5 Q&A With Eleanor Idlewood
What is the creative process like?
About the creative process, especially for “The Roommates” is in 3 steps. First one, finding inspiration. For ‘The Roommates” it comes from, firstly the “and they were roommates” meme, and secondly two of my favorites characters from an old French anime “Galactic Football” Sonny and Flint, where in the anime they always showed together, Flint saving Sonny’s life every seasons, he is even described as a very close friend of Sonny. Technically my song is kinda like a fan-fiction. Second steps, finding some reference songs to get the idea of “what it could sound like” for that song it was “Family Man” by Fleetwood Mac, “Tout le monde s’amuse” by Agathe et Regrets, ”When The Night Comes” by Billy Idol. Third steps, Experiencing with my synthesizers, technically making some sound design and seeing what designs are perfect, but after those steps that’s my Brain making the stuff, I Can’t explain it but once I’m in a project, I Can’t escape until it sounds nice to me.
Was there any challenge that you encountered while making "The Roommates?”
I got some challenges during the producing process, first the chorus, I Didn’t know what melody to use, I probably lost one week trying to find one that would blend perfectly with the Verse Melody. The second challenge, probably the funniest was the “spoken parts.” Trying to find the perfect fxs for those vocals, how to create the perfect atmosphere for that part. It was a challenge but a really cool one.
Can you share any interesting or unique musical elements or production techniques used in "The Roommates?”
As an interesting production technique I Used was using the Mellotron V (The Mellotron but in VST) to make fxs for the spoken vocals because the reverb and stereo were nice but with the Mellotron I can add some noise floor, tape saturation. And then With the vocals modified on the Mellotron I also re-edited them with Arturia’s Tape J-37 (for delay, EQ etc). Also about that spoken vocals, I’m using them as a way to give some life to my characters in my song. This is their song and I Think we can’t only listen to the narrator's point of view.
Can you introduce yourself and share a bit about your journey into music production? How did you become a producer?
So my name is Eleanor Idlewood, I’m an indie electronic music producer, sound designer and songwriter. I’m French and My song are really 80s inspired and I Talk about Queer and feminist topics in my songs.
I Started music production at 14 yo, it was a silly teen hobby at this time but in 2019 I released my first single “Lost Blue Boy” and since I Can’t stop making noise even if depression blocked me for 2-3 years. I’m currently attending Berklee Online, to get more experience regarding electronic music, producing and mastering, can’t wait to work as an audio engineer.
How do you balance incorporating new trends while maintaining a unique and timeless production style?
It’s a game for me. My music is very vintage because im so inspired by 70s and 80s music I Also work with almost only synthesizers from those decades but I Guess as I’m listening to a lot of music my brain does all the work.
