Elise Trouw at The Hotel Cafe in Hollywood
Interview by Ken Morton - Photo by Jack Lue
The multi-talented Elise Trouw made her way to The Hotel Cafe in the heart of Hollywood for a standing room only show. Performing all of the instruments and vocals on her recordings and in her live set, Elise absolutely captivated the audience with her vibrant vocals, magnetic drummer, and imaginative live looping. Prior to the show, Highwire Daze caught with Elise for an interview. Read on... What are you looking forward to the most about your show here at The Hotel Café tonight? I’m really excited because it’s my first headlining show I’ve played in about a year. I’ve spent a lot of time writing and recording this past year and just got back from opening on tour with Incubus. I haven’t played my own headlining show in a little bit, and I’m really excited to be doing it here in L.A. – close to my hometown – and a lot of my friends are going to be here tonight. I’m just excited to be here with everyone. How did the recent tour with Incubus go and what were some of the highlights for you? The tour went fantastic. Everybody was just super great and professional. I would say the highlight for me was playing The Greek – that was the only open air theater that we played. Just that experience was really fun and something new for me. When people ask you what your genre of music is, what do you say to them? People ask what my genre is, and I usually stutter and say “Uh, alternative pop indie rock something like that.” So I normally just stick with alternative and that kind of covers it I’d say. Or alternative pop. What was your experience like on Jimmy Kimmel? I was very nervous first of all playing Jimmy Kimmel. That was my second live looping performance that I had done – my first being at NAMM that year. I was just very nervous but I had a really great time. The crew – everything went super smoothly. It was the first time they were doing a performance in the round – like a circular stage with the crowd all around me – so it was just a really special night and a cool experience. I met him for like half a second. I saw him from afar and he seemed really cool. What does your latest song Make Believe and the lyrics mean to you? I think that song is just about missing somebody or kind of longing for a past relationship or friendship and just being in that moment feeling lonely. What is your favorite memory of The NAMM Show? I would say my favorite memory of NAMM was playing at the Taylor Booth in 2018. I played my first live looping show there and the whole room was just packed with people – and that was 30
one of my first performances where there was really a crowd. Most of my performances had been in local bars in front of my friends and family and some people coming out to see me. But that was my first my first intense performance like that. Live looping. What could possibly go wrong? So many things. (Laughs) At almost every show, there’s something that goes wrong. Whenever I’m setting up, I’m like “Wow, everything’s working” during sound check. That’s like my main concern. But everyone in the audience is always very supportive and understanding when there’s technical difficulties, so I try to not take it so seriously. What’s up next for you in the New Year? I’ll be releasing new music. I have a new video and song coming out in January and we’ll be getting on a new tour next year – hopefully in early summer – possibly spring in the US. And I have a couple more songs lined up to release after that one as well.
www.elisetrouw.com/ Jan/Feb 2020
HIGHWIRE DAZE