Ella Hooper said Killing Heidi returned to the stage in 2016, despite having broken up or gone on hiatus with no plans to play again. She felt nervous before those shows, but the response surprised her: big venues sold out, and young fans appeared whose parents said they’d named their daughters Ella after her.
A band’s return
At one performance, Hooper spotted a girl holding a sign: “I’m Ella too, I was named after you.” Since then, she’s met many “little Ellas” whose parents have told her, “She’s an Ella because of you!” Asked if she felt responsible for them, Hooper joked, “To lead them astray? Yes!”
The band’s return came as a surprise. Before those shows, Hooper said, nobody had planned to perform again. She felt nervous when they started back, but the response was “fantastic,” with big sold-out shows. Their renewed performances also brought a new generation of listeners who know Hooper’s name through their parents.
Hooper also talked about choosing to pursue solo music. A conversation with Stevie Nicks helped her decide, though she was already thinking about her musical direction. Hooper’s band the Verses supported Fleetwood Mac, giving its members a chance to see the group night after night and speak with its members.
Hooper said she loved Nicks and was listening to her solo songs “Stand Back” and “Edge of Seventeen.” Nicks had worked in folk and rock, Hooper said, and “she’s not been afraid to try anything.” Nicks told her, “you can always go back to bands. It doesn’t have to be a closed door.” That conversation helped Hooper feel she could try different approaches herself.
Songs, stages and influences
Hooper called her new album, Overnight Success, Americana and said she’d like to hear PJ Harvey make an Americana album. Harvey “dabbles in folk” and draws on “old English traditional and Celtic roots stuff,” Hooper said, adding that it was “only a hop, skip and a jump away from Americana.” The album “is out now.”
At an outdoor festival in Darwin, Hooper got “so into the moment” that she threw a silver boot into the crowd. “There was something crazy in the air – there’s always something crazy in the air in Darwin,” she said. She never saw the boot again and had to hobble home barefoot. The incident happened “a few years ago,” she said, and she might be “slightly less silly now.”
About 10 years ago, Hooper had an awkward encounter with Billy Bragg. She ran into him as he was leaving the Rolling Stone offices and said, “Oh my god, my mum loves you.” Bragg replied with something like, “If I had a dollar for every time that a young lady said that to me … ” Hooper answered, “Oh yeah, sorry. I love you too.” These days, young people tell her “my mum loves you,” too. “It’s just part of the journey!”
Touring and personal routines
When a long tour leaves her losing her voice toward the end, Hooper said she sometimes takes steroids to sing. She calls them “very activating,” and said it can be hard to wind down afterward. As soon as she walks off stage, she starts her routine, hoping to sleep by 2am or 3am. She gets warm and travels with incense, lavender oil, a steamer and scarves to cover lamps.
Recently, she’s been making herself put down her phone and read a book. “It does work. It’s so annoying. I want the phone, the phone is so delicious! But no.” Hooper also described herself as a good friend, good in a crisis, a very good listener and extremely loyal. She’s kept the same friendship group since high school, before her “rock’n’roll experience,” but admitted, “I’m a shit secret keeper! I’ll listen, but I’ll repeat it.”