Inspired #316 - Elan Tamara
East London based singer-songwriter Elan Tamara has just released her latest album ‘We can Fall’ - which is nine songs about the labour of love, made over the course of a few years, at home and at various recording studios. She took a moment to talk to us about the inspirations behind her music.
Who are your top three musical inspirations and why?
How can I choose!? Three key inspirations that come to mind when I really got into writing songs are:
Björk
Brian Wilson
Steve Reich
I spent a lot of time listening to these three artists from when I was probably around 16 upwards. They all have quite a unique and complex sense of harmony that I was very drawn to, especially Björk and Brian Wilson. Steve Reich’s repetitive looping and interlocking patterns really inspire the way I think about creating atmosphere.
Is there a certain film that inspires you and why?
To be honest all I watch is food or gardening related shows haha, I am really out of touch with films!!
What city do you find the most inspiring and why?
It’s got to be between London and New York City, they both are vibrant places with a mishmash of cultures from all over the world.
Who is the most inspiring person to you and why?
Has to be my 2 year old daughter, watching her learning every day is the most inspiring thing to me currently!
What were your inspirations when writing your new album?
I took influences from everyday life, nature, family, my own values and experiences. Some of these songs were also written at a time when I was playing a lot of Balinese gamelan - the repetitive interlocking patterns had an influence on the way I wrote the instrumentals for many of the songs.
How would you like to inspire people?
I’m quite a practical person, so apart from writing music, I love gardening, making clothes, cooking/baking etc. I would love to be able to inspire people to do creative things with their hands.