Elohim fearlessly sheds her dark mystique in new music video for “Good Day Bad Day” [Interview]
Electro-pop artist Elohim has released the music video for her inspiring new optimistic anthem, “Good Day Bad Day.” This latest video also marks an exciting new chapter in her public portrayal. The once enigmatic artist that would step cautiously out of the shadows, is now dancing joyfully and unbound in this multi-colored visual release.
“I’ve suffered from my own demons since I was a kid. Now, a lot of people are experiencing mental health issues and some are being confronted with it for the first time being stuck in quarantine, which is why I had to put this song out,” shares Elohim over an exclusive phone interview with EARMILK. “I kept finding myself saying or hearing other people say things like tomorrow’s a new day. And I had a song about that. But I actually I wrote it right before I went on tour and even played it for the few shows that I was able to do on the Group Therapy Tour.”
The Los Angeles based artist was calling in from her home, where, like many people in the world, she has been kept up during these past few months due to COVID-19. In an alternate timeline, Elohim would have just finished her headlining Group Therapy Tour which would have featured over 27 shows from different cities Coast to Coast, with a short stop in Mexico. Heartbreakingly, she shared, “When my tour was canceled I was completely devastated. It was my first time selling out shows in cities across America and it was like I finally made it, everything I’ve been working hard towards. These sold-out shows were dangling right in front of my face and then it was just taken away.”
Beyond the financial hurdles that come from the cancelations, the forced solitude from COVID created unique effects on the creative process and also the mental health of many artists that have painstakingly acclimated to life on the road. “I was devastated and I was kind of in a dark place where I didn’t even want to make music. A lot of the music I make comes from those good and hard times while on tour. I was left questioning, what was the point anymore. But I definitely got over that hump and since then, I’ve been able to go back to the early time where I was making music in my living room, and I’ve been able to get really creative in different ways.”
The “Good Day Bad Day” music video is our first real glimpse into the more multi-colored world of Elohim. From the very first scene, a confident future electro-pop icon enters dripping in dazzling gold chains and making a powerful statement through a brightly colored opened jacket power suit. A contrast to the more muted gothic uniform many have come to recognize her from. Much of Elohim’s music has always ensconced itself quietly between the intersection of bright electro-pop production and moody introspective lyricism. Those moodier lyrics have always been presented through darker visual tones, while the dazzling synth work unassumingly drew you in. This is is the first real-time we see a major shift in that approach with the visuals matching the dazzling synths and funky guitar lines.
But this is more than just deadmau5 taking off his mask, we are unknowingly witnessing an artist evolving leaps beyond that first mysterious debut photo of her wearing a plastic bear mask. But this latest video was only another chapter on a multi-colored journey that started way before this project. “There was no real intent behind it (the mask) because when we took that very first photo ever posted after I came out with, “She Talks Too Much,” I had no idea what was going to happen,” shares of the infamous photo. “In my mind, I was thinking I’ll never even play a show. This is just me rehearsing in my bedroom for fun. But we took this photo on Polaroid, and then we walked up the street to take more photos and then we came back and I saw it I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is the one’ and it happened to be me wearing that mask, and then I put it out, and the reaction was really cool.”
“Everyone was talking about who this masked person was, and I really liked the feeling of people listening to the music with no attachment to me as a person, just appreciating me as the artist.” The mystery behind Elohim certainly added a deeper level of appeal for many fans and critics early on. She goes on stating, “Mystery is nice and I feel like there’s a lack of it. So I really wanted to like give a cool experience to the listener, with a world that you could sort of get lost in.” For many fans, an Elohim show meant a dark lit room with a shadowy figure performing captivating music behind a dazzling light show that one could easily drift away to.
“And then my anxiety, dissociation, and panic which are sort of the three things that I’ve suffered really heavily from since I was a child came full force, probably the worst I’ve ever had in my life. So this mystery became a saving grace for me being always covered up. I didn’t use my voice at the time because it was like this anxiety was so debilitating. I could barely talk I could barely walk on stage without throwing up or leaving my hotel room. It was like this weird meant-to-be thing because I needed that in order to be able to do this.”
Over the years, many fans have formed meaningful connections with Elohim that go deeper than her onstage mystique. Tracks like “Xanax” and “Hallucinating” contain honest expressions of mental health that have become therapeutic listening experiences for many people.
Moving out from the protection of a mysterious allure was no easy feat, nor was it ever a planned marketing scheme. The sudden pressures of Elohim’s quick rise to fame and her growing fan base weighed heavily on the artist early on. Over the phone, her voice suddenly slowed pace, and with a muted vulnerability in her tone, she shared, “I kind of had my breaking point at a certain moment. I got really sick, and it was like, ‘Okay, I need to get help’. I worked on myself for months and then at the start of 2018, I started to feel a lot better and a lot stronger mentally and physically. Simultaneously, I started revealing a little bit more of me through my work. I played Coachella that year and what was such a major turning point for my own confidence as well.”
This sudden shift in the way she approached her artistry was still very much internal at the time. Much of her public persona was still shrouded in a distant analog persona. But then, she shared, “I did a GoDaddy campaign at the beginning of 2019. At the time, they were totally okay with me using a robot voice for this national commercial with me speaking about my anxiety and they were totally cool with me not using my real voice. First of all, for a huge company to be supporting mental health on such a crazy scale is amazing and to let me do it my way, even more so. So I was in the back of the car on the way to the shoot, typing out what I was going to say, and as I was typing these words on battling my anxiety, I felt that I really needed to actually speak these words, they needed to come from me, not my computer. At this point, I’d never used my voice in public as Elohim before. When I got to the set, I went directly to the director and proclaimed I want to talk in the commercial, and that was kind of the start of me getting more and more confident.
Elohim’s music has become a medicinal experience for many listeners currently battling their own unique issues in these difficult times. Though “Good Day Bad Day” may offer a more colorful side to the previous darker persona of Elohim, it doesn’t mean that those moodier tones have disappeared. Just like the rest of us, the person behind the mic is still working through the common ground that lies between her own internal struggles. She reminds us, “Some days are easier than others but tomorrow is always a new day.”
The ability to openly witness her journey either through her music or in her presented appearance continues to serve as an inspiration for Elohim’s ever-growing international fan-base. With over 300M+ combined global streams, her skillful production work and inventive blend of indie-rock and electro-pop are quickly making her one of the most sought after producers in the industry. Whether you’re dancing freely in your room to the good times or laying down staring at the ceiling after the tougher ones, Elohim’s heartfelt songwriting will be right there by your side.
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