(LOOTPRESS) – Indie/folk singer, songwriter, and musician, Eli Lev has spent the past half-decade hard at work both in the studio and on the road.
Whether it be crafting material within his own unique vein of the pop and indie-folk subgenres or bringing that same material to the masses across the country, the songwriter has unquestionably made the music his mission in recent years.
Releases such as the Four Directions Project and Walk.Talk.Dance.Sing. have solidified Lev as one of the most exciting artists on the Indie scene in recent years.
The musician recently took time to chat with LOOTPRESS about everything from songwriting and musical influences to his approach in the recording studio and more. The transcript of that conversation can be seen below.
LOOTPRESS: We’re on the line here with musician, singer and songwriter Eli Lev, who is currently on the bro promoting new material. Eli, how are you?
Eli Lev: Hi, Cameron! I’m doing okay.
LP: So, you’re playing all over the place. You’re currently out in South Dakota, and I understand you’ve got a few dates lined up in West Virginia this year.
EL: Yeah, it looks like I’ll be in Charleston and I’ll be in Fayetteville in September, and I’ll be in Lewisburg. So those are my three dates in West Virginia right now.
LP: When you’re taking these songs out, are you traveling with a full band or is it more of an intimate setting, acoustic type of situation?
EL: It’s a solo show, but I’ve got acoustic guitar, I’ve got harmonica, I’ve got flute, and I also use a loop pedal. So it’s kind of a full sound that I’m able to do.
LP: Nice! I find that fascinating. Like with Ed Sheeran, he does some really neat stuff with loop pedals.
EL: He crushes it! He’s amazing at the loop pedal. I’m nowhere close to Ed Sheeran’s abilities, but I do use it a little bit.
LP: You got a pretty distinct sound that seems to check a lot of different boxes. I hear the the sort of indie folk thing that’s pretty prevalent with guys like Zach, Bryan, Jason Isbell, and Noah Cohen, but there are these neat electronic flourishes as well and kind of genre bending elements. What are some of your primary musical influences in the macro, but also specifically, what influenced, let say, your latest project?
EL: Four out of the five songs for Present Journey are out now and one more is coming. This recent project is kind of like a mixture I’d say of like Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz and Ed Sheeran, I guess. Really because there’s a laid back approach to it, but it’s also like full-on, big pop production. Then there’s also some some intimate moments in there too, which I think kind of connects with like the Jason Mraz [sound.] But there’s also a little bit of country in there, you know, like a Tyler Childers [sound,] you know.
LP: People love Childers out here.
EL: Yeah, he’s incredible, man. He’s a big influence on me too.
LP: As far as the studio, what’s your approach in there? Are you bringing in musicians or are you programming things yourself, or just playing multiple instruments? Because there’s a lot…It’s pretty dense as far as texture.
EL: I’m in the studio with a producer and we’re kind of co-creating and co-producing. This album was produced in Manassas, Virginia, actually. It’s really cool because I have a part in all that, you know? We’re laying down guitar, we’re laying down drums together, we’re laying down bass and we’re adding different elements like in real time. So it’s a lot of fun.
LP: It’s like a sort of programming a little orchestra, the textures and things like that.
EL: Exactly!
LP: The mention of Manassas actually brings to mind the Stephen Stills project released, I believe, in 1971. Are you familiar with that record?
EL: I don’t know. I don’t think so, actually.
LP: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young were sort of at odds at the time, which wasn’t at all uncommon for the period. So Stills sort of broke off on his own to do this other project with Chris Hillman, formerly of The Byrds, and a bunch of other guys. The band itself and the eponymous debut album were both called Manassas, and it’s probably my favorite Stills record. It’s this sort of underappreciated gem, I always recommend it to everyone. Definitely check it out if you get a chance.
EL: Oh, cool! I’ll check it out!
LP: But I digress. As far as songwriting, are you of the belief that the more rooted in personal experience, the better? Or do you often take on a character or write from different perspectives? Is everything kind of rooted in you, or what’s your approach in that aspect?
EL: Yeah, that’s a great question. I mean, I think a lot of my personal travels and experiences obviously inform the songwriting a lot. For example, “They Say” is a very personal song about all the advice that I got when I was growing up and how a lot of it isn’t really all true. But then you take a look at a song like “That Universal Song,” and it’s kind of from the perspective of just a girl listening to music on a train in the city, or a guy just on a cruise. It’s about more like the universal kind of consciousness. So, it depends. But I would say most of them are pretty much from personal experience.
LP: I did want to talk about the Four Directions project of yours, which essentially is four EPS that come together to form a composite whole. That’s such a neat approach to artistic storytelling. Was the project conceived that way initially?
EL: Yeah, it really was from the beginning. I had the Four Directions idea and that came from my time on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Northern Arizona. I really was looking for some kind of guidepost or some kind of story that would help me through becoming an independent musician. So, I came up with the Four Directions and had a plan to do each direction record. I didn’t know the names yet; I didn’t know the timeline, but I just started with East and kept going until they were done. It took me about five years overall to finish the whole project.
LP: You’ve recorded a number of EPs, which for the layman, is a more condensed project than your standard album – generally 15 to 30 minutes long with five or so tracks. I really think there’s something to be said about expediting that process which allows an artist to get songs out there within greater proximity to the time they were written. Because the passage of time during a full album production cycle can sometimes see an artist drifting away from the person they were when they wrote certain songs.
EL: Yeah, I mean to that point, I’ve actually only recorded EPs. I have never recorded a full album under the Eli Lev project. Four Directions, it was for EPs. Walk.Talk. Dance.Sing is an EP with five songs. Then this upcoming album, Present Journey is an EP. This is part of the Three Worlds project, so it’ll be Present Journey – 5 Songs, Past Lives – Five Songs, and then Future Myths – 5 songs. So again, the EP is my favorite format really, because it just allows me to record the songs in a year and get him out the next pretty much.
LP: You seem to always be hard at work on both the touring and recording fronts, having released music just recently and you’re currently out on the road, obviously. Do you already have the next [project] in the can, or are you sort of taking that as it comes?
EL: As far as the next project, I recorded the next EP and the Three Worlds project called Past Lives – I recorded those songs in New York last month before I went on tour. So yeah, those songs I’ll be producing and developing throughout the year and they’ll be ready next year.
LP: Where can folks go to learn more about your work and upcoming shows?
EL: The best place would be my website www.eli-lev.com, there they’ll see my tour dates and they can listen to my music. There’s lyrics and stuff up there as well, and there’s also a place where they can join my Levitators community – get it? LEVitators?
LP: Love it!
EL: So they can join there. We do live streams and I share music before it comes out, and it’s a pretty amazing community of people around the world.
LP: That’s awesome! I think that’s about all I have. Do you have any final thoughts you want to leave readers with?
EL: All good on my end, Cameron. Thank you so much, you’re awesome! I appreciate it.
LP: This has been great, Thanks a lot!
