Exclusive Interview: Elijah Woods Talks “losing a friend,” Giving a Voice to Listeners, and Creating Connections Through Music

Elijah Woods has established himself as one of the most exciting voices of his generation. Whether he’s crafting lyrics, producing beats, or performing to sold-out audiences around the world, his dedication lies in creating music that resonates authentically with who he is.

With over five million monthly streams on Spotify alone, Elijah’s innate ability to forge connections with his fans and empower them through his music sets him apart in the competitive music landscape.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Elijah about his latest single, “losing a friend,” his unwavering dedication to creating music that elicits emotion, and more.

PC: Throughout your career, there has been such a gradual evolution in your artistry where you’ve written for other artists, done background vocals, produced, and now you’re the frontman of your own project. What’s surprised you the most about this journey thus far? What’s played the biggest role in your development as an artist?
Elijah: I continually learn that you can have your eyes set on something and think that you actually want to go in that direction, but then life happens. You wake up a few years later and you’re like, “I didn’t see it going that way, but I’m really glad it did.”

Maybe the biggest thing that I’ve learned is to roll with the punches, enjoy the process, and enjoy what you’re doing. If it’s happening inside of me and it feels really good, then it often exudes out and becomes something really, really special. I feel fortunate to be able to do this. It’s so rare.

PC: There’s such a universal quality to your songwriting where it feels personal to your own experiences, yet listeners are able to relate it to their own lives. As a songwriter who’s written for other artists, how do you find the balance between what will be a part of your own artist project as opposed to somebody else’s? Do you have a favorite lyric that you’ve written throughout the years?
Elijah: In response to the first part of that question, it is a weird balance. It’s usually pretty black and white in terms if the song is going to be for me or not. Generally, especially as of late, I pretty much exclusively write for myself, only because I only have so many stories and giving them away is tough. Trying to write in somebody else’s voice is really difficult too, unless you’re really, really close to that person. That’s the biggest thing I took away from writing with people, not that I’ve done a ton of successful writing with other people, but it’s really difficult to write in somebody else’s voice. You have to really be with them and experiencing what they’re experiencing. I feel like one of the reasons why my music has connected in the past is because it’s just me. I’m writing it and I’m experiencing these things. That’s a piece of it that I try to put forward which is my own vulnerability.

As far as a favorite lyric that’s tough. It changes all the time. I have a song called “matthew” that I wrote about my older brother who passed away. The opening lyric of that is one of my favorite lyrics maybe ever, not because it’s even that well-written or special, but it transports me back to the moment that I started on this journey, and a specific moment with him. Everybody that I’ve played it for or has heard it says the same thing. But it’s, “Skater shoes and faded Levi’s. A mixtape of your favorite B-sides.” It’s a collection of all these things. It puts you in this exact moment in time.

It was in early 2000s. He loved to skateboard. It’s this moment of nostalgia. I remember making mix tapes. I remember being in that cultural moment where skateboarding was the absolute thing and there’s this photo of him on our front porch in our house. I wrote it about that photo. It’s actually the album art. It’s him, me, and my younger brother all sitting there. He’s wearing Etnies; the one with the fat tongue. They kind of came back recently. But he’s wearing those shoes with super faded disgusting jeans and an oversize tee. He was super into skate culture. I always loved that lyrics because it transports me there when I need it to. That’s my goal with lyrics. It’s to make them as visceral as possible.

PC: I feel like it’s that authenticity why fans have connected with your music, and it’s such a great way to honor your brother as well. You’ve got a new single out now. Tell us a bit about “losing a friend.” There’s such a beautiful contrast between the song where it starts off as a piano ballad and then really leans into those rock influences. How did this song come to fruition and that contrast as well?
Elijah: This is another song from a personal experience. As you grow up and you become an “adult,” your friends change and your circle changes. People change around you and you change. This song was written about that. I recently had a falling out with one of my really good friends. I don’t know if there’s a path back from it, which is unfortunate, but this is the song that explores that piece of it, and my battles with the emotions of it. It’s the roller coaster of being like this is for the best, but it’s also really sad because it was somebody who was really close to my life.

I played it for a few close friends of mine in my life, and it’s interesting to watch something so personal and literal become a song that’s not about that at all. People were making it about their relationships or about somebody they lost and passed away. I was like this is really interesting because I always thought losing a friend was so literal but it can actually be interpreted in so many ways. If you break up with somebody, it’s like you’re losing a friend. That’s often the worst part of a breakup. I love seeing interpretations like that. I’m really excited to see how it connects because it is really special to me and it feels like the opening of a new chapter for me musically.

PC: It’s a testament to your talents as a songwriter. Speaking of that contrast, I love how songs can take different forms, whether it’s a stripped-back version or one with full production. As a producer and songwriter, what stage of the process do you start to factor that in?
Elijah: It depends. As of late, I’ve been pretty much writing it on the guitar. Let’s make it a song before anything else. That’s the goal for me. It’s super cliché and everyone says this but I have to make sure that I feel it in its entirety and continually as well. I have to revisit it in a week and have the exact same feeling or at least bring up emotions that I had felt. But If I don’t really feel anything, then it never makes it to the production stage. Because I do have a production background, something that I struggle with is that you can polish anything to make it sound convincing.

You can polish stuff as much as possible and actually make it pretty presentable if you put little baby carrots around it. I can do that all with production. You can take a mid song and turn it into what should be a “hit song” hypothetically. That’s really misleading for me because sometimes I listen to something and I’ll be like the mix is awesome, the sonics are great, the messaging is really, really cool, the concept is awesome, but something doesn’t feel human about it. Something isn’t lining up. More often than not, it’s an exercise where if I get rid of all the fluff, what’s at the core of this song? What’s actually feels like anything? That for me is what I’m searching for at all times.

I’ve written on the piano and/or the guitar within the last few years, especially on my last EP, bright orange everglow, that was written on the couch with my guitar. I was like let’s make a country project. I wanted it to be stripped back, easy listening, and low key. That’s the toughest piece of the producer-songwriter brain. It’s figuring out where to go and where not to go.

PC: This is going to be a strange question, since every song is so personal to you. You’ve built such an incredible body of work. If you had to pick a song that best encompasses who you are as an artist at this moment, which would it be and why?
Elijah: Today? Ask me in an hour and it’ll probably change. [laughs] Today, my vibe is “last girl,” which is the last track on my EP, bright orange everglow. It’s really romantic. To me, it’s a forever song. It just sounds like something I could throw on when I’m 80 and I will still love it. A fifteen-year-old could hear it and be like, “That’s sweet.” I like that. My goal musically is to create songs that will stand the test of time and not be super big and burn out. I’m very excited to take risks. I love trying things out, but for me, the song always has to have guts. It always got to have foundation. I don’t want to make music for consumption. I want to make music that is consumable, but is consumable forever.

PC: There’s such a timeless quality to your songwriting. You’re also an artist that thrives on the live stage. How much do you use that environment to test out the new material? What is it like getting to see the words that you’ve written, sung back to you by your fans?
Elijah: It’s a pretty wild experience. I quite literally make everything that I do in this room. For me to be able to travel across the world and play songs to people that I’ve never met in different languages and have the words resonate with them is spiritual. It’s very, very strange.

I feel like artists’ purpose, or at least my purpose, is to give a voice to people who sometimes can’t find their own or can’t figure out how to say what they need to say. Whether that’s I love you, I’m feeling depressed, I’m feeling alone, or I’m feeling joy. The core of my artistry is rooted in human connections.

I genuinely love the piece of the live aspect of this. As much as I can bring that back into the studio, it only helps the songwriting. It’s another real vehicle for the song. It definitely heavily influences it. The biggest thing I’ve noticed in just the last little while is it shapes how I want to write music. If I’m playing a lot live, it makes it faster and more intense, and fun to play on stage, but if I’m home for a while and I’m chilling, I’m writing slow, easy-listening songs. I’m writing stuff that I can cook to. It really depends where I am travel-wise.

I have a big Asia tour coming up and I’m really excited to see what music I write around that time and after that time because I’ll be pumped full of energy.

PC: That’s very poetic. As you continue to release more and more songs, is there a song that will always make your setlist? Is there one that never will?
Elijah: [laughs] There are a lot that never will. Some songs are just not great live, even if they’re your favorite artists. I don’t know why the 1975 came to mind because it’s actually a really great song live, so this might be a terrible idea, but “Somebody Else” by the 1975 is one of the greatest songs ever made. That song live, I don’t know what the live performance does for that song. I don’t know if it elevates it in any way. So I love listening to that song with my headphones. I love listening to it as I’m walking and that whole thing. But I don’t know if that song needs to be elevated live because it’s such a great song already. Just play it, and I’m going to experience it and live it. It’s really tough to perform those songs for me. I’m not saying that I have a song like “Somebody Else” by the 1975. That’s an incredible song. But in the same vein, I struggle performing those songs that are just here and they’re just songs that there’s not a lot to do. I’m just performing it.

There’s a song called “phantom pain” which will never make any set list because it’s so slow. But it’s a really pleasant song to listen to. I just could never perform it, but I really love it. It’s lyrically attentive. The one that I will always play is a song called “everything everywhere always.” It’s such a good moment for me and the crowd. It’s a connection spot.

Then the last one that I will always play, which is so hard, is the “matthew” one, the one about my brother. It’s the lowest point in the set energy wise and the lowest point emotionally for me. It creates such an environment and connection. It’s such a special memory for me and everybody else. If I could hold onto that and I can keep playing that one, I’d be happy to play it, but it’s heavy.

PC: Outside of your Asia tour, what can fans expect from you for the rest of 2024?
Elijah: Tons more music. I’ve got so much stuff coming out. I’ve got a whiteboard with all of the stuff on there. But a lot of music. I think I put out eighteen songs out last year. I have of a goal of one-upping that. I got to do nineteen this year.

I want to make at least a few projects that feel cohesive and really together and be ready for some explorative genre stuff because I’m really leaning into some fun stuff and I’m really excited. I’m nervous to see what people think about it. This next project is a good bridge project for me to be like here is where I’m at right now. But the one after that is pushed a bit, which I like a lot.

To keep up with Elijah, follow him on X, Instagram, Spotify, and Apple Music. Listen to “losing a friend” today.