Elipsa is a fresh face to the drum and bass scene here in NZ. She brings a crisp sassiness with her vocals to the fast-paced dnb rhythms within the backing tracks of her music created by producer Tom Lee aka Fairfields. NZ On Air Music included Elipsa’s latest single Take Our Time on their March NewTracks compilation.
My full name is Molly Mexico Foster. I am from Somerset, England (though I consider myself a kiwi gal now). I’ve played the guitar and sang for as long as I can remember.
I did a tiny bit of vocal training in high school, which definitely helped me with my breathing, but I’ve found just singing as much as possible to be the best training!
You may have heard my first single, Alien, which came out in Dec 2020. Otherwise, you’ll have heard me on Underground with Kiwi legends Lee Mvtthews and UK dnb king Grafix.
Elipsa came to be after I realised I wanted an alter ego to release music under. I’d been singing in bars and at weddings all of my teen life, but I felt like I wasn’t achieving my true potential. I started learning to produce in my bedroom in 2018 and posted my creations on Soundcloud. It wasn’t long before an old friend got in contact, needing vocals for his drum and bass track. I had no idea what I was doing but gave it a shot, and little did I know that that one move would turn into a whole career in drum and bass.
My collaborations with local drum and bass producers snowballed from then, as it turned out there weren’t a lot of drum and bass vocalists in the scene at that time.
My work was passed on to the award-winning vocalist and MC Tali (who we refer to as the First Lady of Drum and Bass). Tali had been looking for an emerging artist to mentor, so we met up and immediately connected. She became my manager and gave me the best start in the music industry I could have asked for.
The other person who has been directly involved in my journey is Tom Lee an incredible producer and one half of Lee Mvtthews. He worked with me on my first 2 self-produced singles Alien and Make It Up To Me and has been encouraging and supportive throughout my rise as an artist.
I used to think all of my lyrics had to mean something and that I had to always write from personal experience. I put a lot of pressure on myself to find the perfect words rather than let them flow, which was definitely impacting my ability to grow as a lyricist. Through working with others, I’ve developed the ability to write off the cusp a bit more. I’ve found that now I can write a song that I don’t relate to at first, but the lyrics end up meaning more and more to me over time. I can now enjoy the creative process of it a lot more.
I remember thinking I wanted to come up with a completely new word for my artist name. I had been thinking about words I liked, like “eclipse”. I thought, “how can I make that feminine? Ah, I’ll do what European languages do and add an ‘a’.. Eclipsa, no, that doesn’t work, take out the ‘c’…. ‘Elipsa’, yes!”. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that moment; I was stirring some chickpeas in a pan at my flat in Takapuna.
Playing Rhythm and Vines in 2020 was a big highlight. It had always been a dream to perform there, and the COVID conditions meant I and my accompanying DJ, Willy Mav got more of a prime time slot on one of the bigger stages. I remember feeling on top of the world, so energised and powerful. It just couldn’t have gone better.
I think the honest lyrical content is what makes this track rather special. It really speaks to how transformative the last year has been for us, and I think many will be able to relate to that.
Take Our Time retells a conversation between two friends, one of whom admits they’ve been feeling lost and alone recently. Elipsa acts as that supportive voice to remind them (and the listener) that they have the power to overcome their self-doubt and negative thoughts. When writing the tune, Tom and I wanted it to be a refreshing and uplifting narrative that really touches the soul of the listener.
My favourite moment has to be the adlibs I sing at the end of the song. I just love the melodies and all of the energy in them. They feel like the perfect sign-off to the song, and they’re so much fun to sing!
Fairfields and I wrote Take Our Time during the August lockdown last year in my home studio. We had been processing the news that we weren’t going to be able to play shows for another long while and thought we would turn to music to express how we felt. We had been wanting to make a UK club-style tune as we’d been listening to a lot of Disrupta and Bru-C, so Tom whipped up this incredibly energy-filled instrumental, which I thought would make a great dance track. However, instead of making the lyrical content typically dance-style to match the instrumental, we found ourselves writing something more heartfelt.
I would love for listeners to take away the main message of the song; that they don’t need to rush through life, and if they’re struggling with the pressure, then they should reach out to others around them. It’s through our friendships that we can be pulled out of dark places.
It should be something that most people can connect to right off the bat. If it creates a powerful feeling inside of them, then it’s a good song.
As mentioned earlier, Tom Lee produces and engineers for me, and Tali is my manager. Forte Touring acts as my booking agency, and I distribute my music with DRM.
I have an EP coming out in the latter half of the year, which will be my largest project to date! Can’t wait to show more of my style.
I am yet to get single funding. However, I am going to persist and keep applying! That would be my advice, just keep trying and keep working. If you show your good work ethic and that you’re not going anywhere, you’ll for sure be noticed.
Generally, I have struggled with how to word the marketing side of things in my applications. However, by reaching out to others that have completed applications for funding before, I was able to gain a better understanding of how to answer these questions.
Not really music-related, but I really enjoy listening to the High-Performance Podcast. It’s a UK podcast that digs deep into the minds of highly successful people to figure out what makes them tick and what has led them to their success. It’s helped me think about my journey very retrospectively and how I can use my past experiences to better my future.
Thanks for having me! I’ve got heaps of more music to come this year, so hopefully, you’ll keep an ear out.
