Elijah Noll w/ Powerful New Song "Alive" + Interview On How He Became Grateful

Elijah Noll in a talented rising star born and raised in Portland, Maine and now based in the city of Angels. He got into music young after encouragement from his mother who he joined singing and playing in drum circles. He started classical violin at 2 years old and played for 13 years. He found his true passion when he picked up guitar at age 14 and began writing songs as a singer-songwriter.

His new song “Alive” will leave you with a strong sense of gratitude as he sings about how grateful he is to just be alive. Lyrically and musically the song is both stunning and compelling. It’s the type of song that you will want to hear over and over again. It’s the type of song that makes you feel good. It’s the type of song that gets you thinking of what you want to do with your life and how to make it happen. It’s the type of song that makes you live in the moment and not drown in sorrow. It will leave your heart feeling hopeful.

His vocal starts off soothing and his lyrics are delivered in a unique way. He belts through the pre-chorus and chorus of the song furthering showing off his vocal abilities and writing abilities. The music video perfectly compliments the vibe of the song as Elijah is charismatic and raw in his performance. He comes across as a natural performer who would be sure to entertain during his live show! We had the opportunity to talk to him and hear about the inspiration of the song and learn about his perspective of gratitude towards life.

RTP: What went into the making of Alive? What experiences inspired you to write this song?

EN: I started this song on the violin. This was the actually first time I have ever done this. Usually I would sit down with a guitar to get some ideas going. In this case, I had Ableton (music software) open, and was just looping violin parts over each other. You can hear the violins come in right at the start of the track. I loved the building/ anticipated feeling that the strings gave me. That kind of dictated how the rest of the track would pan out. It’s basically one big build, which is why I placed it as the intro track to my mixtape. I had my friend Julian Bell do some epic guitar solos over the track after I had the rest of the parts in place. Lyrically, I tuned into the feeling that the instrumental was giving me, and ‘Gratitude’ was the first to surface. “So lucky to be alive for another night.” I’ve seen a good amount of people close to me pass away, and although these were difficult times, I look back and I feel grateful that I’m healthy, and still on this Earth experiencing all of the joys of life. It took some time to get to the point of true appreciation, but for anyone going through hard times right now, it’s a reminder that things always get better.

RTP: What type of loses and battles have you experienced throughout your life? How does this come into your music?

EN: My dad died when I was 12 after a long ten year battle with cancer. I spent much of my young life living in and out of hospitals with my family. My mom used to distract us from all of that by taking us to art museums and concerts. Music and art have always been a healing mechanism for me. At the age of 15, in the midst of pretty heavy depression I had open heart surgery to fix an issue I had since birth. Coming out on the other side really changed my perspective on life, once I was able to dig myself out of the darkness. This video for ‘Alive’ is meant to show that feeling of gratefulness for having air in my lungs, and overcoming a bunch of craziness in my life. Our darkest days are what really shape us. Just gotta get through to the other side.