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taylorwrites · 7 years

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COMING SOON: THIS IS SANITY

THIS IS SANITY

PREVIEW

May 2016

The Observer: Observer Magazine

Ella Fanshawe: The Luckiest Girl in the World.

Earlier this month, I was given the opportunity to sit down with brand new singing sensation Ella Fanshawe over coffee. Her brand new single “Fake” has skyrocketed to the top and has been at number one for three weeks now and it continues to thrive. Naturally I arrived there before her, and claimed a booth for us before I heard the bell of the door and turned to watch her walk in. She was, surprisingly, on her own considering the level of success she has achieved in so little time. She introduced herself, shaking my hand, before asking how I was. I was surprised to find that she is quite shy, although she has proven brilliance in picking her words.

I began by telling her that I thought we should start from the beginning and she began to tell me about her discovery.

“I was always gigging in pubs with friends or sometimes on my own. It was never really a major plan for me to do this, just something that I enjoyed doing every now and again. Someone, who is actually now my manager, gave me their card and asked if I’d thought about a career in music. I left it for a while and my friends were all ‘you should just call him, it's worth a try’, so I did, and here we are ten months later. I guess I just got really lucky.” She's very nonchalant about it and puts everything down to luck, a quality I admire about her.

“So this isn't always what you wanted to do, then? Music was never really the plan?”

“I actually went to university for psychology and I was convinced I was going to go into forensic psychology! Obviously I’ve watched too much Criminal Minds. This was just a hobby type thing that I did with some of my friends every now and again,it was never a full on, hard core I want to do this. But maybe subconsciously this was something I wanted to do but never really pursued it because of the competition there is to get in, I don't know. I actually just graduated and so I was working nonstop on my dissertation and the song and so now that that's done and dusted, I’m finally able to focus on one thing in it's entirety. I'm not the best multitasker so this proved to be a massive feat for me!”

“Did you and your manager find it easy to find someone who wanted to work with you? Was it more difficult as you are so new?”

“Definitely there was some degree of difficulty trying to get someone who would want to work with me. It was much more difficult for us than it was for my manager to find a label who was willing to go out on a limb and sign me, actually. But I really enjoyed working with who we did, and I really want to work with them again. They’re these two brothers from Newcastle and they were so great to work with. Taking all the suggestions and suggesting things themselves. It was a really great partnership between us! It was really cool actually. It was all done in a shed in their garden which has been all kitted out with sound protection and every single instrument you could ever dream of! We spent a while up there working on a few different things before we decided that this was the one we were going to go for. They were really really helpful in helping with techniques and stuff, and I learnt a lot about the mixing and recording the traks, which is actually a lot more simple than I thought it would be. All the buttons mean the same thing which was news to me.” She laughs at herself before reigning herself back in and apologising for ‘going off on a tangent’, before I told her that this is what I was here for; to listen to her talk.

We then began to talk about her life before London, something that has never been brought up in the few interviews she's done.

“I grew up in Oxfordshire, but I went to an all girl school in Kent. That's really all there is to tell. l worked hard at school, and did relatively well in my exams. I really enjoyed it, and do miss it actually. I'm one of those people who need some sort of structure in their lives like I had a school, and I did struggle without it at university. This has given me plenty of structure but with variation. Growing up, though, it was all very normal. Although I haven't been exposed to other ways so this is what I know. I have two older brothers, they're super protective of me and since this has all happened they've upped their game even more.” She makes a point of not playing up her upper middle class upbringing, something she doesn't talk about and so keen researchers like myself might be surprised to discover this. A public schoolgirl and overnight sensation is not the most popular combination. It seems as though she is abnormally normal.

I ask her what it was like to be away from home at such a young age.

“Actually, it wasn't weird at all for me. I first started boarding when I was only eight and a lot of my friends also were doing it too. My brothers did it, and my parents did it too when they were at school. It was normal for me, I suppose. Then I went even further away from home I was thirteen and it didn’t bother me in the slightest. There's always something to do, so I would keep myself busy. There wasn't any time to be homesick! I don't enjoy sitting around waiting to do something, which I suppose is why this job is doing well for me at the moment; I'm constantly on the go. This is busy, which I like, because I really struggle doing nothing.”

I often wonder about why many are against people who have already come from relatively wealthy families who can build their own career without the help of their parents or their friends of parents. There are obviously people around who have been given and so taken opportunities handed to them on a silver platter. This young lady has not. I like that she is very much her own person, and it is apparent she had been brought up well.

It is at that point I bring up why I am here talking to her. The single. She almost suddenly turns quite timid, and nervous but there was a definitely grin hiding behind her mug as she took a sip.

“Um, well it's called ‘Fake’, and when I heard the demo I was literally like we have to do this! I’d heard a few others which were great and we actually recorded a few demos for them, but this one just kind of stood out a bit more. This one, I think, is the most me.”

“It's blown up so fast, were you expecting this?”

“No this is, this is completely mental to me. I wasn't expecting to have a UK number 1 at all, this is, beyond crazy! Obviously I was wanting people to like it but I was never expecting it to go like this!” Ella appears to talk a lot with her hands, throwing them around as she becomes more enthusiastic about topics we talk about.

“You've had a few already established people in this industry comment on the single, how does that make you feel?”

“Oh god, I sound like a broken record but it's so mental! I got tweeted by Niall Horan and he went on about how he really really liked it and that he was looking forward to hearing more from me and I honestly think i've never read a tweet so much! I thought I was hallucinating! I've been told that Ed Sheeran also really likes it but I can't be sure. I'm waiting for his tweet.” She chuckles to herself, twirling a gold ring on her left little finger.

“It’s also getting big in America too, do you have plans to go over there and work on promotion?”

“Yeah actually, we're heading over there in a couple weeks, and we've got Fallon and Corden lined up I believe, I'm super excited for that! It's insane, like those are big talk shows, and I’m going to be on them!” She sits back in the booth in disbelief. “It's just so insane.”

“And is there an album in the works?”

“Uh, yes. I'm not sure how much I’m allowed to talk about it but there is an album in the works. We've got a few things recorded and I've even had a bit of an input on some of the writing which has been such a good experience. I really really enjoyed that! I think it'll be a while though before any of that comes out into the world!”

“So if we're not getting an album anytime soon, do we get another single in the near future?”

“It's only been 6 weeks since the first one came out! It's flown by and everything's been a bit nonstop, but it's not been long at all and you're already wanting more! This is brilliant! Um, a second single? Right now I'm not entirely sure, I’ve been told that I get to decide if and when one will come out, and I want to ride out the success of this one because it's been great, I don't want to leave it too long that people get bored. I have a few people to advise me and so I'll have to have a chat with them to see what they say about that”

“Are you going to stick with pop music or do you want to move about a bit?”

“Oh, I 100% want to move around within multiple genres of music. I think that if I stick with one I won't appeal to as many people than I would if I was to mix and match, I don't want to play it too safe. It makes more sense to me to do that. I love so many different types of music and so the aim is just to create music that I would like to listen to. I think it would be silly just to stick with one, and not to make an attempt to appeal to more people!”

“Now, canwe get to the juicy detail talk about your personal life?” at this point she just laughs, and take a sip of her americano.

“There really isn't anything to tell, I’m as single as can be, if that’s what you’re asking, but I'm not really looking for anything right now! I’m so focused on this right now there really isn't much time for anything like that”

“So nothing going on with anyone? No dates? Nothing?”

“I mean, there have been dates, but nothing that's gone further than that. It's not that I don't want to, it's more that it's become seemingly difficult post single release.”

“What was your favourite one you've been on?” She hesitates for a moment.

“Oh, one person managed to get tickets to ‘The Secret Cinema’ to see Moulin Rouge, and it was one of the best things I’ve seen! That was actually a great evening!” Ella has continually become more confident as our conversation has gone on, treating it more like a conversation, rather than an interview. “I do want to make a conscious effort though, if this continues to grow as fast a pace that it does, to keep certain parts of my life private, y’know? I get that with the job I signed up for that's not always possible, but I’m definitely going to try.”

“Ella, you honestly seem like the most likable person, do you have any flaws?” She laughs at my question but gives a large nod.

“Oh, god, yes! Definitely! Obviously I try to downplay them a lot but since you asked; I stress too much about everything. I remember everything, which is a gift and a curse, because there are things I would definitely like to erase from my memory! I cannot, for the life of me, hold a grudge. It's awful! My father tells me it's the best trait in the world to have but he's wrong. It's the worst. He has it too, actually. We’re very similar. I am the worst cook! It's awful! I can't even cook soup right! You ask my friend and she'll tell you about that time I left soup on the stove for too long and it boiled over and I made the biggest mess! I'm so easily distracted, like so easily! It's so annoying and I can't help it! I used to have to have those things to keep your hands occupied while you’re working because I had to be doing something! Multitasking? Not my thing. I can't text and walk, I can just about walk and talk, I can't- Oh I really struggle with watching movies. Like I love them, but unless it's one of my favourite films, I can't watch the whole thing. I've started so many movies but I have no idea on how any of them ended!”

It is then when I am reminded that, unfortunately, my time with Ella must come to an end. She is polite, as ever. Telling me to get home safe, and that she is looking forward to reading the finished write up of our conversation. I have thoroughly enjoyed talking and meeting with Ella Fanshawe, as she is the epitome of niceness. She is very lucky indeed.

#harry styles fanfction #harry styles #harry styles one shot #preview #this is sanity #my writing #full fic

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