We had the pleasure of interviewing Eliza & The Delusionals from the House of Blues in San Diego!
*This interview was recorded prior to the COVID-19 pandemic*
Eliza & The Delusionals have never been afraid to think big.
“The goal has always been to play huge shows,” says singer-guitarist Eliza Klatt, who founded the Northern New South Wales/Gold Coast band in 2015.
Over the past few years that dream has slowly become a reality as the group’s sweetly snarling, anthemic brand of indie rock has led to supports with artists such as Grinspoon, Nothing But Thieves, Dear Seattle and Killing Heidi, appearances at landmark festivals such as BIGSOUND, Falls Festival and Canadian Music Week, and major radio support both locally and internationally.
After a slew of well-received early singles, the band’s climb was kickstarted in earnest by 2017 debut EP The Deeper End. A potent mix of buzz-saw guitars, ear-worm melodies and Klatt’s undeniable vocal hooks, singles such as “Salt” instantly caught the attention of national broadcaster triple j.
“We’re just writing songs we want to hear ourselves,” says guitarist Kurt Skuse.
“You hear us in our purest form in our writing.”
Skuse and Klatt go back years, living down the street from each other as kids. They reconnected in the Gold Coast’s thriving band scene, with Skuse joining alongside guitarist Ashley Martin, a friend of Klatt’s at university, to solidify the line up. The extended periods on the road since have acted as a steep learning curve, while fusing the band into a tightly-wound live unit.
"We learned how to put our live set and show together through the experience of watching bigger-scale bands do it” says Klatt.
You can hear that experience in recent singles “Pull Apart Heart” and “Just Exist”, the first taste of the group’s forthcoming second EP. The latter in particular introduces a more mature subtlety to their sound, with Klatt ruminating on finding a balance between creativity and good mental health against a slowly building and insistent melody.
The song has connected in a big way, particularly in the United States and Canada, with Alt Nation – the flagship alternative rock channel of SiriusXM – crowning it their ‘Critical Cut’ and adding “Just Exist” to high rotation. The listeners responded in kind, voting it Number 1 on the Weekly ALT18 countdown, where it remained in the Top 10 for more than a month.
The flow on effect has been remarkable, with more than a dozen stations across America – including national network Music Choice and influential outlets in New York, California, Texas and Florida – adding “Just Exist”. The band’s Spotify listenership has jumped by nearly 100% overall and a whopping 400+% in America, while “Just Exist” has exceeded 600,000 streams. Recently crowned Amazon’s Music’s “Weekly One” and “Song of the Week” in the States, the band’s Shazams have also surged by more than 900%.
Having signed with renowned US agency APA for North America, the doors are well and truly starting to open for Eliza & The Delusionals internationally.
Those huge shows are getting closer every day
We want to hear from you! Please email Tera@BringinitBackwards.com.
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