The Prophet Blog

Last week I got the chance to catch up with rising Aussie popstar Elen Levon at the Nufirm label launch party, where she delivered a show-stopping three song-set for a packed crowd. The recently-turned 17-year-old has already been generating a lot of buzz on the Australian pop scene, as well as internationally, with her dancey debut single “Naughty”, so I tried to find out a little bit about her before “Naughty” inevitably takes the Aussie charts by storm!

Check it all out below the cut.

How does it feel to finally have your “Naughty” music video out?

It’s crazy. It was a bit delayed, but now it’s out there and people seem to be loving it. I’ve got a lot of great feedback on it so that’s good.

For such a new artist, you’ve already performed everywhere from Australia’s biggest urban concert Supafest to small, private parties. Do you still get nervous going on stage?

I guess you’re always going to have nerves before a performance, but if anything, I get more excited. The thing that gets me is the adrenaline, and then I start getting really excited on the stage and get really hardcore – then I’ll watch the video back later and go “oh my God, I hit my head from shaking my hair around so hard!“.

How were you discovered? Were you actively looking for a record deal, or did it just happen?

Not so much as we were looking for one. I was with my manager for three years in preparation for everything that I’m doing now, and then I guess it kind of just came to us. We met another guy, John Denison (top Australian tour promoter, FYI), who is now my other manager, and basically we just contacted Ministry of Sound, and before we knew it I was signed.

You’re still in school, yet you’re moonlighting as a pop star. How do you balance it?

It’s hard. It’s not because the school work’s hard — I do well — but the thing is, it’s hard when you wanna be on stage and you’re just sitting around at school, not doing what you want to do. I guess that’s the only downfall of it, but it is hard to juggle – I do many assignments, and then go back on stage. The lifestyle’s different.

How come you don’t just leave school? It seems like it’s really important for you to finish.

I’m definitely finishing school no matter what. Even if it gets hectic, I’ll just have to do it at home. I think education is really important; you can’t just sit down in an interview and not know what to say. It’s really important; that’s how the world goes round.

Do people treat you differently now that you’ve got a record deal and everything?

Yeah, definitely. People that I haven’t spoken to in like five years are texting me, and I’m like “Oh my God. Do I change my number? What do I do?“. But it doesn’t bother me, I mean, it’s nice, and the support’s been awesome. They definitely treat me differently, but my real friends treat me exactly the same and I trust them, no matter what.

Who is your favorite artist? Who inspires you the most?

A big one for me, and I think people in general, is definitely Michael Jackson. He inspires a lot of artists to do what they love to do, just because of how much effort he put in. He was such a perfectionist and that’s something that I really wanna be. He’s just the main for me, and then there’s Madonna as well. That’s definitely where I wanna be! [laughs]

What about songs? What are your favorite songs.

Right now it’s [Gotye's] “Somebody that I Used to Know”. I love that song. My all time favorite song is “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson. I even got the sheet music for all of [Michael's ] songs, and I’ve started learning them on piano.

Wow, so you sing, dance, and play the piano? Do you write songs, too?

Yeah, I’ve been playing piano since I was about seven. I love to write and I see myself writing a lot more in the future as well. Right now I’m just going to be writing as much as I can in general; I think it’s really important for an artist to to be able to write, because that’s what an artist is.

Something that surprised me about you was how well you can sing. Judging by “Naughty” alone, I couldn’t tell because it’s so autotuned, but then I saw you in rehearsal and I was like ‘wow, I didn’t realize that she can sing that great!‘. Are you hoping to show off your voice more in the future?

I think that the autotune is only for radio. I think it just brings that element to it, you know, to pump the music up in the clubs. But I think for me, I’m more of a live shows person, that’s where I see myself.

Being a young, Australian, female pop artist, do you see yourself in competition with the likes of Jessica Mauboy and Havana Brown?

I don’t see myself as much as being in competition with them, because at the end of the day I’m much younger than them, so I can’t really compete with people who are like, thirty, and in their twenties and stuff. At the end of the day there’s always going to be competition, no matter what I do, but there’s no bad feelings. No way.

Where do you see yourself by the time you’re 20? What do you want to have accomplished by then?

I want to have timeless music. And I want to be able to write a lot of my music, organically, and express everything that I feel, so everyone can relate to it, all age groups; I don’t want to just attach to one type of audience – I want to write worldly music that everyone around the globe can relate to. That’s my number one thing. And also learning things, and learning more about singing, because I think you learn every day. Even Michael Jackson, he still learned every day. I pretty much rehearse every day, and get in the studio every chance I get — that’s what I do, that’s what I’m meant to do. Every time I can get in the studio or rehearse and record, that’s what I do, because the more you do it, it’s just gonna lead to something big.

Elen’s debut single “Naughty” hits Aussie stores September 23rd. Pre-order your copy here.