Name: Christopher Pappas aka Elle Belle
Nationality: American
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, producer
Current release: Elle Belle's How Do I Feel? Is out via Little Record Company.
Recommendations: The movie First Reformed and this song.

If you enjoyed this Elle Belle interview and would like to stay up to date with his music and tour dates, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, Soundcloud, and bandcamp.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

That’s interesting and I totally hear what you’re saying about seeing colors. I see different colors depending on what key the songs in. F/G are more reds and oranges. A/C are greens and blues, etc.

When I hear a song that truly transcends, it takes me away from the room I’m sitting in and places me somewhere else. If a song feels folk-y then it can put me in a field in Wyoming underneath a bowl of stars. If a song is hype then I’m walking down a busy LA street.

Songs evoke memories of times and places. Sometimes they give me a strange nostalgia for places I’ve never been. Perhaps in a past life ...

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist?

Growing up there was always music in my home. I have fond memories of sitting in my dad’s guitar case as his band rehearsed. In that sense it seemed inevitable that I would find music as a passion.

Can one train to be an artist? Well, to answer the question we need to have a working definition of an “artist”. To me, an artist is someone who will create for creations sake. They look at the world and see fundamental gaps and they’re psychotic enough to think that they’re the only ones who can fill them.

You either have the temperament for that or you don’t. You can train yourself to be more adept at your craft and more successful at the execution thereof, but you cannot train yourself to care about making something for its own sake.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

Then it probably isn’t a coincidence that I wrote my first song when I was 13.

Music was a way to demarcate a space in this world for me. It felt like something that was mine; an identity, a point of view, and a release for all my teenage emotions - of which I had MANY.

It should be noted I still do. You never grow out of some things, I guess.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

Risk taking, honesty, and trying to keep the fuck out of my own way.

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

Every novel is a remix of the dictionary.

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

I’m jealous.

I have to have a bit of space from a project before I can listen with those ears and not just hear all the constituent parts grinding together. Like eating a meal and tasting the salt, sugar, wheat, yeast, et al, instead of tasting “bread”. It’s a frustrating part of my process and I envy artists that can stand back and look at their work that way in the moment while they’re creating it.

I’m not sure how I would define my sound. I have a lot of interests and influences that show up in my music. I guess one through line I can speak to is I put a lot of emphasis on melody.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

Though we are all made of atoms, it is the arrangement of those atoms that make us human instead of a rock, or a blade of grass, or an exploding star. In the same way, music is vibrating air, but it is the organization of those vibrations that draw the line between “noise” and “music”.

Though the distinction is utilitarian - I think it is a beautiful thought to feel like an exploding star rearranged.

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

I like to be surprised.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

I would describe my process of any project I’ve done with the phrase “sheer force of will”.

Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

I wouldn’t consider my music experimental in genre, however, I definitely experiment in my songwriting. I look for moments in songs - moments where everything comes together amid the chaos.

I have a great love and knowledge of music theory and while it has made life easier - as most tools do - it's important to remember that the project should dictate the tools you use, not the other way around.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

Music isn’t unique in the benefits that come from a deep knowledge, and I admire anyone who has put time and effort into understanding anything on a deeper level.

I’m reminded of a quote from the magician Teller (the quiet one in Penn and Teller): “Sometimes magic is just someone spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably suspect.”

The benefit as you dive deeper into a subject is that you start to find the average discourse around it is littered with so many inaccuracies, caveats, and exceptions. Then you realize this phenomenon isn’t unique to your discipline and you begin to understand that expertise should be respected and trusted.

Or, to be blunt: no one is obligated to care about your opinion on something you have a cursory knowledge about. Trust experts. Trust the people who have dedicated their lives to something.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Coffee has to be drinkable. Does music have to be listenable?

It strikes at a fundamental question: what is "the point" of music? Is there a point? If a song is written in a garage and no one hears it, is it music? Maybe there are some avant-garde baristas out there making undrinkable coffee. Can coffee be anything other than a commodity? Can music?

Will I answer this question or punt?

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

I feel a similar way about the Duruflé Requiem. Particularly the recording with Robert Shaw conducting and even more specifically the Domine Jesu Christe movement.



If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

I’d like to see an uncoupling of art and commerce and kill the myth that the former needs the latter to be considered a success.