Interview with Guitarist & Vocalist Elizabeth Ghandour of Elour

March 01, 2024

Interview with Guitarist & Vocalist Elizabeth Ghandour of Elour

By Mick Michaels

The Cosmick View: Hello, and welcome to The Cosmick View/MBM Ten Pounder! Thanks for taking some time to chat with us!
Elizabeth Ghandour: Hey there!

CV: Describe your definition of the band’s sound and style and how does that definition uniquely describe the music?
EG: We describe ourselves as Femme Rock. It comes from a feminine, and sometimes feminist, point of view. It’s angsty and aggressive, not afraid to be emotional. In fact, it encourages valid emotional expression that women often feel compelled to suppress to avoid being called crazy or hysterical.

But it also has moments of fun and playfulness, because Rock is fun and playful even as it’s rebellious. We love it when people dance to our revolution!

The word “femme” can mean to take the feminine to an exaggerated extreme. I like that, and sometimes it’s reflected in my vocal choices. Being a soprano, I can hit some pretty extremely high notes. Used judiciously, this amps up the emotion while giving the audience a thrill!

CV: Today, everyone talks about artist and audience connection. Is such a level of connection actually achievable for an artist and if so, how have you made the connection to your fans?
EG: It’s definitely possible for less well known artists, and is really the core of what makes it ultimately worthwhile. Social media offers a way to present yourself candidly to your audience, and helps find your audience. And when performing to an audience that’s attentive to and excited by your music, the connection has serious power for both the performer and the audience.

CV: Is fan interaction an important part of the band’s inner culture?
EG: Absolutely. I always hope to engage and excite our audience. If we can get them dancing, life is good!

Interaction is the number one way we can make new fans, and it needs to happen to keep our existing fans interested. After shows we like to be in the audience, to hear the other bands, and to give audience members a chance to come up and interact personally. It’s also validating for me when they’re psyched about what they heard and saw.

Also, if they like us personally and don’t feel like we’re living in some stratosphere that makes us socially unattainable, they’re more likely to feel a friendship bond that makes them want to see us again.

Likewise with social media, it’s the candid pictures and posts that people respond to the most. We still have to make posts that promote our gigs, but those aren’t the posts that get the most response, because they’re business, not personal.

CV: Can a band truly interact with its fans and still maintain a level of personal privacy without crossing the line and giving up their “personal space” in your opinion?
EG: I suspect that gets harder as a band becomes bigger. I’d like a chance to find out if that’s true, hah! I think my own music is personal and relatable, especially for women, and I’m willing to give up some privacy in order to be real and genuine.

CV: Is music, and its value, viewed differently around the world in your opinion? If so, what do you see as the biggest difference in such multiple views among various cultures?
EG: I am truly not sure how people value or view music in other cultures around the world. I feel like European countries value music and art more than in the US. But perhaps that’s a kind of “the grass is always greener…” thinking.

CV: Do you feel that a band that has an international appeal, will tend to connect more so to American audiences? Would they be more enticed or intrigued to see the band over indigenous acts because of the foreign flavor?
EG: Speaking from an American perspective, I don’t think so. I think it’s more about cultural similarities.

CV: Has modern-day digital technology made everyone an artist on some level in your opinion? Have the actual lines of what really is an artist been blurred?
EG: I do think the lines have been blurred, but I don’t think technology has reached the point where everyone’s an artist.

I think the core of artistry, in any medium, is the urgent need to express something important to the artist. It’s something in them that has to escape or be shared in order to understand or connect to the world. I don’t think most people feel that urgent need. At least I hope people don’t have that need, for their own sake, because it can be a very demanding and distracting aspect of your existence.

CV: How would you describe the difference between an artist who follows trends and one who sets them?
EG: This really ties in with the previous question. I think an artist is too controlled by that inner need to express their own thing. If their own thing sets a trend, then that’s just a rare bonus. If it follows a trend, well, it can’t be helped… it’s what needed to get out.

CV: Has music overall been splintered into too many sub-genres in an effort to appease fan tastes in your opinion? And has such fan appeasements, in actuality, weakened music’s impact as a whole by dividing audiences?
EG: I don’t have a strong opinion here. Genres are just shorthand ways to describe a sound, and act as signposts to guide you to the music you like. I don’t see that as fan appeasement, but if there are too many signs on the road, I suppose it could make it harder, rather than easier, to find your way. But I doubt that it weakens music’s impact – the people are still on the road! Maybe they’ll follow the wrong sign to a new love!

CV: What can fans expect to see coming next from you?
EG: We’re concentrating on gigging for now and building our audience. We do have new material and we’d like to release a single or two in 2024.

CV: Thanks again for taking some time and talking. It is greatly appreciated.
EG: THANK YOU! Any chance to introduce ourselves to potential new listeners is highly valued!

Check out Elour at:
Website: https://elourmusic.com/
Links: https://elourmusic.com/links

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@elour
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/67RgCROG3DxI9zaWrcKWQc
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/elour/1483538120
Tidal: https://tidal.com/browse/artist/17103799
Bandcamp: https://elour.bandcamp.com/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/elourmusic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elourmusic
Twitter: https://twitter.com/elourmusic
Songkick: https://www.songkick.com/artists/10184862-elour

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My name is Mick Michaels...I'm an artist, music fan, songwriter, producer, show host, dreamer and guitarist for the traditional Heavy Metal band Corners of Sanctuary. Writing has always been a creative outlet for me; what I couldn't say in speech, I was able to do with the written word. Writing has given me a voice and a way for me to create on a multitude of platforms including music and song, articles, independent screenplays, books and now, artist interviews. The Cosmick View is an opportunity to raise the bar and showcase artists in a positive and inspirational light. For me, it's another out-of-this-world adventure.