Music > Interviews

La Roux

29/10/14

Ellie Jackson, otherwise known as La Roux, stormed onto the music scene back in 2006 with her shock of red hair, androgynous look and sparse electro-pop music. Singles Bulletproof and In for The Kill, beautifully remixed by Skream catapulted her to fame at a faster rate than perhaps she expected. As a result, she’s taken a few years off to get her head round it all and returned earlier this year with her new album Trouble in Paradise. I found out how she’s become best buds with Nile Rogers and how much she loves a tropical Christmas party.

We haven’t heard much from you in the past few years. What have you been up to?

I came off of the first record in 2011, and when we finished touring I took a year off because I’d been struggling on tour a little bit, with voice and anxiety issues, so I had to sort that out. We started making this record, and I realised I didn’t want to continue working in that way and with whom I was working, and that threw a spanner in the works in terms of any creative process. That meant things took longer than they should have, as we had to start it again, but with a lot of the same songs, as I wasn’t going to let go of some songs I had written. There was quite a lot of pressure as well from my label, and generally, the expectation that falls around you, and that always makes things take longer as well. So it was about two years actually making this record, plus a couple of years before that sorting my head out.

How do you feel you’ve changed musically since the last album?

Yeah, because I made the first album about 10 years ago. I would say it’s still recognisably the same artist, but it’s different at the same time, as it should be, and hopefully every record will be even more different to each other than the first two I’ve released. To put it into perspective, I feel like this album is more of a starting point for me than a continuation. I even considered changing my name so that people knew what a change it was, but I’m too connected to La Roux, unfortunately, to change it. There’s a lot more of me in it.

I read that you started off liking folk, and then rave. They’re pretty far apart stylistically! How did you come to make this style of music?

I’ve always liked lots of different genres of music, anything that’s got some soul or groove about it. This is why I tend to take inspiration from days gone by rather than modern times, just because I find that modern music is so much ‘on a grid’ (even though my first album is probably the worst example of that ever!). My first record was very much a learning process, and I just wanted a way to get an album out there…it wasn’t like, what do I really want to make here? I think when you realise you’ve got a future ahead of you and you consider what kinds of albums you can make, you start to think about what you really want to do and what you really like about music. I realised I hadn’t thought about that really before the first album, although I wouldn’t change that because it wouldn’t the album that it is. I like music you can dance to, but it doesn’t have to be dance music. On the new record I’ve taken from lots of different forms of music that I’ve liked throughout my life; Motown, disco, all sorts of things, and that’s why it’s so much more representative of me. I know what you mean about going from folk to rave, but I do tend to be ‘phasey’; I listen to something loads for two years and then I’ll never, ever listen to it again. I’m quite cut-throat about it; I used to be obsessed with Gary Numan, and now I can’t say that I am. A lot of people thought I’d always make music that was obsessed with the 80’s, but that so isn’t true. I think that’s what I’m trying to show on this album; that that was a phase.

Where did the tropical theme for your new album Trouble in Paradise originate?

I’ve always been a bit interested in tropical themes. It comes out in the I’m Not Your Toy video from the first record. I’ve always had tropical themed parties…one time I had a tropical Christmas party. My friends and my sister and I have always gone to Bestival since it was a very young festival, and it’s always had an island theme. It’s always something I’m drawn to and understand. I grew up and lived in Brixton my whole life. Atlantic Road and Brixton Market are very urban but they’re very tropical at the same time. I’ve also spent a fair amount of time in the Caribbean; those times are very poignant to me and I feel very connected to that place. 

Speaking of Bestival, I imagine it was perfect for you this year as the theme this year was Desert Island Disco. Did you manage to see any other acts while you were there?

No I didn’t. It was really frustrating as I wanted to see David Rodigan and Horsemeat Disco, but they were playing just as I was getting ready to go onstage. Also, Skream was playing, but I unfortunately missed it. I saw a tiny bit of Caribou as I walked past the tent on the way to the bus, and it looked like it was going off!

I was watching some of your videos. In Bulletproof you look pretty scared but with this tough, androgynous, futuristic outside. In the brand new video for Kiss and Not Tell you seem to much more relaxed and confident, and it feels more 80’s and natural. How do you feel about your image and how it reflects you these days?

I think you’re absolutely right, I think Bulletproof show where I was at the time – pretty uncomfortable. I fucking hate that video with a vengeance. If I could delete it, I’d delete it. I hate the art direction, everything about it; it’s one of those things that will haunt me for the rest of my life. I think it’s like anyone; you don’t want to be reminded of the person you were when you were working yourself out, but it’s there for everyone to see. I feel so much more feminine now than I did then. I think I’d pushed myself into a hole with the androgyny, where I’d shut off a large piece of myself as I hadn’t figured out how to be comfortable with that part of me. I’ve figured out how to be comfortable with every part of myself now and it means I’m far more malleable, and can be several different versions of myself with no problem, while still maintaining my androgyny. Even I can see me pushing my femininity away in the Bulletproof video; but I’ve discovered everyone has femininity; you just have to work out your own way of using it.

You played with Nile Rogers of Chic at the Montreux Jazz festival and I understand you became quite friendly with him in the past few years. How did that come about?

It was something to do with Twitter…I think I tweeted and said, “I love you” or something! I think there was a mutual person we knew, and he’d liked my first record. His music meant a lot to me; I was obsessed with these five records and whilst researching them I realised he’d worked on every single one of them! I though I liked four different bands but I actually just liked one guy! Just before he worked with Daft Punk, everyone was discovering just how fucking much music he’d been involved in. I remember seeing him at Bestival playing Let’s Dance and everyone was amazed. We talked, and he ended up hanging out with us in the studio at two o’clock in the morning as he’s an insomniac. It was perfect for us because we’d turned into night owls by then anyway.

La Roux plays at UEA on 14th November. Tickets from www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk