Billie Eilish and FINNEAS are interviewed on Matt Wilkinson’s Glastonbury Special on Apple Music 1.
Billie tells Matt about being asked to play Glastonbury, her pre-show rituals, new song ‘TV', Billie’s love for Damon Albarn, her Coachella decoy and playing Glastonbury as a female headliner.
FINNEAS looks back at his first Glastonbury, talks about his love for the UK, new track 'TV’ and more….
Billie Eilish on Glastonbury
And with this kind of thing, which is doing this kind of show and headlining and with all the pressure of it, it's like, if you overthink it, you might bomb. So I try to keep myself as composed as possible. But if I do think about it, it's like the coolest that I've ever heard. I mean, Glastonbury. Come on. It's so cool. So I'm very, very geeked, very excited.
It is big. It is big. I mean, there's always a hesitation just because you have to figure out timing wise like if everything works out. But in terms of doing it or not, no. No hesitation.
Billie Eilish on pre show rituals
Honestly, I don't. I only this year even have had like a pre-show ritual because before I literally just goofed around until I went on stage. I didn't even warm up. Now, I have a two hours beforehand. I work out for a while and then I do my own. So I do my own makeup and then I do my own hair and I have to do it a very specific way. And then I have to find an outfit and then I have to make sure the outfit fits right. And then I have to put all of my fricking jewellery on which takes my three hours or whatever.
And then I get my ankles taped. And I get my shins taped. And that takes a while. And then I warm up my voice. And then I do more hair. And then I do another warm up. And then I go on stage.
Billie Eilish on new song ’TV’
It was pretty random actually. Nobody thought about it. Our plane was delayed a couple weeks ago and we were sitting outside somewhere and I was just listening to songs that I have written and never did anything with like all in my phone and my voice memos and stuff. I found a couple songs and I was thinking about these songs that we have written. And I was like, "Wow, I really love these songs." I just had this idea of like, "What if we just did them live?" Finneas and I haven't done an unreleased, unrecorded song live since.. [when the party’s over]
This is a moment in time, really. We write music and I want it to come out without having to prepping and making a whole like doing months and months of promo for something. I just want to be able to put music out like I used to. I think the bigger you get the harder that seems. So I kind of was like, "I just want to be able to go back to my roots and be the songwriter that I am and that Finneas is and sing the song that we just wrote and put it out whenever it's done."
Billie Eilish on Damon Albarn
I am die hard for that man. Let me just say that.
I love him so much. I find myself following his fan pages. Because I don't follow anyone on Instagram and the other day I was like, "Oh, I really want to follow this account." And it was the Damon Albarn fan page.
Yeah. I mean, Gorillaz changed my life. And Blur is like, so good.
I wasn't as kind of aware of them as I would've liked to be until more recently in my life. And oh my God. So, so unbelievable. I'm such a Blur [fan]...
When he was a little 25-year-old or whatever. Just so cute. Oh my God. I could cry.
Billie Eilish on her Coachella Decoy
Yeah, but I was a different person then and it didn't work! I've done it though occasionally in different places and it's really nice when you're able to do it. At Coachella, I actually did it because the beginning of Coachella, I had a body double, one of my dancers that was one of my dancers for the show. I dressed her up in a show look that I had worn before. We got a black wig and we put buns in it and we gave her a mask and sunglasses and she wore my shoes and my socks. And I put her up at the back of the stage and she stood there while the lights went on and everybody thought it was me. And nobody ever knew it wasn't me, literally nobody knew. And while she's up there, I put on a big black coat and a traffic vest and a hood and just glasses.
Billie Eilish on playing Glastonbury as a female headliner
It's a serious once in a lifetime opportunity to be asked to go to and to do. And I'm constantly feeling like I'm undeserving of everything, and I think that's a good thing. I would say that that's a good thing for the most part. But first of all, it makes you doubt everybody because you're like, "Why would you choose me?" But with that being said, that's why I'm even more excited about it and stoked and to be the youngest headliner ever. And I'm a woman and that's really cool. And it makes me excited for the future. And unfortunately, there's not a lot of female headliners constantly. So I feel really honored and really excited.
FINNEAS on his first Glastonbury experience
We played something like 4:00 PM or something, and I remember the flags and the heat. It was really exciting. We climbed up the tor beforehand.
FINNEAS on the UK
We tried our best. We have this sense of being in London feels like family, because we played our first headliner here ever. But I think there's also this reverence for English music and English bands, English artists. The two things that are very English that were great honors for us are this in the Bond song where we feel very honored that they're allowing us to be part of this super English thing.
FINNEAS on new track ’TV'
Yeah. And it's one of those lines where I think we were writing that whole song and it was what's the magnetic north of this? What is the conclusion that we're drawing here? Because it's a sad picture that I think most people who've been in love can relate to of a relationship maybe falling apart and a friendship's falling apart, of time moving on. I think ultimately the conclusion was I'm not saying I'm certainly the problem, but I can't ignore that's a possibility that it might be me. And I think that's also most people's worry, right? The things that are going wrong in their life. Most people are worrying that it's because of them, even though I think the reality of the world is most things are just happening to you.
FINNEAS on headlining Glastonbury
To headline Glastonbury, it's unbelievable. I feel like Glastonbury is everyone who has been lucky enough to go to music festivals, the world over, everyone says the same thing, which is there's nothing like Glastonbury. Everything wishes it was Glastonbury. So yeah, just a tremendous honor. Again, it's the company that you're in too. The fact that we're there with McCartney and Kendrick and everybody down the lineup too, I'm a huge fan of so many artists playing each day. It's so exciting.
