gglum
Ella Smoker, professionally know as gglum, is one of the newest young Indie artists to achieve streaming recognition. The London native grew up surrounded by music, with her Finnish and English background being the root of her diverse music taste. The 18-year-old made her debut this year with “Why Don’t I Care?”, which earned her an impressive spot on Spotify’s “Fresh Finds” playlist. The song’s heavy reverbs and underlying base tones hit all the right notes of an Indie-Lofi classic. The artist plans to follow her debut with a lot more music, including multiple singles to go along with an eventual EP. We recently spoke with Ella about her aspirations, writing process, and more!
How did you get started making music?
I started making music at a very young age. I always liked singing and started playing instruments as a child, like violin, when I was about 7 and piano when I was about 9. I was also a chorister in a Church choir from the ages of 8-11 which gave me quite classical vocal/theory training. Once I started secondary school, I kind of went my own way with music and did it more by myself. I would be in the music rooms before school everyday just writing music and singing covers. I then started attending The BRIT School when I was 14 which is where I met all of the people I work with and admire today.
Your song “Why Don’t I Care” was featured on Spotify’s “Fresh Finds” Playlist. How did you feel about this, it being your first release?
To be honest, I didn’t even really believe I’d even get to this point. I wasn’t expecting too much from the release, all I knew was that I was really proud of the song because before that I really struggled to find my feet with songwriting and I’d finally written a song I liked myself. The weirdest part to me is that most of my streams are from the US.
Walk us through your typical songwriting process.
I’ve found that I work best when I work quickly and try not to think too hard about what I’m doing. This means my writing and recording happen simultaneously. I’ll find some chords I like, record them into logic and then write lyrics while I figure out what I want the song to sound like. If I stop and think too hard about what I’m trying to achieve in the end product, then I become too self critical of what I’m making and force myself into a writer's block.
Which artists have had the greatest impact on your career?
Weirdly enough, it’s probably the musicians I know (Opnel, Uncoof Yoof, Helve, Bug Beach, Dido Wilson, Iris Holmes). I don’t know why I can never get over the shock of how amazing and talented I think they are each time they release a song. If I can get anywhere near as good as they are at their songwriting or instruments then I would be so happy. But if you’re looking for a better known name I’d have to say Phil Elverum. Listening to The Microphones’ The Glow, Pt.2 and the Mount Eerie album, A Crow Looked at Me felt like a major turning point. I think it made a lot click for me and I saw my songwriting improve really quickly after discovering him.
A dream venue?
I really enjoy performing but there isn’t really a place that I would pick over others. All I really want is to perform as much as I can, everywhere I can, because every venue has such a different atmosphere and is a new experience.
What future projects can listeners expect from you?
I’m working on some songs right now so there’s definitely more music coming. I’m gearing myself up to make an EP but I have a few smaller releases in mind for the near future.
Favorite non-music activities?
I mean, the main thing I do is music. Before lockdown happened I spent most of my time out and about with friends and going to gigs so I’m quite a one trick pony I’m afraid. I can’t lie, I do like my Netflix though!
