Billie Eilish has spoken out in defence of her fans, who have been criticised for filming entire concerts at her ‘Hit Me Hard And Soft’ tour on their mobile phones.
The singer-songwriter’s words come after similar criticism emerged following Sabrina Carpenter and Madonna’s performance together at Coachella last month. In footage that went viral within minutes, hundreds of festivalgoers could be seen standing stock still during ‘Like A Prayer’. A significant backlash emerged on social media and Consequence published an op-ed headlined: “Not a Soul Was Dancing to Sabrina Carpenter and Madonna at Coachella”.
In Eilish’s new concert film with legendary director James Cameron, however, a majority of the young, largely female attendees at the show can be seen jumping around to her biggest hits as well as filming the action on their devices.
“I just think that’s what it’s like,” Eilish said to NME, when asked if her fans get a bad rap over phone use at gigs. “My generation, and the generations below, we love to film stuff. All I do is film and take pictures of stuff – all of the time.”
Most of the behaviour stems from a desire to relive the experience once they’re home, she explained. “When I was young and would go to concerts or festivals, I would film every single minute of it – and then I would watch every single video that I took over and over until I even had the audio of the crowd memorised,” she said. “I think that’s not to be pooh-poohed. An important part of the culture is that we are all on our goddamn phones! It keeps us connected. It does!”
Eilish, who started building a following online in the late 2010s thanks to early viral track ‘Ocean Eyes’, said she owes much of her success to young people’s interactions in digital spaces. “I wouldn’t have a career without the internet. I wouldn’t have fans. I wouldn’t have the connection that I do without the internet.” On the other hand, the 24-year-old musician also admitted that there are “huge cons” to social media and it has a “dark” side too.
The pop star is tapping into modern technology again for her project with Cameron, shot in immersive 3D and playing now in UK cinemas. Listed as co-director with the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind Titanic and Avatar, the movie marks Eilish’s debut helming a full-length feature.
“When my mum told me that James Cameron was asking if I wanted to make a movie of the concert in 3D, it sounded like it could be the coolest thing in the world,” she recalled. “I love the tour and the show so much. I had started to hate knowing that I wouldn’t be able to hold on to it. But when Jim came in with this idea, I realised that I would be able to re-experience it forever. So my answer was a resounding yes!”
So far, the decision to collaborate has proved a good one. Lucky ticketholders have been moshing in the aisles at pre-screenings around the world, encouraged by Eilish’s calls for them to act like it was a real-life performance and not a projection.
“I want singing along, I want screaming, I want standing up, I want running around,” she said to Capital on the red carpet at the London premiere. “I’m sorry to the theatres.”
With no live dates scheduled and promotion for Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D) nearly wrapped up, Eilish has had more opportunity to work on new music – and gave NME readers a bitesize update about album number four.
“We are working on new music. It’s happening. It’ll be a second but we’re deep in album mode and it’s really fun,” she said. “It’s actually really fun. We’re having a really good time which maybe means it’ll be really shit because [it’s rare that I have] a good time [while making an album]… But we’re right in the middle of it and it’s feeling really good.”
‘Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D)’ is in cinemas now