In 2019, the born and raised in Berlin singer ELLE MB linked up with the musicians Paul Keilhau, Raphael Sturm, Lukas Gorris and Konstantin Wenning to start writing her own music for the very first time. „Coming from a musical background, it was always there, just the momentum was missing. “she says. „Self-experiencing music in jam session bars also showed me, that my vocal and lyrical creativity is so very much linked to instrumental tunes. If it’s right, my head is buzzing, full of ideas. “
After releasing 3 Neo-Soul singles her sound shifted a little bit. Inspired by RnB and Hip Hop, ELLE MB found her way to more produced, beat based Contemporary RnB, playing with atmospheric sounds and vocal modifications.
The three singles ‚next time‘, ‚fortune cookie‘ and ‚stairs‘ went ahead to show what is to come on the debut EP ‚shades‘ by ELLE MB.
1. For someone that is yet to discover ‘Elle MB and would you describe yourself.
contemporary rnb, beats, soft, powerful, jazzy
2. What inspired you as an artist?
Of course, the easiest answer would be life itself…in my case my interpersonal relationships shift my music in a very special way, honestly sometimes it doesn’t even feel like I’m writing about the feelings and happenings rather these thoughts find their way into my music when jamming. Also, all the political and patriarchal fuck ups that I witness every day.
3. What is your process for preparing to perform live? Do you have any Diva demands? Who’s the Mariah Carey of the group?
A few rehearsals with the band to freshen up the set. Playing live with the band is so special to me, every gig is different, every song has its own energy. Also, I love to find a special outfit that represents my music and my vibe of the day. It helps me a lot to become a stage loving persona, not specifically an alter ego, since my music is quite personal and honest. But I still need some features to separate my face and body I’m putting out there to my private self. I have no diva demands, I’m very happy with good monitoring and friendly staff in the location, you’ll get why later in this interview.
4. Where do you feel you fit into the music landscape?
That is an interesting question. I feel like the answer to this can be quite diverse. Honestly my main focus right now is to understand Berlins music scene, connect with people and play gigs in the clubs and small locations. I started with Neo Soul and I’m focussing on Contemporary RnB right now. I feel like I’m still finding my sound and maybe I never will or don’t want to, since I have the feeling it’s a good thing that music is such a moving thing. Inspiration wise I see a lot of great art from the UK and would love to play a role over there at some point
5.What are your favourite musical genres, and are there any you dislike?
Wow, there is so many I like but my absolute favourites are Neo Soul, Contemporary RnB, Hip Hop, Funk and Garage. I personally don’t like German Schlager even though it would be a great way to make big moneys.
6. Why, where id the name come from?
I originally chose the artist’s name LMB, which is my initials, but the name was taken by at least 15 other artists and my feeling was to use one that is not touched yet so I tried to find a different spelling and still pronouncing it the same way. So, its ELLE MB now
7 What would you say is your greatest strength as an Artist?
I have to be honest I’ll start with the weakness question because I immediately thought of something. I guess I have to practice more positive affirmations hahaha…
So… my greatest strength I would say is that I am able to create a space where everyone can feel comfortable to express themselves. Also, I’d say it’s a strength to talk openly about emotions and issues in music.
8. What would you say is your greatest weakness as an Artist?
My greatest weakness is self-doubt, I guess. That’s kind of a classic one but it’s pretty huge since this is very often standing in the way of finding melodies, finishing lyrics, creating visual content and be consistent with posting online. And I know the confidence has to come from within and I’m working on it. Also, I’m trying to find fun ways and things that interest and suit me in doing what’s expected from me.
9. What can fans expect from your new EP ‘ Shades’
I’ll be that brave and give you my descriptions of every song of the EP ‘shades’:
01. Fortune Cookie
‘ I love performing this song, the hook is pretty high pitch but I always just burst it out because it feels so good. This song revolves around the topic I just love talking about the most and it is interpersonal relationships. This one is tricky though, it talks about how sometimes love is just not enough, you need interest, commitment, trust and good communication. Without all that it’s just a rollercoaster ride where you have to stop buying tickets for at some point. “
02. Next Time
‘This was actually the first song that really showed I felt so comfortable with beat-based tunes that would just hit a little harder. Playing with autotune gave me confidence to play with my vocals and become quite bossy with the lyrics, talking about how a toxic relationship is kind of feeding on itself and the people involved have little chances to break these vicious circles. The song turned out to be a friend’s favourite, they wanted to listen to it all over again on our kitchen stereo. “
03.Exit
‘When we started rehearsing this song for live, I was tearing up the first times because it makes me quite emotional. It’s just me and the guitar, super intimate. This piece is trying to talk about self-doubt and carry you off to the place in my head, where I go when I get overwhelmed: the ocean. In the beginning of making music, I felt quite confident but time showed I was struggling finishing lyrics, committing to my feelings and thoughts. This voice of self-doubt can be quite violent. Sometimes then when I can’t do it myself, I need someone to tell me, I can do this. “
04.Freely
‘ Wow, this song has been through something. When we first started writing that it felt right immediately. Turned out that my subconscious wanted to talk about sexism and harassment. I was quite happy because I had a lot to say about that but at the same time, I felt super pressured to write a feminist hymn all of a sudden. But I wanted to take on the challenge and it has become such a beautiful piece. “
05. Stairs
‘ This whole song is a sunrise. I take you along through sleepless nights filled with the attention of letting loose but instead loosing yourself. Sometimes something that seems fun and like a good idea can be the worst thing you can do especially if you are in a vulnerable place already. I hope people can relate and we all take better care of ourselves in the future. Letting you off softly with a long outro to reminisce and release. “
10. What music artiest would you say have influenced your work?
Here I’ll keep it quick: Frank Ocean, Jorja Smith, SiR
11. Who would you most like to collaborate with artistically?
SiR, Jorja Smith, Frank Ocean, Shygirl, Erika de Casier, Mereba, douniah, Cleo Sol, Olivia Dean, Travis Scott, James Blake and the list goes on.
12. What was your worst performance?
My worst performance was my first ever official booking at a festival, I’m not going to say where since there were some technical issues and I don’t want to blame them, they really did the best they could. But the monitoring for some reason was very difficult even though at soundcheck it was perfect. And so, I basically had the guess my vocals through the audience speakers and this made me so nervous. At some point I was wearing my glasses to hide my insecurities. But as I said, this was just my perspective because this was the one concert where the most people that didn’t know me wrote dm’s saying that they were really touched by the concert and loved the sound. This was a big learning for me.
13: What was the most difficult obstacle you have ever faced and how did you overcome it?
Honestly finishing the song “freely” on the EP. We were going back and forth, even thinking about trashing it because it didn’t meet my expectations; I was experiencing my first ever writer’s block. But I found a way to finish it, also my band Paul Keilhau, Raphael Sturm, Konstantin Wenning and Lukas Gorris helped me a lot shaping the song to a new sound aesthetic that I’m in love with now.
14: What is your creative process when making music. Do you work with others or is there just you?
Yes, so I work with a producing band (Paul Keilhau, Raphael Sturm, Konstantin Wenning and Lukas Gorris) and a sound engineer (Manou Boullion/Skydojostudios). For all the songs so far, we all came together in our small studio in Berlin-Neukölln and jammed. The process is quite quick, we find loops, riffs, pads and first vocal melodies filled with some gibberish that kind of starts of the topic of the song that is later on filled with English lyrics and put into a song structure.
15. Where do you see your musical career in 10 years?
I’m wondering if this a question that artists are able to answer easily. For me it’s a little bit hard to wrap my head around it, maybe I’m just not the type for future plans. But I guess with ten years and considering art it’s more of a task to dream about me and my music.
I’ll keep it simple and say I want to work on my 4th album and play Glastonbury Festival.
