Exclusive Acoustic Session: Elyar Fox Performs ‘Good Friends’ And ‘Let Your Hair Down’
When we named Elyar Fox as one of the artists to watch out for this year, we never expected that he'd be be visiting us here at OnePopz HQ!
Amazingly, that came true though and we're delighted to say that Elyar visited us last month for an exclusive interview and acoustic session. In the session at 80 Hertz studios, the 19-year-old heartthrob performed his awesome new track 'Good Friends' and a brilliant cover of Magic!'s latest single 'Let Your Hair Down'.After watching Elyar at our acoustic session, we can honestly say that he sounds even better live than he does on record. His voice is incredible and you can really feel the emotion that Elyar puts into the tracks.
Both of Elyar's live performances can be viewed below along with some highlights from the interview.
You've just played your first headline show, how was that?
“Terrible man, terrible. I fell over, electrocuted myself on the microphone, it just basically went awful. (laughs) No, it was really cool. Like first headline show, and again, it was acoustic. There was a real good vibe and it was nice to just strip everything back and do a whole set just singing and playing.”
You've also supported The Wanted and Union J - how would you say your headline shows compared?
“Well they were a lot bigger to start with. It was crazy you know, like playing arenas is something I never really imagined myself doing so it took some time to kind of get used to it but it was great. I feel like I like doing smaller shows because it’s more easier to catch a vibe and really catch on to what’s going on in the audience and stuff. But arena shows are arena so it’s kind of like more a dream come true when you do those but when you do the smaller ones, you feel it. You feel it more because you can see people."
“It feels like I’m in space. I remember I was lucky enough to do a couple of dates at the 02 Arena and I remember the first show I did there, it was kind of almost one of my first shows as a solo artist, and I got to the stage and it was show time and I was like woah. I feel like I’d literally just walked into space. It was crazy, I could see literally nothing other than like a few people just in front of me at the barriers and it was pretty intimidating you know. It felt like there was no-one there watching me but I knew there was. I think you get used to if after a while.”
Are there any funny stories that you can tell us from being on the road with the boys?
“Yeah, I mean with The Wanted, it was their last tour so it was kind of emotional but they were really funny. Every day there was kind of a new thing going on. Especially like, The Wanted tour, it was with The Vamps as well so all three of us together was kind of like inappropriate you know. There was always unsanitary things being left in dressing rooms and things like that but it was fun. It’s really cool, when you kind of go on tour and especially with The Wanted, it’s really cool just to get to know people and become friends.”
Over the years, you’ve covered a lot of songs on Youtube - have you got any particular favourites?
“Yeah, you know what, it’s quite funny actually. I went through all of my old covers and looked back and it’s so funny to see how much things change in a couple of years. I really like my cover of ‘Payphone’ by Maroon 5 but I don’t think it’s down to my cover that I liked it, I just love the song. I remember when I first head it, I was like ‘I’m gonna cover this’. I did a cover recently which I actually really enjoyed, I did 'Lola’ by The Kinks which is like my mum’s favourite song so by default it’s mine and yeah, I really like that song. It’s cool to do something which isn’t as current because it’s just an old school song. I like ‘Lola’."
Elyar's first solo headline shows were at Manchester's Ruby Lounge and London's Borderline. We went along to the Manchester gig and he put on an incredible show; he certainly knows how to please an audience. Girls were screaming for him all night and there were even tears of happiness shed by some overwhelmed fans.
You can purchase a copy of 'Good Friends', Elyar's new acoustic EP, here on iTunes. As well as featuring the title track, the EP also includes a cover of Magic!'s 'Rude' and two more original tracks: 'Deja Vu' and 'New York City'.
