Elle Azar
I interviewed Elle Azar for the first time in 2019 so it’s been quite a while. It’s amazing to get to feature her once again. Her newest single “How Many Times” is out now and it is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard lately. Her songwriting has always been honest and personal but I think this song is probably her most personal yet, and it is definitely my favorite Elle Azar’s song.
“How Many Times” is a gem. Go stream it now !
Photo credit: Ezra Cohen
Hi Elle, how are you? What have you been up to since our first conversation?
I’m doing good! Sooo excited to finally be back releasing music!
Oh man I think we first talked in 2019 so it feels like a whole lifetime has passed…
After releasing my first album, my husband Ezra and I started developing some really scary health symptoms - seizures, memory loss, disorientation, heart palpitations, etc. And we learned the hard way that the house we had been living in for years had been hiding toxic black mold behind the walls. It was so bad that we had to move out immediately. And in the process, we had to leave behind all our material possessions. Over the next couple years, so much of our health and normal life was stripped away that we had to learn how to hold on to each other to get through it all.
There’s so many layers to share about this story. But fast forward a few years later, and I’m happy to say that our health is so much better. We have genuinely experienced so much miraculous healing. We’ve been rebuilding our life, home and health.
Being able to create music is such a gift because I didn’t know if I’d be able to again! Feel so grateful to be here.
How Many Times" is your new single - what's the story/inspiration behind this song?
I actually wrote this song a few years ago. It was one of those that came quickly after a creative dry spell. I think I had gotten so comfortable writing from a place of pain for so long. But after releasing my last album, I had this period filled with so much joy that I didn’t really know how to write something that felt like it carried enough weight. I was on a flight home to Nashville later that year and had this flood of deep nostalgic feelings. Creative energy hit, and this whole song came pouring out in just a few minutes.
Ironically, I wrote this right before losing everything to toxic black mold poisoning and this song took on a double meaning. It became kind of a theme song during that season wondering when the cycle of loss would end.
Could you describe the songwriting/production process for this song? Who helped you create it?
The lyrics and melody came pouring out in that one moment. When I showed my husband, Ezra, the voice memo, we sat down and he played the simple, yet beautiful piano part. My good friend, Austin Davis, produced it so beautifully. I love the thoughtful textures and strings that make the bridge feel like it soars. Austin’s so gifted at creating choral vocals and layering harmonies that hit just right emotionally. I wanted the big western style open guitar notes to be striking during the open space…to almost feel like a tumbleweed could blow though at any moment. We wanted to create a feeling of expansiveness, grandeur, and yet solitude.
What did you feel when writing/recording this song?
This was the first song I brought to the studio after a long hiatus from music to focus on my health. After my last album filled with a lot of synth-driven sounds and textures, I wanted to explore coming back to my roots and let this one feel a little more raw. Working with Austin to find the balance of dynamics and keeping things interesting… but without feeling like we needed big sounds to do that… was a really fun challenge. And I feel proud of where we landed on it!
What's your favorite lyric on "How Many Times"?
This is a hard pick one but probably this verse…
“Back to the part of it all
Where I make mistakes
But I feel alive
Yeah my heart quakes”
What made you want to release "How Many Times" as a single?
How Many Times is one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written. It’s personal and the way it was written felt like a special experience so maybe that’s partly why. I wanted to give it its own moment of attention because I feel like there’s a lot of depth in it. And I hope it gives people words for something that they can relate to.
What message do you want to deliver through this song?
Firstly, to encourage the listener to get honest with themselves. And also no matter how many times pain comes your way, you can always, always heal. The bridge lyrics are, “When will I be on top of the world again? When will I see all the good again?” It’s about those moments you come to where you hit a wall or you feel like you’re on a hamster wheel…right back to where you started. But you know deep down in your core… “Ok, I actually will make it out. I don’t know when and I don’t know how but I know that I always do somehow.” Whether you find it the next minute, day or year, there’s always hope available.
The highs and lows of life are inevitable and necessary. Without the lows we wouldn’t know the joy of a good day…the zest of life. It’s the contrast, the juxtaposition of suffering and triumph that marks us as humans. To even know….to truly know what you feel is powerful and a gift.
Sometimes honesty with yourself is the beginning of being able to heal.
What are your thoughts on today's music industry? If you could change one thing, what would it be?
The clickbait sort of trend in music is obviously a frustration for so many artists right now. Sometimes, I wish there was another platform for the “slow art”… a place where we could go to slow down and get to enjoy beautiful, well made things that take time. It makes me sad to think of all the art people probably struggle to make or not make nowadays due to the short form consumption and attention spans nowadays. But as much as it’s frustrating as it can be, I think being adaptable is a form of creativity so I hope artists are able to find a way to hack what is “connecting” right now.
I think if I could change one thing, it would be to help make listeners aware that if you want to support indie artists, engaging with them and supporting however you can really carries a lot of weight! It helps them keep doing what they do!
What biggest life lessons have you learned so far?
I would say after losing everything, I feel like I learned what it means to build riches on the inside. The things that you can’t see with your eyes or buy actually hold the most value. Character, steadfastness, long suffering…those were things that I was forced to pay way more attention to and grow in these past few years.
What makes you happy?
Being with my family and friends truly makes me happy!
Time with God too of course. That doesn’t only just make me happy - it’s the meaning of life itself!
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