Even when I was producing it, it was so relaxing that it was a real pleasure to write and produce.
As you mentioned, it’s a bit different from your other songs, because generally I feel like, your songs are really positive and they really have the ability to put people in a good mood. So I’m wondering, what helps you remain positive and optimistic?
Aww, good question! Definitely friends and family.
I’m a very social person, and I think if I’m ever needing… If I’m in my head, or feeling negative, almost always for me, it’s just talking to someone.
That’s a big part for me. Then I love unwinding, relaxing, kind of shutting off, because my work is so intense and, you know, anytime I pick up my phone, it’s a work. There’s social media, and then making music, and playing shows even on weekends, so it’s really important for me staying kinda positive and protecting my head space to have really protected downtime. I really love cooking, some of my favourite things. I love sort of TV, especially sitcoms, where I just don’t need to think about anything. Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Community, I mean, there’s Parks and Recreation, loads. Just any sitcom, basically.
And which song of yours would you show to a person that doesn’t know you yet?
Oooh. I think I would show them „Swing!”, which was the first single I released with my label. Because I think it’s really hooky, high energy, there’s lots of jokes and weird samples and sounds. I think it is the most intense hit of me you get in a song.
Now, currently, you’re on tour with The Pentatonix, playing in arenas, which is a massive opportunity, so first of all congratulations on it.
Thank you!
How has this experience been for you so far?
Amazing! It’s been incredible. I mean, firstly, it’s the biggest shows I’ve ever played and it’s the biggest and longest tour I’ve ever done.
How many dates?
It’s nineteen, I think. I think we’re on show thirteen right now.
But I think I’ve learned a lot about myself, about touring, about working with other people.
You know, we’ve joined into, my team is 3 or 4 people on the road, including myself, so we’re a very small team and then we’re joining in with their really big crew. So I’ve learned a lot about how bigger teams run live shows, but I’ve also learned about how to work in a small team, and how to fit into that, how to get on with loads of different people. Then, how to pace myself and make sure I’m getting enough sleep, getting enough downtime, managing your emotions on the road, as well, it’s…
Touring is really intense, and you’re still gonna go though the natural range on human emotions and so learning, you know, to give yourself some time if you’re in a bad mood, or recognising when you need to take 5 minutes to yourself and how to pace yourself and not do too much, but also make the most out of everything.
It’s definitely a fine balance. Yeah, I’ve just really learned a lot already just about how I’m going to tour in the future and how I kind of want to be around teams, basically.
Alright. And do you have any pre-show rituals that you always do before every concert of yours?
Yeah, I mean, I always warm up my vocals, and that’s the main thing, really. I don’t get dressed for show until just before, so I put my clothes on, do my makeup, and then do my vocal warm-ups. It always puts me in the show headspace, and that’s why I don’t wanna put the show clothes on just before so that I always associate that with doing the show.
I don’t think there’s anything, apart from vocal warm-ups, that you have to do, really. It’s more just like something that you do every time that puts you in that mindset, in the zone.
But I think just vocal warm-ups, really, I don’t do anything, like, skip 5 times and, you know…
Is there any message that you would like to share with your Hungarian audience?
I would say, firstly, thank you, for having me. Budapest is one of my favourite cities I’ve ever visited, it’s beautiful. I can’t wait to see you all this evening, 12,000 people, it’s gonna be a really exciting show. Hopefully, I’ll get to be back really soon.
Alright, just one more thing before we let you go. We would like to teach you something, so you can take away something from this interview, as well.
Okay.
So, do you know any Hungarian words?
I don’t think I know any, no.
Okay, so is it okay for you if we teach you how to say „I love you” in Hungarian?
Yeah, of course!
Okay, so it goes like this: „szeretlek”.
Szeretlek.
Yep, that’s it!
Ahh, nailed it! Szeretlek! There you go.
Yep. Ellie, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us and can’t wait to see you on stage tonight!
Thank you very much.
