INTERVIEW with ELI WHEELER

WSOE’s Benji O’Connor sits down with Nashville native Eli Wheeler to talk about his musical background, the Elon Music Scene, Mark Knopfler, and Wheeler’s upcoming album.

Eli Wheeler’s debut record releases this June and it’s lead single “Sedalia” will be released soon on all streaming platforms. See his website here to learn more.

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Benji O’Connor:

You are listening to WSOE 89.3 FM, Elon Burlington. My name is Ben O'Connor. I'm the music director. And I am here with Eli Wheeler of the Eli Wheeler band here on Elon’s campus. He’s a lovely guitarist and singer from the area, and a bit of a bit of a rising star. So here we are with Eli Say hi.

Eli Wheeler:

Thank you so much for having me. I'm happy to be here.

BO:

So, how's it going?

Eli:

It's going great. It’s a, It's a lovely Wednesday. feels great. So I'm having a good day.

BO:

So we're gonna start with just a big old question. Where did your love for music come from?

Eli:

You know, I'd say my parents put me in music lessons at a really young age. But I can't say that I loved it. I was in violin lessons. I was like five. And all throughout my childhood I, I was in lessons. And then I told my parents like, I'm not enjoying this. So I made a deal with him. And I switched to guitar. And I had a really great guitar teacher who actually was a bluegrass guitar player. And he really kind of inspired me to my love of music. And I would say on top of that, around that age, my dad started introducing me to like 70s classics, and I just went to him and I would drive anywhere we just jam out some you know, James Taylor. I don't even know, Stevie Wonder. Like, it was just so yeah, that that was like kind of what sparked the musical fire in me. I would say like, 10 to 13 somewhere and stuff.

BO:

Yeah. And when I listen to your music, specifically in your vocal style, which I think is really distinct, I hear a lot of soul. I hear a lot of Stevie, specifically Stevie. Um, what other 70s bands, you know, specific bands that your dad got into?

Eli:

Yeah, let's see. There's so many, so many to choose from. It gets out of control. But um, you know, my dad was, was a Grateful Dead fan. Not I wouldn't call him a deadhead. So I wasn't I was exposed to the Dead. But not it wasn't he wasn't a Deadhead. So I wasn't like always getting the debt but um, he was a big fan of Let's see some some Sting, earlier staying Three Dog Night. Let's see, tons of other Van Morrison. Just all the, all the Giants really. He? I mean, he had a few like, he wasn't a little bit of Beatles, but not really a big Beatles guy. So I'm really I mean, to be honest, like his, his musical tastes influenced mine for the, for the most of my, like, middle school, early High School. And then I started kind of developing my own what I was interested in, but, but yeah, so he was he was definitely thrown the Giants at me.

BO:

So your dad was a musician, too, right?

Eli:

He wasn't a musician actually. He my mom actually she she played the piano and went to college on a piano scholarship and then didn't pursue it. But he was not, he just he just has a passion for music and just loves listening.

BO:

So your mom's the one with a piano scholarship?

Eli:

yeah, so she, she had a piano scholarship to University in Tennessee. And she ended up going there and then transferring out and not pursuing being out also. But she, they both just put a heavy emphasis on music education. Early in our in all my siblings, and I’s childhood.

BO:

How about your mom? What kind of music Did she give you?

Eli:

You know, my mom was actually a radio disc jockey in college at University of Tennessee. So she really listened to just everything. I mean, she was, she was genuinely like, it was, it was a pop country station. So she knows all the country classics. I mean, I'm from Nashville. So as do I but um, so she, she was, she really listened to the like the popular Music of the era throughout where my dad maybe had some more niche tastes her she's she pretty much has just the pop--the pulse of pop for you know when she grew up

BO:

Anything specific for her. I mean any specific bands she liked?

Eli:

Donny Osmond is like her was her like, apparently the “man crush” like the “big guy.” At that time like she apparently she went to a concert and that was like, it was like a ton of girls screaming and crying over Donny Osmond. So that's she talks about that.

BO:

Who would you say in your music are some of your biggest influences?

Eli:

Questions, a hard question. You know, right off the bat, I would say one of my biggest influences is my sister, so my sister and I played together, all throughout high school, I have older sisters two years older than me. And she plays violin, she's a professional violinist. And so she kind of just by being so close to each other and singing together and writing together, like we influenced each other a lot just, which was I think, was really great. But then, as far as musicians outside of my house that influenced me, I would have to say one of my biggest influences has been to Dawse. There are an alternative rock band sort of out of Los Angeles. And then I listened to a lot of John Mayer growing up, I will say, I mean, that was that was a big, big one. But probably the artist that really made me want to want to play music, want to do this in my life is Bill Withers. Like I, I love Bill Withers. And his his style, his writing his delivery, and kind of the story too. So yeah, that was I was a huge influence.

BO:

Would you say that Bill Withers is your favorite artist?

Eli:

You know, I'm not even I'm not even gonna do it. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna commit to a favorite artists, although he might be my biggest influence. I can't I can't commit to a favorite artist.

BO:

It's a big question. That's why I'm asking you that. I'm also asking you what your favorite album might be.

Eli:

Favorite album? Hmmm... Oh, it's so hard! How about I pick influential albums like the maybe the most influential albums on my on my, musical tastes? I'm gonna go with Oh, lyrically, one of my biggest influences is Dawse as I said, and their album, North Hills. I listened to just I had on CD and I was doing in the, in the car in high school just cranked it. I just love the lyricism in that. And that album. Bill Withers ‘Justments album is one of my favorite albums of all time. And then let's see…. Oh! It’s so difficult! So many albums are brought into my head. I might have to go with Dire Straits first album, Dire Straits. It’s the first album I listened to on vinyl. And, like ever, and it blew my mind. I just yeah, so that's, that's what I'm going with. Don't ask me either. I'll change my mind. But

BO:

It's that Dire Straits guitar player whose name is passing me right now.

Eli:

Mark Knopfler--one of my favorite guitarists.

BO:

I just loved how, In contrast, everything else was happening in the 80s: he was brave enough to use a clean guitar sound ‘cuz he was confident enough that it didn't have to have distortion to like, you know, hide bad chops because it's truly a great guitar player.

Eli:

Right. And he and you know, you know, it's him. You know, it's him for maybe the first or second note.

BO:

Yeah man. Now That's, that's the best music of all time, what kind of music are you listening to right now?

Eli:

So the, the album that I'm working on is sort of, I don't want to like, put it into a into a, you know, a box, but it definitely has some Western influences like not, not necessarily like old timey country western swing, but more like Marty Robbins. I've been listening to a lot of Marty Robbins

BO:

Yeah, cowboy ballad.

Eli:

Yeah, that's, that's, I love I love that feel. And then so like, a more modern version of that maybe Charlie Crockett is is an artist who's he's kind of got, I really like the grit that he kind of accompanies with the cowboy ballad style. But then also, on the other end of the spectrum, I've been listening to a lot of Teddy Pendergrass lately really been, I've just been blown away with the arrangement and production of that era of music. It's just insane that like, Teddy pendergrast, Michael Jackson, all these guys just like, everything's so clean. And I just so so kind of a combination of everything. But those those two genres slash areas are where I'm kind of listening most

BO:

What's A genre of music that you would want to try and play but you just feel like you could never like, like, do it right?

Eli:

There's so many actually, I would love, I'm gonna say there's two. First, I won’t say never. But I don't know if it's in my musical trajectory to become a true jazz player. Because I don't quite love jazz enough to to really dedicate the time that's required to play jazz. But I would love to be able to express my deepest, you know, heart and soul into an instrument, I would love to be able to express it like jazz guys do jazz, guys and gals, like, I just love that. That immersiveness from jazz, and then I would love to be able to play really, really great funk, I think something you can really get down to, like talking James Brown, like really, just gritty funk. I don't know that it's in my musical wheelhouse. Like, I don't know if my voice can handle it. But I love that kind of music. So. So I think those two those would be

BO:

Hey man. It's never too late. You never know. Start practicing The Payback or something like that. And you'll be able to do it no time. Play it, play it live. Ah, what's that? What's a dream collaboration for you? Who's a dream artist that you'd want to collab with?

Eli:

Dream collaboration. I really like I think it'd be really fun to play with Allen Stone. I play a lot of suits. I cover a lot of his songs. I just I just like his vibe, generally. And I think he would be fun to just do just jam with. And then maybe from, from history, like, maybe people that are gone, or old haha. I think it would have been really, really fun to do a song with Aretha Franklin. I think you just have her come in and just sing a song in a way that you've never like, I think that was that's one of my favorite things about Aretha is like, she can sing a song and she'll do they'll do jazz covers or covers of anything. And it's like, Wow, she's doing stuff that I would have never thought to do. So. Are we even thought possible? And so I think Aretha Franklin.

BO:

There’s that old EP on streaming services of yours from that you did with your time with limelight. Now what What, what's different between the ELI that made that music and Eli made this? It's been a couple years, so it's definitely different. But um, what would you say are some concrete differences that would come through in the music?

Eli:

So a little context, I put this album out freshman year, I was part of this organization called Limelight. And it was a great experience. And I didn't really know that I wanted to pursue music as something that I was like, really wanted to pursue, until I kind of did that had that experience with Limelight i. So we recorded these these sessions, and they were all live like, like, one take, just, like not live, I just played one take and then played until we got the one and we put on the album. And it was a super fun experience. I learned a lot about recording. Those songs, some of them I wrote, like, literally two days before I recorded I was it was kind of like, throw it together to the last minute like let's record this album. Let's do it. So it was just sort of a passion project almost. And not to say that this album isn't but some concrete musical differences is first of all, I've definitely grown a lot as a musician and songwriter. But there's there is going to be a more highly produced album. I mean, nothing. It's not not gonna be like Teddy Pendergrass necessarily, but we're gonna have more going on. And, and yeah, I've definitely kind of found my own voice and in what I have to say, musically, and lyrically. And those songs, though, I really love them for what they are. Because they just they made me a musician I am today, I would say, a criticism I would have in retrospect is they were a little bit more imitative. And like I was imitating things that I heard. And now there's imitation, and everybody in everyone's music, but it was a little bit more direct at that time, because I didn't, I hadn't so much found what I had to say. So I would say this album is really, truly kind of coming from a place of like, all my influences put together and I'm creating out of that, and I've had more life experience. So there's, there's a little bit more like I don't even something to hold on to there for me to like what to write about, because at that point, I was coming out of high school and kind of experiencing college for what it was. Anyway, I don't know if that answered the question. But there are definitely musically musical differences that are apparent.

BO:

Totally man, I listened to something I listened to the Tiny Dorm compared to the EP and don't get me wrong, it sounds good, but you’re definitely a lot more practiced and you sound like you've come into your form a lot more. Um, and and I want to ask, because you've played a decent bit around the Elon area, and I'm sure it's kind of been imperative to your development as a musician. I want to kind of ask you to talk about the Elon scene a bit, just the music scene here, because Elon University does have kind of like an interesting music scene, we do have like a decent handful of like budding musicians and personalities that seemed like they could really, really do it. I just want to know what you think about that. Yeah.

Eli:

I've been really grateful for the Elon music scene. It's not without its faults, obviously. But for, for me coming from Nashville, where it's a very competitive music scene. And I was choosing between here and a school in Nashville, and it has a more competitive music scene. I'm really grateful that my experience with Eli music scene has been collaborative. And collaboration is the is the word that I would like, everyone is willing to play with each other, help each other. And now that's just specifically musicians, but also there's people that want to support musicians and want to hear live music. And so that part of it, I mean, really has been a blessing to me because like, I felt supported. And I felt free to just express myself and play the music that I wanted to play and people listened. And I was like, Okay, great, people are listening. And I'll just keep playing as long as people listen. So even though Elon doesn't necessarily have all a ton of venues to play and there's maybe not as many spaces as I would love. there to be to, to play music. It really the kind of small, small town feel of the music scene I love so, I'm glad I'm really grateful for it.

BO:

That's nice. Now, how is the music making process different than how it was on that first EP? Where you said, you know, there's no problem with writing a song fast, right. But it sounds like you, you do things differently now and I want to know what that's like what that's been for this new this new release?

Eli:

It definitely has been different and it's been it's been really It's been really I've learned a lot. And yeah, there's been a lot more time and effort spent putting the songs together and, selecting from songs I've written. And the studio process itself has been different. I've been my producer slash engineer, Andrew, High. And I have been working a lot long hours in the studio, trying to just do things right. And learn as we go. And, yeah, it's been hard work. But I've I've, yeah, the, I'm trying to think of the differences in process. And I think most of the differences are time. I mean, I spent a couple years after that album, not really writing, but kind of listening and, and writing, writing throughout. But then, then I really spent two summers ago, writing a lot. And then throughout the year, just kind of cultivating the songs. This is probably a year and a half's worth of songs on this, on this upcoming EP, and it's like, it's, it tells a story of things that have happened in my life. And I'm really excited. I'm really excited about it. So I've been talking about it for forever.

BO:

So are you are you more of a musician who starts with the visionary idea in your mind? And then try to put it down? Or do you just, start playing something, and then just see where it takes you?

Eli:

This is a hard question to answer because it, because it changes so much. Like, there are some songs that I've written in, I'll sit down and be like, I have this really cool idea for a song I'm gonna, or at least I think it's cool. And I'm gonna write it down. And, and I'll like, maybe the lyrics come first, and then the melody and chords. But sometimes it's like, I have an idea on guitar, I have a harmonic idea that just sits with me for three months. And then one day, I'm like, Oh, this, this is what goes with that. Like, this is this idea. It goes with that. So so it changes for me. My process, process in writing is really volatile. I just, my one takeaway from writing the songs in this album and writing, just in general, is that the more you do it, the better, it becomes an easier because so you can, it just flows easier, and you get less frustrated. So I just try and keep writing as much as I can. But, you know,

BO:

Part of the process is just brutal practice writing a lot of garbage. Yeah, yeah. Well, there's a lot of that. Well, that's good to hear, because that means that the cream comes to the top on it. So, when is when do you think this record would be coming?

Eli:

So the plan is for the single of the record “Sedalia” to come out the first weekend of April. I believe that is April 9. And then for the entire album to come out the first weekend of May? Which I don't know the actual date. I think it might be the 10th. Maybe? I don't, I'm not sure. But the first weekend in May, Friday.

BO:

Interesting. So it's just a lot of brutal engineering and retracting sessions until then?

Eli:

Yep. Just as much as we can. Yeah, just try to try and get it

BO:

Is it more of the kind of singer songwriter approach as it was on those on those first EP? Or are things more fleshed out? Is the instrumentation different in any way?

Eli:

Yeah, the instrumentation is going to be there's going to be a lot more complexity there. It's not just going to be me and a guitar for most of the song I think one song that'd be primarily just mean a guitar but yeah, there's going to be you know, the full monty, maybe some some slide guitar, some pedal steel is going to show up and some horns and some strings and the whole deal. I'm, I'm really excited about the instrumentation and production aspect of it. It's gonna be I think it's gonna sound really good.

BO:

Alright, man, well, sounds really exciting. And well, thanks. Thanks for speaking to us. Thanks. Thanks for doing an interview here with us. You know, here at WSOE. We love every bit of music in the scene, and we especially love the people here on campus. So we're happy that we get to hear a little bit more about the projects that are coming from our lovely Elon students.

Eli:

Well, thanks so much for having me. I'm really grateful for you guys. And I know I only hear good things around campus about WSOE and that makes me happy because everyone loves this organization.

BO:

Ah you're so sweet, haha. Well, that was Eli Wheeler talking about his new record coming out soon in May. Stay tuned for that. You've been listening to WSOE 89.3 Elon, Burlington, this is Ben O'Connor, music director signing off.

Eli Wheeler’s debut record releases this June and it’s lead single “Sedalia” will be released soon on all streaming platforms. See his website here to learn more.

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