Elijah Delgado talks artistry, journey to ACL

Elijah Delgado, an Austin-raised singer-songwriter, performed at the Austin City Limits Music Festival for the first time Friday, featuring songs from his EP Wherever You Go, There You Are, released earlier this year. The Daily Texan sat down with Delgado following his performance.

The Daily Texan: How did it feel performing yesterday and getting this opportunity?

Elijah Delgado: It was crazy. It was so surreal. I grew up going to ACL, I’ve had literal dreams from that perspective, so to actually experience it was gnarly. I feel like I’m still processing, and I don’t know if it’ll hit me until after this weekend that this was real.

DT: How did you first get into music?

ED: Partly growing up in Austin, just being surrounded by music. My family, they love music, so there was always something playing in the house, like Saturday morning, waking up to flamenco music or blues. I think they’ve always been super supportive, and I started writing songs when I was 6 years old … And then writing when I was 13, 14, and then in high school (was) when I was like, “Okay … this is something people do, so I want to do it.” It feels like it’s been with me most of my life.

DT: Your lyricism is incredibly honest. What is the process behind opening up in your songs to listeners?

ED: I think it’s the only form of songwriting that I know how (to do). My approach is always to write music as vulnerably as I can, without telling the listener how to feel. It’s so important to me for someone to hear my music and to be able to relate in their own ways, which can be totally separate from what I was even writing about … From there, I sit with my guitar, and my melodies and chord progressions always dictate the emotion of the song.

DT: Looking back on when you first released When I Was on Cloud 9 in 2021, how do you think you’ve grown since then?

ED: Oh man, so much. Mostly just life experience. I was 16, 17, when I wrote most of those songs, and I love those songs still. But I’ve just learned so much about myself. I’ve been able to work with amazing collaborators, production, songwriting, and that’s opened up my brain to all the possibilities of things you could do when making music, and I hope that’s reflected in my more recent work.

DT: Do you have any advice for college students trying to break into the music industry?

ED: I love this question because when I think about myself trying to break into music, there’s this place that you have to be that is like, “I don’t know how to do that or how to get there.” But I think if you have this drive and this confidence of, “But I’m going to,” that’s the most important thing. Being secure and confident in yourself and your abilities, and … being a good person. That was always the advice that I got … When I heard that growing up, I was like, “What? There’s got to be more to it than that.”…  If you’re a good person and if you’re working hard, there’s nothing that can really stop you.

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