There's one thing you should know about the Funkism house, alongside our James Brown shrine we have one for the lovely Ellie Goulding where we worship her quavery voice. Statues, photos, love letters, the lot. Though we have every reason to be showing such affection because, albeit the female singer-songwriter market is largely saturated, Ellie has dug herself a trench and looks to be the only girl out there with the longevity to secure your hearts year after year. Her style is intriguing with a sound akin to a blend of folk, electronic, pop and dubstep- how does that work I hear you say? Well deceivingly it's a formula to her magic. Fortunately I was able to get the chance to interview Ellie Goulding a couple of weeks back and we talked about 70s afro porn, musical chairs and superhero powers. Below is a selection of her tracks that you can listen to before, during or after the interview so you can decide for yourself. You'll have to thank our Neon Gold Records and Discodust friends respectively for shedding the light on these. Please show your support for Ellie on her myspace.

Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed
Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed (Jakwob Remix)
Ellie Goulding - Guns And Horses
Ellie Goulding - Wish I Stayed feat. Frankmusik
Ellie Goulding - The Wolves (Bon Iver Cover)

Pablo, Funkism: Ellie Goulding, what's the dream? Does it involve a time-machine? 70s afro porn? A strategically placed vase?

Ellie Goulding: How on earth did you know that? You hit the proverbial nail right on the head with 70's afro porn. Sounds like a dream I need to have. Seriously.

Pablo: Seriously, yes! So as a female singer-songwriter, what do you think differentiates yourself from the others?

Ellie: Ah not much. We're all the same you see. I can't really answer that without sounding a bit narcissistic. I'm not especially desperate to be a glorified pop star... maybe that helps? I dunno. I do know that a lot of female singers I've encountered have a lot of other musicians from the past/present to look up to, I don't have any, I'm sort of ashamed to say. I go at it blind.

Pablo: Can you tell me the secret of how you manage to delve into folk, electronic and dubstep music seamlessly?

Ellie: My songs naturally sound folky because I start them on guitar. Then I work with people who are good at electro and refuse to take the guitar off it and it kind of works. Most of the time.

Pablo: I have to ask but would you ever consider doing a disco track? I can imagine big vocals, bright colours and lots of naked carefree dancing.

Ellie: Probably. Would I get to be naked in the video? I would do it so long as I it wasn't too cheesy. I'd love to cover "Midas touch" by Midnight star. Boards of Canada do an amazing remix. I would dance the fucking night away to that.

Pablo: You know I may just have to hold you to that one day. Who would win in a game of musical chairs between yourself, Starsmith, Goldsmith, Basement Jaxx and Frankmusik? Cheating definitely allowed.

Ellie: Well Goldsmith is me and Starsmith (Starsmith- Goulding, Get it?) So definitely Goldsmith. And no cheating.

Pablo: It's been whispered to me that you might be doing some recording with the now not so anonymous Burial. Is this true? Or has somebody been telling me porkies?

Ellie: Haha. Porkies. We are good friends, that's all really.

Pablo: So what makes your day? You know when you're down and this certain something just makes you smile no matter what.

Ellie: Nice strangers. People who do things just from the kindness of their heart. Sounds like a cliché but it seems to be rare in London, and when it actually happens I can't help but smile and smile. Or seeing it happen to other people. People are afraid of doing something out of the ordinary because they're afraid of humiliation. But I think its very admirable. Collective senses of humour on the tube is funny too, like when someone trips up on the train or does something fucking random and everyone just looks at each other and sniggers. Nice sense of human, collective understanding and behaviour. That makes me smile.

Pablo: So if I tripped someone up on the train, would you be persuaded in telling us what the future has in store for Ellie Goulding? I tried building a time machine but the crystals melted in my pocket.

Ellie: Flattery gets you everywhere, that's all I can say about that. The future? Who knows. I barely know what I'm doing tomorrow, let alone in a few years. Same goes for the past. I think I smoked a bit too much weed when I was fifteen because I have serious short term memory-loss.

Pablo: You're a superhero. You're wearing some tight pants and have a purple cape, possibly some animal sidekicks, but there's this girl called Josephine who's struggling to find new music. How do you save her?

Ellie: I have no idea. I only listen to Bon Iver really. Alternatively she could try going to gigs... remember those? LIVE music? I think they involve instruments and people singing!

Pablo: Who would be your evil arch enemy? A big scary nemesis out to get you or a metaphorical flaw?

Ellie: My arch enemy is almost certainly a metaphorical flaw. Self- doubt. It prods me quite often and at times starts to thump me and I just sort of have to prod and thump back, and I need people to help me too (i.e fans). Loneliness helps me write a lot of my songs but I have a feeling it is sleeping with the enemy.

Pablo: And what would your special powers be?

Ellie: HOPE!

I have to thank Ellie Goulding for taking the time out to do this interview with me and even though she's unsigned so far, it's not going to be too long before she's going to explode onto everybody's itunes. If she's good enough for Neon Gold Records, it's certainly a sign for good things to come.

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