Ella Hooper is unleashing her inner country girl with the upcoming release of her alt-country/Americana record Overnight Success. Fittingly recorded in Nashville with producer LOLLIES, the Killing Heidi frontwoman feels that homing in on this sound aligns deeply with her as she continues to explore her identity as a solo artist.
Growing up in Violet Town, Victoria, a small town two hours outside of Melbourne, Ella says her appreciation for country and Americana music was fostered from a young age.
“My dad’s record collection had a lot of Americana and cosmic country in it. I’m a really deep, deep lover of that music and I have been for a long, long time. I grew up on it, so it’s always been a dream to pursue. It started to come out through my writing in my late teens and early 20s”, she reflected.
“It did make it onto the last two Killing Heidi records. The big fans will know that there are some songs on there that are really jumping and more acoustic, and I just thought, ‘this is what I love’. Those songs would be the early indicators of Ella Hooper solo work”.
“After we wrapped up Killing Heidi, we took a little while off, then Jesse (Hooper) and I started a band called The Verses, which was more unabashed Americana, ’70s West Coast influences, like Fleetwood Mac, The Byrds and the Eagles, a little bit of Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. A lot more twang. That’s when it came out of the closet”.
Ella’s love for the genre and subculture radiated through her passion and her speech, beaming through the screen during our Zoom call.
“Country and Americana, it’s about rhythm, it’s about tempo, it’s about storytelling, it’s about pushing energy, which I certainly do; that’s from my rock and roll training”, she smirked.
“When I go home at night and open up my stereo cabinet or flick through – I hate to say it – my Spotify playlist, it’s all about the lyrics, it’s all about the stories. That’s what keeps me there.”
“It can make me cry in three seconds flat. It just works on me”, she said earnestly.
She channelled this energy into her latest record Overnight Success, a collection of songs written over the last five years about heartache, growing up, grief and showbiz, all wrapped in a rough-edged but beautiful aesthetic that feels unmistakably her own.
From jumping guitars and electric riffs to harmonicas and keys, Ella delivers a signature gritty alternative country sound that blends with her warm, glossy vocals, showcasing her cheeky flair and of course, that signature Americana twang she’s been chasing.
To visualise the album, Ella described it as “a snow globe, but it’s dark and warm and velvety”.
“It’s like an antique red velvet, smoky backstage bar where performers are hanging out and taking off their makeup at the mirrors with the globe lights around them, that kind of thing. But within that, there’s this party/country element as well. I can see someone in the corner playing a steel guitar. It’s a romantic showbiz country room moment”, she smiled.
On the single “When The Shit Went Down”, Ella shares how her “family was blown apart” when both of her parents passed suddenly and tragically, and how she still feels “frozen in time”, not being able to process the series of traumatic events.
“When The Shit Went Down” was written about “the era between 2020 and 2022, and beyond, where everyone had a rough time because COVID was unprecedented in our lifetimes. I don’t think any of us had lived through a major health disaster, so I put everyone in that category of having a little trauma from that, or a lot, depending on whether you lost people or not”, Ella shared.
“But on top of that, my family got blown apart; my parents both died of cancer within two weeks of each other”.
“We were coming out of lockdowns, we didn’t know if we’re going to be able to go to each of their bedsides, my brother and I were just holding hands and taking every day as it comes, looking after both parents, crisscrossing from Melbourne to Violet Town. It’s just so unbelievable the way that it happened.”
“‘When The Shit Went Down’ describes the state of vigilance and the panic that you go into when people you love are sick and you know that their lives are finite and the end is coming, but you also look on the news and there are riots and the Black Lives Matter movement is happening and the world is burning, people are getting murdered in the street”.
“I was like, ‘cool, I think we might be in some actual level of hell’. I’m not religious and I don’t believe in heaven and hell, but I thought maybe this is one”, she smiled, trying to find humour in the unbelievably devastating time. “It’s an incredibly personal, emotional song about ‘what the fuck is going on’ and it’s amazing how it’s connected with people”.
As for now, Ella says “nothing will ever be the same. I will never be the same”, but writing the song seems to have given her a way to make sense of at least some of what she was feeling.
And that wasn’t the only experience Ella processed on the album. Speaking about the title track, “Overnight Success”, Ella shared that while the song focuses on “the beautiful, dreamy aspects of show business”, it has taken a long time for her to “process the Killing Heidi experience”.
“When you’re a little girl, and you’re singing into your hairbrush, you just want that hairbrush experience. You want to connect with an audience. You want bright lights, fantastic outfits, and the roar of the crowd. I got that, but I believe that everything has an equal and opposite underside”.
“Going from being a little dreamer in the bush to having the dream appear, with all the wonderful, dreamlike, fantastical qualities, but also all its realities, challenges, and compromises, which you don’t focus on when you’re dreaming about being a pop star. Learning how to metabolise that experience as a person and as an artist has taken years and years and years, and I feel like I’m doing it now, in my 30s and 40s, I can sing about it”.
“But the song itself, “Overnight Success”, is focussed on the beautiful parts; there’s something very romantic about the showbiz dream and the theatrics”.
“My mum was a drama teacher, so we were always playing dress up, and we always had costumes in the house. She would be coming back from a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with a giant donkey’s head, or the most beautiful fairy wings, not your little shitty fairy wings that you get from Aldi, really incredible and inspiring theatrical stuff”, she said, her eyes lighting up as she relived the memories.
“I feel like part of my success as a performer is from not being afraid of leaning into that side too. I love creating worlds and stories with visuals. In “Overnight Success”, I am acknowledging my love for that craft”.
Ella will be taking Overnight Success on the road this October with a national tour. The run takes in Eltham, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Newcastle, Sydney and Canberra from 1–10 October, with breathtaking singer-songwriter Ruby Mae supporting. Don’t miss out on seeing Overnight Success come to life – all the dates are below.
Overnight Success is released on October 2. Pre-save and pre-order it HERE.
Ella Hooper – Overnight Success tour
Tickets HERE
Thursday 1st October – The Eltham Hotel, Eltham
Friday 2nd October – Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane
Saturday 3rd October – Brunswick Ballroom, Melbourne
Sunday 4th October – Trinity Sessions, Adelaide
Thursday 8th October – Stag & Hunter, Newcastle
Friday 9th October – Petersham Bowlo, Sydney
Saturday 10th October – Smiths Alternate, Canberra
Header photo by Jeremy Dylan
