Q&A: A conversation with pop artist Karina Eleni

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words and photos by Ruby Tavano

Pop singer-songwriter Karina Eleni headlined the Moroccan Lounge in Los Angeles on Wednesday, August 5, following the release of her EP, How To Love Me, earlier this year. Her stage presence is captivating and it’s hard to take your eyes off her once she hits the stage. Throughout the night, she performed a mix of new music, unreleased tracks, older songs, and covers of beloved pop artists. The intimate room made for an incredibly fun atmosphere, with the audience dancing and singing along with Karina, truly matching her energy from start to finish.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Karina before the show, and her energy is just as infectious in person as it comes across online. We dove into her creative process alongside her close friends, her favorite spots in Los Angeles and New York, her love for Greece, and the moments she was most excited to bring to the stage that night. Karina is nothing short of a pop star, and she’s definitely one to watch as she continues to rise.

ECHO MAGAZINE: At the beginning of this year, you released your first EP, How To Love Me. Tell me a bit about it and what it means to you.

KARINA: I definitely wanted to put different types of me into the EP. I have “Used By You” as my one ballad in there that’s more vulnerable and shows a deeper side of me. Then I have songs like “BODY” and “Darlin,” which are very confident, positive, girl-power vibes, which I’m doing for you tonight.

I guess I kind of just wanted to give a piece of me in every song in a different way, because we all have different sides. Being able to be 1,000% yourself and authentic is always fun.

For that EP, I did a lot of electronic stuff, which I had always really wanted to dive into. It’s heavy on the electronic side, and I’m happy I did that for my first EP. Now, I think for my second EP, I want to make it more instrumental and show a different side. 

What song are you most excited to perform tonight?

KARINA: I actually do have one. It’s a new song that I just recorded called “Sick.” I’m excited to be performing that today for the first time in Los Angeles and the second time ever. I’m most excited about that one.

If you could describe a Karina Eleni show in a couple of words, what would you use?

KARINA: Vibrant. Sexy. Fun. And dance. I want people to dance in the crowd.

In your song “Feel You,” if you listen closely, you can hear a little bit of it being sung in Greek, and you also filmed the music video in Greece. What does that place and culture mean to you?

KARINA: I love that song. That, for me, is definitely one of my favorites. I’m Greek, and I grew up going to the beach bars and hearing all those club songs. They’re so good, sexy, and fun. It’s Europe. It’s Euro summer.

So I started writing “Feel You,” and I wanted to do more of that sexy vibe. Obviously, the dream is for it to be played in Greece one day, so I was like, screw it, I’m going to do a verse in Greek. I’m pretty much saying, “Come close to me, baby, closer and closer.”

When I graduated from college, my best friends and I went to Greece. We kind of just looked at each other and were like, “We should make a music video.” We were already there, so we did it with zero budget and made it as fun, crazy, and exciting as we wanted.

We would literally be at the beach and be like, “Okay, let’s do it.” Or we’d be at a beach club and be like, “Boom, free lighting. Let’s do it.” It was a really lovely, fun, easy, laid-back experience, and it came out fun and awesome.

You’ve posted before on social media about working on your EP with your friend, producer, and co-writer Olivia Taylor Cohen. I would love to hear more about that experience and how it transformed the EP into the work it is today.

KARINA: I love Olivia. I kind of came up to her and was like, “I want to make an EP, and I want to make it with you.” I wanted it to just be two women in a bedroom in Brooklyn building an EP. There were no mistakes. We could try a bunch of things, and whatever felt good to us, we would do it.

That experience for me was just very wholesome and exciting. Every day that I went in to work with her, I was hungry and excited, and I left feeling fully complete. It definitely gave me a platform to really implement what I wanted production-wise in the songs.

With other producers, I know exactly what I want, some producers aren’t always open to that. Whereas Olivia and I were very much a partnership. Honestly, that’s something I now look for in all the producers I work with, that they’re open to having me give my opinion because, at the end of the day, it is my song. I have a vision in my head.

I’m very grateful for that experience. I love the way it came out, and it was a great way to start.

I’m also very lucky to have really amazing friends who help me in all aspects of my career. My best friend Kayla helps me with my outfits, my hair, my makeup, and photography. My best friend Mack, I call him my creative director. He’ll be like, “You need to post this,” or, “For this song, we should do a shoot like this.” I do pretty much all of my shoots with him or Kayla.

Those are just two examples of all my friends. I love them as much as they love me, and there’s trust. You can be like, “Is this something I should do?” and they’re like, “Absolutely.” Or, “Is this something I shouldn’t do?” and they’ll tell you. They’re always doing it for the betterment of you.

You have a very definitive star-power stage presence. Is there a dream venue you would one day like to perform at?

KARINA: Madison Square Garden is the dream. And that’s going to happen. We manifest.

I saw on your website that you split your time between LA and New York. Coincidentally, me too. I was curious as to what your one go-to spot is in each place.

KARINA: This is such a hard question. I feel like we’re always looking for a cute wine bar. There’s this spot in New York called Bisou, and it’s just cute. I feel like I’m in Europe, and it’s great for a little wine moment.

Or, honestly, just going to your friends’ places. I have a little deck where we can sit on the roof.

For LA, I have so many spots. I grew up here, so a lot of the spots are nostalgic for me. For coffee, I would have to say Philz. Those would be my two little spots of joy.

Now, this is one question I always ask my friends as a music lover. Are you a lyrics person or a music person?

KARINA: I’m definitely more of a melody person, but when I get a good line, I love it. I love collaborating with other writers, too. It all plays together. When it all goes together, you’re like, “Yeah.” I love when it clicks.

I definitely feel like I’ve been more into freestyling lyrics, seeing what comes, and when something sticks, it sticks. Probably a little bit of both, but more so melodies.