A CONVERSATION WITH... ELLIOT JAMES REAY
The Elvis & MJ singing blast from the past Elliot James Reay is more than just hair-gel and magic tricks. He sat down with us at The Great Escape to talk his lifelong fascination with music, his approach to creating, and future plans.
Credit: Universal Music
When did you fall in love with music?
It's a tough one because I don't think there was a definitive point when I was not into music and then into music. I've been singing since the day I was born. At least making noise if not music yet. Though I do remember the first artist I was obsessed with. I was seven or eight, and I remember seeing Michael Jackson's funeral on TV. I said to my mum, “Who's this guy? What was so important about him?” I didn’t know why she was crying. I vividly remember her showing me the first Michael Jackson videos. It was so great. When I got my first phone, I used it to record my CD player. I used to record Michael and Elvis to listen to them on repeat wherever I went. That was my first portable music player.
How would you describe yourself as a person and as an artist?
I'm quite an old soul, and I’m quite a chill character. I'm a fan of old music and I really enjoy it. I just think that it's one of the greatest styles of music. It's where all music today comes from, and I can't listen to a song today without hearing the inspiration from the ‘50s. Even in the ‘50s, I can hear the ‘40s and the ‘30s. I like to go back to the influences and try to take that to inspire myself to write my music. I feel like today’s music has gone in such a direction, but I think the ‘50s can be brought back. That simplicity and that style are something people want. It never misses.
What is that direction today's music has gone in?
Everything’s being commercialised for radio: songs, meanings, chord patterns, everything. There's a formula for pop songs nowadays. When I released my first single, there was a lot of pushback from the industry, but it took a minute for people to really understand what it was that I was doing. It wasn't commercially the obvious thing to do. I could have easily gone down the pop route and tried to make it as a pop star. Well, I just didn't want to do it. And that's why I never did it. But I definitely think that if enough people are doing different styles of music, like reggae and non-50s styles, then radio can join in to broaden people’s horizons. Help people see that there's more to music than one lane. That's why I'm trying to do. That’s what I’m doing.
You have only a few songs out right now, but what order would you want people to listen to them in?
I think you should start with ‘I Think They Call This Love’ because I’ve released the music in the order I think people should listen to it. That song’s an introduction to this world. It's quite on the nose. As my music progresses, I want to show people other sides of music that they may not have seen. In the ‘50s and ‘60s, there wasn't just like ‘Put Your Head On My Shoulder’. Sure, that was pop. But that was the mainstream. You had other artists like Sam Cooke and so many others doing soul music that never made it that mainstream. When people listen to my music, I want them to see that side of music and be like, “Oh, this doesn't feel like it's ‘50s and ‘60s.” But it actually is. And I hope that I can bring the genres of that era to the surface level. That's what I'm trying to do with my latest single ‘Who Knew Dancing Was A Sin’. I wrote it because my partner’s parents said to her ‘Can he write you a song that’s Northern Soul?” Because they go dancing every week to Northern Soul dancing and love that style of music. A big part of English ‘60s music was these soul records that made it big over here, and not everyone remembers or knows that.
Like you said with those influences from Northern Soul, were there any other influences from your community, family, or local culture that guided you into making the music you do now?
My parents never forced anything upon me; no one ever really did. Even though I don’t know my biological father, coincidentally, he loved this era of music. He sang it, too. It wasn’t until maybe two years ago that my mum found old tapes of him singing, and we sound exactly alike. It’s just natural to me. No matter what I do, I come back to where I need to be. It was literally in my blood. Fashion and the overall scene came later, but the love for the music was always there.
Now that you’re here performing at Great Escape, how are you feeling? It’s your first festival, isn’t it?
It is my first festival! I’m excited, I've never done a gig on a beach before. I’ve also never done a gig that isn’t just focused on me. So it's nice to do something that means after my set, I can enjoy so many other styles of music. I love learning about other sub-genres and meeting new people, whether they’re like-minded or not. Because the thing is, I'm so clueless to everything. The world that I live in is like I wake up in the morning, and I put my 50s music on. I don't do anything else. I feel like I need a really clued-up person to guide me around and tell me where to go. And I’ll do it. My friend has a ranked list of who he wants to see across the festival, so maybe someone like him.
What’s a misconception about you that you want to put to rest?
I think people, when they see me, might feel that I'm not as approachable as I am. I think that's just because I have quite a stern expression, like RBF. I don't mind when people come up to me to talk or ask me for a picture. Especially when I’m at festivals or concerts, that's part of my job. I want people to know that if you need anything, I always want to be there to help. Though I’m a big snooker fan, so maybe if I’m at the snooker hall, wait until later.
After all the whirlwind that’s happened so far this year, what does the rest of 2025 hold for you?
A lot, but only some I can share now. I'm doing a festival out in Southeast Asia, which I’m really looking forward to. We might work a tour around that, so it's not just one date across the world. We're looking everywhere for a tour: England, the US, and Asia. I don't know about Europe yet. Plus an upcoming EP, which will be all the tracks that I've released and two new ones. Funnily, those songs are already online. When I did my press promo in Asia, I just sang the EP tracks as a trial to see what people thought. We're working up to the album, and we want it to be sooner rather than later. So if we can get one out this year, then I'd love that. Just aiming to write as much good music as I can, tour as much as I can, and get my face everywhere.
What story does the EP tell, or is it more a collection of songs?
Originall,y there wasn’t going to be an EP, it was just going to be single after single. But I was always wondering, “How can I give people more music?” And that made sense with an EP, because I want to get my face out everywhere. To do that, I need music to be released. I didn’t want it to trickle out slowly. So there’s no set story from start to finish, but all the songs have a mixture of emotions centred around one topic. It felt natural to have them all in one EP.
Speaking of getting your face out there: last year you toured around Asia, and you’re planning on returning. Did you start with having a huge fan base across Asia, or did it happen because of your TikTok virality?
That was quite nuts, because I wasn't expecting there to be a lot of people listening to me in person. I was doing these showcases where you play and see who shows up. There were like 2000 people at one show, and there were 3000 in the Philippines, and I have no idea why. But I think being in the country and taking on opportunities helped. I performed on Indonesian Idol as a guest, which elevated everything. A video of me performing on the show took off on TikTok, reaching like 10 million views. I can go around Asia, perform, and people can film it because they want to. Instead of me constantly filming TikToks because I have to.
How do you feel now that you are “TikTok famous”? Is it high-pressure, exciting, or somewhere in the middle?
It's exciting, but I don't know how to explain it. I’m glad people are hearing my music. I heard ‘I Think They Call This Love’ so many times before it was even released, and even more now. You get to the point that you’ve had the songs for so long that you don’t want to be sick of them, and you want people to find more music from you. That’s why I wanted an EP out. Because I love my music. The goal for me with music was to have it be my career and perform for people all around the world. I just wanted to be able to do it. I wouldn't say that I have a goal to win an award or anything like that. If I win one, I’d be honoured. But performing for people all around the world is the main goal. That's enough for me to say that “I did that”, even if it doesn't work out forever. But I hope it does.
So far, it’s been working out, so what would you say has been a joyful moment for you that you want to share?
That feeling of writing a song and knowing that that was it. That was the song. ‘Boy in Love’ was one of those songs. That day, I walked instead of taking an Uber home from the studio. I was just skipping home, playing it over and over again. I just knew that it was going to be the next song. That feeling is definitely above a lot of the things that I've experienced so far.