Ellie Williams: The Perfect Girl With a Perfect Playlist
Photo by Remi Frolichman
It’s January 5th of 2021 and Zoom Meetings are still difficult to navigate as ever, but she assures that there’s no rush and proceeds to calmly wait as some troubleshooting takes place. It’s something so simple yet so fundamentally Ellie Williams, putting people around her at ease even through a screen. Williams is an it-girl with a saccharine voice and a charismatic persona that gets you talking in an instant. Her energy is buzzing with positivity and she’s got the most contagiously charming smile.
Our hour long interview felt more like a 30 minute game of catch up. There was never an awkward moment or lull in the conversation because she’s so naturally comforting.
Here’s the rundown of a perfectly pleasant conversation with Williams about her newest single Clueless, music within a global pandemic and whose voices are a part of her very own perfect playlist.
“Apologies, I’m sitting on my floor,” she says, as her new LA apartment is still in the midst of getting set up. On top of getting settled into a new space, 2020 was a pretty big year for Williams. Her newest single Clueless got immense amounts of attention from love struck teenagers and Spotify alike, being placed on one of the biggest playlists on the platform named, Lorem. Written in her high school years, Clueless is quite honestly the perfect anthem for people confused about whether or not their love is unrequited or if it’s possibly too obvious.
Her song is now inching towards half a million streams and when congratulated she humbly replies, “Dude, I don’t know how that happened”.
As she gave me a glimpse into the process of creating Clueless, she opened up saying she wrote it to “vent about how [she] was feeling in that moment,” allowing herself to put down her emotions onto paper.
“A one and done sort of situation,” is how Williams puts it, something that felt easy to get through but also, “kinda scary because it’s very honest and you’re being very vulnerable”.
Photo by Remi Frolichman
Her favorite part of the producing process was bringing in her highschool friends into the studio earlier last year to record it which made it all the more personal for her as she felt, “very connected to the project, especially because of all the familiar faces that worked on it,” with her.
Although studios weren’t as accessible during quarantine, Williams was able to give herself the creative space to do some songwriting.
However, Williams noted the double edged sword that comes with too much time on one’s hands. “You run out of things to write about for a second… because I think people have to live a little bit in order to have something to write about''.
Times are a changin’ and so is the way that music is approached during a pandemic. “It opens up so many opportunities, like the idea that I could live where I work,” she responds to the idea of music being turned into a huge web of melodies being exchanged everywhere on the map. “I could be in Italy writing an album with someone in New York and release it. That’s so crazy. I love it”.
A lot of things have been put on pause during these unprecedented times, but art and music definitely have not. Williams and I dove into the realms of TikTok, and how the app is changing the game for rising artists like herself. With a following of almost 30k people, she easily captivates her audience with her pleasant 15 second videos. Her face is not new to the “for you page,” her beautifully succinct songwriting and innovative covers being brought into light, and rightfully so. “That app freaks me out in the best possible way,” she says, where the newest form of promotion is just hoping that your video reaches the screens of your desired viewers.
It isn’t a surprise that Williams has great taste in music. Some inspirations for her music come from modern artists like Julia Michaels for songwriting and especially Theo Katzman musically. His indie funk sound definitely plays a role within songs like Clueless. The bass on that song? Amazing.
Digging deeper back into her musical roots, she finds more inspiration from iconic musicians like Norah Jones, Michael Jackson, and Nat King Cole. Williams also has a strong love towards Alessia Cara. “I feel like I’ve said this in any conversation that I have with people but Alessia Cara. Love her so much. For a long time I was obsessed with her and Troye Sivan. Like I needed to be friends with them”.
Before Clueless was a part of our lives, her single Perfect Playlist was released in July of 2020 and it opened up the chance to ask Williams: What songs are on your perfect playlist?
Her “playlist to impress people” would consist of music created by her friends such as Frank by Alix Page, because “it’s always very genuine” when she shares it with others. Something about having talented friends is a feat within itself. Other songs would include When I Need It by Lizzy Cameron, UMI’s entire discography, Peter Gabriel by Kid Sister, and many more amazing bangers that are included in this playlist, featuring more songs by Ellie Williams that you don’t want to miss.
