Hello Elana, thank you so much for joining us!  Firstly, we’d love to hear a bit about your musical background- how you got started, how it’s been so far?

Thank you for having me, I’m thrilled to be here! I got started in music first as a singer—I sang little melodies when I was little and wondered if I’d ever be able to remember them. I tried drawing lines, a kind of notation, before I studied music at all. I sang in choir from second grade until I graduated college. I started viola at 8, and guitar at 11. I started writing and performing my own songs once I started playing the guitar. I picked up production and engineering when I was 17. It has been the hardest and most wonderful thing I’ve ever done, I think. I’m still in the thick of it.

You wear many hats – composing, performing, producing, engineering, songwriting… What does a typical day look like for you?  Do your creative processes differ based on which hat you are wearing for the current task?

The creative processes definitely differ depending on what hat I’m wearing, but I think my core values remain the same: honor the song, honor the artist (sometimes myself, sometimes not), be open and supportive of what ideas come through, be kind, balance diligence with recklessness. Audio engineering and mixing is very creative, but compared to writing and producing can feel rote and plainly practical—it can be a nice way to let my mind rest, to just focus on engineering and mixing. Similarly, writing and producing can be a nice way to let my brain play, after a mixing or engineering project has absorbed most of my logical energy.

Top Coat Music Studio (Los Angeles, CA) is your music studio that you run with your ace canine assistant Snoopy!  I love this.  Can you tell us about the space, and what services you offer?  

Snoopy is so helpful! He is a rescue dachshund/pitbull mix, so his presence in the studio is as therapeutic for him as it is for the humans who adore him. He often sits in my chair with me while I work. The studio is a main room with a 1960s Ludwig drum kit, a variety of vintage synthesizers and guitars, and some key outboard gear (UA 2-610 and 1176, Focusrite ISA 282, Tube-Tech SSA 2A) an array of amps and microphones, and a large vocal booth that doubles as an amp closet. Top Coat services include audio engineering, production, mixing and original music for sync and score.  Initially I worked with clients out of a spare bedroom in my house (during COVID) but once this space became available (in partnership with publishing company Killphonic Rights) I jumped at the opportunity to offer full band recording: drums, bass, keys vocals, horns etc. It’s been my dream to have all of these tools at my fingertips and to work with a wide variety of musicians in a number of different roles.

Your record Pillow Talk through your artist name, Party Nails, recently came out on January 8th 2025, congratulations!  I just finished listening to it.  I love “Someday, Somehow” in particular.  Can you tell us more about this record- the inspiration, process, and what went into the project from start to finish? 

Thank you! This record took a long time to come out, mostly due to COVID setbacks. I had quickly gotten used to a rapid lifestyle of touring, recording and releasing music, and suddenly I couldn’t tour. Dates for my second album You Don’t Have To Go Home But You Can’t Stay Here were rescheduled a number of times before being cancelled. My draw was not solid enough to withstand such a setback. There was a profound sense of loss—one that we all felt, in our own ways. So I wrote about what I wished I could have, what I was grateful for, what I was thinking a lot about, remembering, or witnessing in real time. That’s Pillow Talk. Every song on the album except for “Do U Know How?” and “D.R.A.M.A.” I first wrote with a guitar, in the quiet morning hours of my days stuck at home. I also engineered drums and mixed the record at Top Coat, two things I was not equipped to do with earlier albums. There was so much time available to me that I’d not had access to for my first two albums, due to tour schedules. Instead of tours, I was doing one off local shows. Each performance would provide me with great information and inspiration for what else to give to the record version of the songs. 

In addition to singing/songwriting, you also compose music for film.  What is a film you worked on that really resonated?  How did the music turn out?

I worked on a noir-horror short called Black Cat In A Dark Room directed by Leland Montgomery, and I wish we could exist in its world for season after season. I want it to be a whole show. The characters, the story, the premise, the setting, are all so juicy to me. I loved working closely with Leland to create a cold yet organic nighttime soundscape (lots of square wave synths and reverb) and even some sound design (vampire bite sounds!) and to determine when and where music should and should not happen. The overall vibe is this rising sense of anxiety mixed with total euphoria. I hope to do more work like this soon.

Do you have any advice for our members who also wear many hats?  I find myself in a similar boat and it can be a lot to hold so many things at a time.

It really is a lot. My advice is to not look outside of yourself for permission to relax, hold boundaries, or shift gears. Create your replenishment oasis, and go there as often as possible. I feel like the longer one works as a freelancer, the crazier we feel and the more we are looking for ways to create security for ourselves. The best way to feel secure is to take care of your brain and body so you can make good choices and be your best self. Also: Compare and despair. And: Treat others the way you would like to be treated.

Is there anything exciting on the horizon for you?  In life or music?  We are really thankful you were able to speak with us.

I feel very lucky to be working with repeat engineering, mixing and production clients at Top Coat. It’s an honor to be trusted and hired again. I just wrapped a tour with Minneapolis-based band Bad Bad Hats, promoting my album Pillow Talk. I hope Pillow Talk continues to bring excitement into my life! I’ve also started a new band with members of Bad Bad Hats, called Megasound. I’ll likely be promoting Party Nails and Megasound the rest of 2025. Fingers crossed another film project materializes. Pair that with some nice hikes with Snoopy and it sounds like a dream to me!

Interview by Connor Cook

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