INTERVIEW: Eilis Frawley

Having been big fans of all Berlin-based musician and songwriter Eilis Frawley does for a number of years now, we were excited to welcome the release of her debut album Fall Forward earlier this year. An eclectic collection of striking compositions focused on topics ranging from sexism and feelings of displacement, to personal reflections on self care and nostalgia, it showcases Frawley’s resonant lyricism and immense percussion skills, with a sparkling, empowering energy.

Following the album release, and ahead of Frawley’s UK tour which starts tonight at Brighton’s Rossi Bar and ends on Sunday 1st June here in London at Shacklewell Arms, we caught up with her about her inspirations behind the album, her thoughts on the music industry and her top tour tips. Have a read below, and make sure you catch her live over the next few days!

Hi Eilis! Welcome to Get In Her Ears! Are you able to tell us a bit about what initially inspired you to start creating music? 
Hey Mari! It’s always a pleasure to connect with GIHE! I started playing violin at a very young age, and towards the end of high school I turned to percussion and got very involved with the music department; it was like a family for weirdos and I loved it, it was such a supportive place to practice and learn and develop musicality. I started out in classical music and was always drawn to the row of people standing at the back of the orchestra, often not doing so much, but when they played, it felt like those few people could change an entire mood in seconds – I was totally mesmerised. I didn’t start playing drum kit properly until I moved to South Korea after my university studies – there I met the most impressive absolutely no-bullshit female musicians, we formed a band and quickly I became obsessed with song writing, playing drum kit and creating original music. 

We love your beautifully striking, genre-defying sounds and the empowering energy that shines through in your unique songs and percussion-focused musicality, but who would you consider to be your main musical influences?
Aw, thank you! Someone who has stuck with me for a long time is Tune-Yards – I love the upbeat, very energetic chaos they create whilst diving into some heavy topics. Otherwise, I’m a big fan of Ghostpoet, and lately the Moor Mother/Sumac album, and also the Julien Baker/Torres album have been on regular repeat. 

I’ve been really enjoying listening to your recently released incredible and poignant new album, Fall Forward! The album reflects on themes ranging from misogyny and inequality, to personal feelings of grief and mental health struggles – are you able to tell us a bit more about this and what inspired your songwriting?
I wrote a lot of these lyrics during the pandemic; I’m originally from Australia (currently living in Berlin), and the borders were closed – for the first time in my life it wasn’t possible to go home, and this was very alienating. I spent a lot of time thinking about the past, and how I want the future to look. It’s personal, but I think the feeling of being misplaced is not uncommon to most people. Living in a big metropol it can be lonely, it can be exhausting, it can be misogynistic daily; these songs were a chance to build my own world to get some of these feelings out. 

You’ve described your sound as a “translation of my life into music” – can you explain this and tell us more about your songwriting and recording process? 
I write lyrics one sentence at a time, often in the notes on my phone whilst on the bus or train or having a coffee, then after some time I combine lyrics of similar themes and see where to go from there – it’s a collage of my experiences and thoughts. Musically, I often have an idea – maybe a drum beat or bass line that the song grows from – and maybe a rough idea of how I want the vocals to fit, and from there its trial and error, building different layers to support the vocals and vice versa. 

Having been involved in the industry for a number of years – both as an artist, and as a teacher and facilitator – how would you say your attitude towards creating music has changed? 
The one thing that’s remained the same throughout all these years is that there is never enough time to actually create music – for me it doesn’t just happen, time needs to really be carved out and dedicated to writing. The more I’ve gotten involved in the music scene, the more I think it sucks! I think as an artist you’re expected to do so much more now, create new music constantly – be a content creator, pay for PR, tour constantly, pay up front for your own records/merch, it’s rough. But I’m very much looking forward to spending a summer in Berlin, swimming in the mornings and writing songs in the afternoons – this feels like a reward to myself after the release of Fall Forward and three months of pretty much constant touring.  

We’re really excited to see your live show at The Shacklewell Arms on 1st June, with your new full band! What can we expect from the show, and what do you like most about performing live? 
I’m so happy to be taking this album to The UK, especially as I’ll be joined with my new live band – I think you’ll agree they are incredible! You can expect a slightly heavier version from the record, but still with these moments of sensitivity and pop throughout. Both my bandmates sing like angels, so thats a pretty fantastic new addition, and there will also be live projections. I really enjoy the moments the songs transform to a live version, moments where structures get stretched; where we are really playing together, giving the songs a new life. No night is the same, and that feels exiting. 

Is there a specific gig you’ve played over the years that stands out as a particular highlight for you? 
Ohhh, thats a hard question! The first one that comes to mind was in March we played in Giessen, a small Germany city. It wasn’t too crowded, maybe forty people, but every single person was really there for it – dancing, cheering – and we had some great after show chats. 

And, when you’re out on tour, are there any particular essentials that you take with you to keep you going? These are my Top three tour tips: I always pack lavender perfume pouches in my luggage so my clothes always smell like lavender, not tour bag. I try and run every second morning, to get some alone time and stretch out after sitting in a van so much. I pack a t-shirt to wear only on the very last day so I return home feeling fresh.

As we’re an organisation with a focus on supporting new and marginalised artists, I just wondered how you feel the industry is for them at the moment? And do you feel much has changed over the years in its treatment of female and queer artists? 
Personally, I feel like we’ve taken a step back. I feel like in the DIY communities and collectives there’s a lot of space for Female* and LGBTQIA* artists, however as soon as there’s money involved, it feels like it’s still very much male dominated. I’m working in a venue and there’s still significantly more men on stage, as well as promoters and concert goers – I find it exhausting. As a queer female musician, however, I do think the interactions I have at gigs have improved – there’s a lot less comments like “Oh wow, you play the drums” than I received ten years ago. That’s some progress!

And are there any other artists that you’re enjoying listening to at the moment that you’d recommend that we check out? 
Two collaboration albums I’ve been loving are The Film by Sumac and Moor Mother and Send a Prayer My Way by Julien Baker & Torres. From Berlin check out Anti-Corpos, Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys, Plattenbau, 13YC, LawnChair, Matching Outfits, Crowbaby, Okra.

Finally, aside from the very exciting upcoming UK shows, what does the rest of 2025 have in store for you? 
We’re playing a few festivals over the summer, and then I’d like to spend the rest of the year writing new music. After almost three months of touring I’m excited to be home, cook my own food, sleep in my own bed and get some of these song ideas out of head and into reality.

Huge thanks to Eilis for answering our questions! Make sure you check out Fall Forward now, and catch Eilis Frawley live in a town near you this week – we’re excited to have her play at the Shacklewell Arms this Sunday 1st June, along with lo-fi faves all cats are beautiful. Free entry, but RSVP on Dice now to avoid disappointment!

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INTERVIEW: Eska

ESKA’s been such an innovative creator for the last decade, having wowed listeners with her incredible eponymous debut album back in 2015, collaborated with legends such as Grace Jones and Baxter Dury and been a key part of a number of exciting projects including a Royal Opera House commission and Meltdown Festival. Now, she’s showcasing her exquisite musical prowess and songwriting ability with the release of her brand new album, The Ordinary Life Of A Magic Woman. Propelled by an uplifting power, it showcases ESKA’s empowering, glistening energy and a captivating majestic splendour as she offers poignant reflections on motherhood, creativity and life as an African-British middle-aged woman.

We were lucky enough to catch up with Eska to find out more about the album, her creative journey and the process of getting to know herself. Have a read, and make sure you check the album out now – it’s out today!

Hi Eska, welcome to Get In Her Ears! Hope you’re doing well today. Are you able to tell us a bit about what initially inspired you to start creating music?
The initial kick would have been my dad’s eclectic vinyl collection, which would have included Oscar Peterson and Duke Ellington, alongside Phil Collins, old Madonna. He’d buy us vinyl as well – he’d ask us what we wanted to listen to, so we’d have the likes of Japan and Kate Bush in our collection. That love for diverse styles of music was echoed by my incredible music teachers in secondary school who also showed us that all kinds of music was for us, whether that was Vivaldi’s ‘Gloria’, Handel’s ‘Messiah’ or Purcell’s ‘Dido’s Lament’. We were given all that alongside Bob Marley. So, that also just made me retain an openness. In terms of instrument, I’ve got a lot to thank the recorder for because that was the instrument that I initially learnt to read music with, so it holds a very special place in my heart!

I love your soulful, gritty genre-defying sounds and the empowering energy that shines through in your songs, but who would you consider to be your main musical influences?
This is always a really difficult question to answer, just because I listen to A LOT of music, and as I evolve, my listening tastes evolve. And it also depends on whatever project I might be doing at the time; whatever I’m writing for, I’ll be listening to music for inspiration. At any given moment in time, it really can change drastically, and I remain open to that. The interesting thing is that, over time, you can educate your ears to get into the groove of music that maybe – years before – you would have never listened to. I find that really interesting – one has to train one’s ears to listen to music. There are some things that we might naturally gravitate to, and there are a host of reasons as to why that is, but I find that I have to – for my work, if I’m to be true to being as creative as I can be – try and keep that childlike openness and curiosity. For this new record specifically, there are probably a host of people that I was listening to at the time, but it was a heck of a lot of different music!

You’ve just released your new album The Ordinary Life Of A Magic Woman, which is super exciting! Are you able to tell me a bit about the writing of the album and the themes running throughout it?
I wanted to bring in my ordinary, everyday life. That woman, the magic woman. The woman who enables me to be Eska the artist. It’s an ode to her. Her triumph against the resistances that she has to work against in order to be an artist; living in South East London, seeing the gentrification of her neighbourhood, the cost of living crisis, all the global narratives that we’re all familiar with. All of those things. Raising a ten year old as a single parent. Yet still having this compulsion to make art, feeling that it’s an important legacy for myself, as well as for my daughter. In making this record, I felt that is was important to acknowledge that; to make these statements about this woman who has lived her life as a first generation African Brit, and the way that she’s lived it. All of these experiences, and this is what she sounds like. I thought that was really interesting. I sound like this because of all of my history – how else would I sound, growing up in South East London, a kid of the ‘80s and ‘90s? To me, this is how a woman with my story, my background, sounds. And I think that’s interesting as an offering to others in terms of personal artistic expression, and how we put all of our history into what we make; all of our identity. To see what comes up when we’re just being honest, being true to ourselves; to see what it sounds like for Eska to be alive today with all of that history and all the things that she’s experienced. All of those influences, from her dad, from school, from friends, from being in bands; what does that woman sound like today? 

You’ve mentioned that, in part, the album reflects on your experience as a mother – how do you find balancing motherhood with a career in music, especially as by day you home educate your daughter?
The key is getting enough sleep! That is really about it. The key is wellbeing. As I get older, I want to ensure that wellbeing becomes a focus because I want to be around to see my daughter grow into a woman. I want to be around to enjoy that phase of my motherhood. So, wellbeing is key to all of it. If mother is well, then Eska is well – it has to be in that order. 

As someone who’s been involved in the industry for over two decades now, how did the writing and recording of this album differ from your previous releases? Did you incorporate any new ideas or processes into the creating of it?
There was a huge focus on the production side of the record, for me developing my own production skills. This album isn’t as acoustic as my debut solo album, so there’s a lot more going on. From a technical point of view, I really challenged myself to sit with the music and get with a load of YouTube tutorials! I just wanted to hone my craft really. I also really wanted to learn to enjoy what Eska enjoys; this is Eska getting to collaborate with Eska. I was able to learn what I enjoy about my voice, learn what I enjoy about sound. Learning myself has been so much fun. That’s not to say that there haven’t been other artistic contributors and co-writers or co-producers, but it has been such a delight to find myself at this juncture thinking, “Hey Eska, you’re a lot of fun to work with!” The realisation that you’re worth investing in; your ideas are worth something. I’m just really enjoying myself and my ideas, honouring myself and my ideas. It’s a really powerful thing! 

You’ve performed live at a number of really special events – including a beautiful evening celebrating Joni Mitchell at The Roundhouse last year, which I was lucky enough to attend! But is there a particular time you’ve performed that stands out as a highlight for you throughout your career?
Well, to me, the most immediate highlight is the London Rough Trade East in-store recently, marking my return to live performance in my home town – that was such a thrill! I was with my new band, and it really felt like such a huge highlight for me. Other highlights include opportunities to collaborate with different emerging artists, and work with ‘normal’ everyday people in the creative process; I got to do this with the lyric piece for the song ‘Human’ on this record, where we had six people contribute movement pieces towards the montage of movers that we put together for the piece. That was an extraordinary moment. I love it when I get to be part of a journey of making. My work is about community and connection, about making artistic social commentary through my work and involving others in the process at a particular level, which can in turn enable them to go on a journey, with me, that might be foreign to them. Work like that, participatory work, always excites me. And that component of my work has been a huge highlight of my career.

How do you feel the industry is for female and queer artists at the moment? And do you feel much has changed over the years?
It’s hard to say, as I’ve had a ten year hiatus from solo work, as a solo artist. So, it will be interesting to see what the industry reception will be like towards an artist like me, to music like this. In this digital age, when there’s been so many changes in terms of the infrastructure. I don’t know, I guess I can be my main case study – hit me up in twelve months, and I can give you an update!

And are there any other artists that you’re enjoying listening to at the moment that you’d recommend that we check out?
I know I’m biased, but go check out Wonder Hackett! She’s my daughter. She’s only ten, but she’s been featured on a couple of records with her dad, Jesse Hackett – Metal Prayers and Teeth Agency – and there’s something extraordinary about her child voice. Something really other worldly and captivating. Check her out!

Finally, what does the rest of 2025 have in store for you?
The live manifestation of this record! As well as the further development and completion of the writing of my debut opera, Woman And Machine, commissioned by the Royal Opera House. I hope that will be debuting in 2027! 

Huge thanks to Eska for answering our questions!

The Ordinary Life Of A Magic Woman, the new album from Eska, is out today. Listen / buy here. Catch Eska live – details here.

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Five Favourites: Clara Mann

Having charmed our ears last year with the sparkling emotion-strewn sounds of single ‘Stadiums’, and having previously shared stages with the likes of Bat For Lashes and Bill Ryder-Jones, London-based artist Clara Mann has now announced the release of her debut album, Rift, next month. A poignant exploration of the space between the light and dark, it offers a heartfelt ode to hope; an exquisite rumination that ripples with the stirring grace of Mann’s evocative vocals, alongside twinkling folk-strewn melodies.

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspires them. So, ahead of the release of Rift, we caught up with Clara to find out about the five albums that have inspired her the most. Read about her five favourites, pre-order the album, and watch the beautiful new video for latest single ‘Doubled Over‘ below:

Paul Simon – Still Crazy After All These Years
Some of the best songwriting in the history of ever. One of those writers who makes me pause the track to think “HOW did he do that?” My mum used to play this album in the car on the way to the dentist/big supermarket when we were children, so it’s special to me; and maybe I’m biased, but I think it’s magic. The actual title track makes me cry every time. Paul Simon’s particularly good at metaphor, if I’m being dry about it, but it never feels contrived, just true and poignant.

Mary Margaret O’Hara – Miss America
Mary Margaret O’Hara is my heroine – I love the balance she finds between the strange, the playful, the painful…. Her voice is so clear and true, and her (rather rare) performances that I’ve dug up from YouTube are highly charged; almost difficult to watch, they’re so intense. It’s almost like performance art, but less self-aware than that implies. This is the only full length album she ever recorded, and I’m so glad we have it. 

Blake Mills – Heigh Ho
I remember where I was when I first heard this record; I remember how much it affected me. Again, it’s full of humour, as well as pain, and the production is almost cinematic. Though maybe that word makes it sound less subtle than it is – I just mean it paints colours. 

Les Filles de Illighadad – Les Filles De Illighadad
In the village where I grew up in the south of France, there was a yearly culture festival celebrating North African and Saharan music, literature, and art. I guess it was a celebration of the immigration from Morocco and Algeria, a way of welcoming people and making a start on mending the fraught relations between France and that part of Africa. The village was suddenly full of exhibitions, market stalls and instruments that I’d never seen before, all brought by musicians and artists representing their regions. I remember, as a child, being particularly struck by the indigo robes that the Tuareg people wore – I thought the colour was so beautiful and so striking as they walked around the centre-ville. Even then, I think I was aware that I was lucky to be being exposed to the music they brought with them, music so different to what I heard at home. Fatou Seidi Ghali, the guitarist in Les Filles De Illighadad, is the first female Tuareg guitarist. But, apart from anything else, the music is just so extraordinary, and so feeling, and I listen to this record all the time. I love the agility of her playing and of the voices – it’s magic, and it reminds me of the village in the summer, and the blue robes.

Iris DeMent – My Life
A country classic. Another amazing female voice. Country music is profound and also profoundly silly, sometimes you can hear the laughter in her singing. Iris DeMent is so good at telling stories; stories of home, love, death, landscape… She breaks my heart again and again.

Huge thanks to Clara for sharing her ‘Five Favourites’ us! Watch the beautiful new video for her evocative latest single ‘Doubled Over’ below:


Rift, the upcoming debut album from Clara Mann, is set for release on 7th March via state51. Pre-order here.

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Five Favourites: Sophie Jamieson

Having received acclaim from the likes of Brooklyn Vegan, The Line Of Best Fit and Under The Radar, London-based artist Sophie Jamieson has now shared her exquisite second album, I still want to share, via Bella Union. Reflecting on themes of love and its many meanings, the album showcases Jamieson’s ability to create stirring celestial soundscapes with an added orchestral splendour. Rippling with the soaring raw emotion of her rich, resonant vocals, alongside an immersive shimmering musicality, it’s a beautifully heartfelt collection.

We think one of the best ways to get to know a band is by asking what music inspires them. So, following the release of I still want to share, we caught up with Sophie to find out about the five albums that inspired the writing of the new album the most. Read about her five favourites, listen to the album, get tickets to see her live and watch the beautiful new video for ‘I don’t know what to save‘ below.

Anna B Savage – in|FLUX
It’s hard to overstate the impact this album and this artist have had on me. Sometimes you hear a voice or a song that sounds familiar in a bodily way, but that also opens a door into more daring territory. Everything Anna does feels so… physical. Tangible, clutchable. There’s so much life bubbling through this record, so many sounds, such a sense of play, but with direction, earnestness, confidence, heart. It came out just after we’d begun recording. Something about its attitude crept into ideas I brought into the studio. One day we were working on ‘Baby’ – I said to Guy, I want some weird, bending sound here. Something loose – I found myself playing him ‘Crown Shyness’ which has this roar bubbling away through it, unsettling you. Inspired by that we detuned the guitar from note to note with some effects to create a similar sense of elasticity. We actually managed to put some kind of bending note into almost every song. I think a lot of Anna also crept into ‘How do you want to be loved?’ The moments of strangeness and grittiness amongst warmth and rich melody in this record played a big part in what I felt able to want from my own music.

Angel Olsen – Big Time
I’ve hammered this album pretty hard. It’s definitely one of my favourites of all time. I’m finding it hard to pin a finger on what has been most inspirational, because my album was written over four years and recorded over one. I’ve taken in a LOT of music over that time. But looking back, this record sank deep into my consciousness about six months before I went into the studio. The simplicity, the imperfections, the space. It’s epic, and intimate, also light, full of love, and full of tears. Angel sounds like she’s crying most of the time. I think the albums I love and learn from span the full breadth of the human heart and capacity within whatever they are exploring. That means touching upon highs as well as lows, and leaving space for hope. There’s a drum part I find sooooo satisfying and bouncy in ‘All The Good Times’ and I think that might have crept into the drums for ‘I don’t know what to save’. This record set a beautiful example for me that songwriting doesn’t have to reinvent any wheels or say anything other than what is. It also showed me the power of what a voice can do, when you let it come out as raw as this.

Daughter – Stereo Mind Game
A theme is emerging – the albums that came out during recording time couldn’t avoid coming into the studio with me. I’ve been a huge Daughter fan as long as they’ve been going. Elena’s understated vocals and gut-punch lyrics have driven me since my earliest songs. I couldn’t say what exactly fed into my album from this one but I know it’s there. This is a perfect record. I believe Elena worked almost obsessively on it for years, and scrapped some or all of it and started again… Perhaps just knowing that I feel deep love and appreciation for the level of attention to detail, the crafting of energy, push, drive, space. I think Daughter have always tickled the part of me that wants to be overwhelmed by music, and overwhelm a listener myself. If I had to find a detail that inspired me, it would be a part of ‘Dandelion’ where there’s another bendy note (!) which is a guitar in reverse reverb with loads of gain I think, it sounds like a revving engine. I was obsessed with it. I think it fed into a sound in ‘Welcome’ that revs up an octave between the verses. 

Hannah Cohen – Pleasure Boy 
This is the odd one out choice for me. My only one here not released in 2023 (it’s from 2015), Hannah’s 3rd album, Welcome Home is actually in probably my top three albums of all time. Though I wouldn’t quote its influence here as much as this one. I don’t find myself listening to this album much because it feels lonely, and I guess it reminds me of a particularly painful time I was going through when it was released. But I brought this record into the studio as a reference, because there is a spikiness and a fragility about it, as well as a hard kind of strength. It’s a contradictory combination that I guess I recognise in myself. It’s also just full of what feels like unrequited longing. I think it’s stayed with me, quietly, over the years, in my bones somewhere. I’m listening to it now, and it actually hurts. Like when you stick a finger somewhere really tender. I guess that’s what I’d love to do with my music.

Feist – Multitudes 
This was released around halfway through recording, shortly after I broke up with the person who has loved me best in my life, which plays out in ‘Your love is a mirror’ and ‘I’d take you’. This record really made me look at myself. I’m not sure why. There’s a line in ‘Hiding Out In The Open’ which echoed the song I’d already written: “the mirror in another’s eyes / that’ll get you every time / there are a thousand different ways to hide”. I was absolutely grabbed by this song, and the other stripped back ones on the record (‘Redwing’, ‘Love Who We Are Meant To”) in which the arrangement is so intimate and touchable, the recording is so alive. It really raised the stakes for how close you could get to the listener’s ears, and with those uncomfortable truths. I think it fed into “I’d take you”, which I wrote and recorded at home over a weekend that summer. This album really feels like a reckoning with something foundational and elemental. It does that with very little and also a lot, the dynamic range is enormous, and the sense of space is constantly morphing and bewildering. I love that.


Huge thanks to Sophie for sharing her Five Favourites with us! Watch the beautiful video for ‘I don’t know what to save’ below.


I still want to share, the new album from Sophie Jamieson, is out now via Bella Union. To celebrate, catch Sophie live this month – all dates and tickets here.

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