Don't sing like this.
You can strain your vocal chords like - that.
If you sing like this.
Especially if you're-
I should not do it, but
Yeah don't damage yourself.
I know right?
Also singing like this.
Bad.
Yeah, also, triple chins if you're me so...
Right?
You grew up in an extremely musical family.
Mum, dad, brothers all musical and of course your brother...
Yeah
What were family holidays like?
Were you like the kids in the car that were constantly singing?
No!
'Cos that's what I have in my head.
Yo, okay. So you know like...
commercials for like...
I don't know... a car?
Sure.
Like sometimes it's like filming in a car and it's a family
and someones like...
And then like the rest of the family starts like: 'Uh! Yeah!'
'Hey!'
You know, and it's like it keeps going and people start singing...
and then people put harmonys and it's like,
That's unrealistic.
That's like, my whole family's like that.
Like that's how it's been.
It's like you're living in an animated movie.
Yo. Dead ass.
That's what it's lke.
I mean my friends even have said that since I was little.
They were like: 'This is like weird. Like...
...I've never seen this before.'
You know it's like...
It's like... it's pretty funky.
And I mean we were homeschooled.
You know? We got to do what we wanted.
Do you have friends that went to normal school? As well?
All my friends went to normal school.
What do they think about what's happened to you since?
Like how are they reacting?
How are they dealing with their friend, who's now
travelling the world, playing festivals.
Well I think what a lot of people, not just my friends and people I know think, is that...
they don't really realise, that it's my job.
You know?
It's... just because I'm sixteen
and, you know, it's not like a job at a desk in some office somewhere.
It's still my job and I still have to work for it.
'Cos they just don't, they just don't put those together.
Oh this is just some fun thing that has no... you don't have to work at all...
you just have to blehhh.
And I'm like, bro...
You have a tendency to write in character.
Where does that start?
Like where did that begin for you?
I think it started with belly ache.
Which is written in the point of view of a serial killer.
Which I'm going to go ahead and assume that you are not.
I...
No I'm not.
Hey, if you want to admit to being a serial killer on this show. Please do.
You know, I'm not. But...
The way that was written we were sitting in our garage
I was like "sitting all alone, mouth full of gum."
We were like, "where is this going, I have no idea."
Then my brother was like
"my friends aren't far in the back of my car"
Are there bodies, like are you in the car with your friends?
Just cruisin' down the street.
Then I was like, no...
Lay their bodies.
Like we just killed them
Now they're dead in the back of our car.
And that's where it blossomed sort of.
We were like "Okay now we're a serial killer, psychopath."
So it's like that moment where stream of consciousness starts to coalesce into an idea.
And you get yourself into the headspace.
It almost makes songwriting kind of easier to start.
Cause if you just want to write a song without any sort of boundaries or lines.
There's so many things you can do.
Almost where there's too many thing you don't want to do any of them.
Yeah, you need those boundaries.
When there's less it's like, "Oh!"
Like, I've every written a song about somebody...
About me, from the point of view of someone I hurt.
Why did you do that?
Is there something cathartic that you get from doing that?
I do it cause it opens my eyes, really.
I've never met myself, you've never met yourself.
So how can you know what other people think of you?
If you don't really try to put yourself in their place.
Cause you wait for them to tweet about it.
Exactly.
But I'm curious about what you learnt about yourself in the process.
Well, that one particularly was actually really hard to write.
Because it was about my actions being taken wrong, and hurting someone.
I think I started writing it because it wasn't really my place to go back into that person's life
and be like "I'm sorry for this, and I hope we can be friends."
Because I feel like once you've hurt someone enough, you don't deserve to get back into their life anyway.
You can say sorry all you want, but I think...
you know, just backing up and being like
"I'm sorry, I'm gone."
You know what I mean? Just going away.
And I think, the only way that I could have...
that I coped with that was writing about myself.
And trying to improve sort of.
It's like, it's better to leave you alone.
At this stage of your career, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that
100% of the interviews that you've done, at some point have brought up your age.
I'm wondering, are you looking forward to a time when
the conversations with Billie Eilish stop being about how old you are?
I've never thought about it.
Really?
I don't know... I guess it's pretty annoying.
It's also 'cos I can't really...
I'm so young, I can't do anything.
It's better here. Here everything caps off at eighteen.
I know.
I'm so sorry about your 21 year old drinking age.
Actually, so how do you deal with that?
Because a huge chunk of your audience, is young, is your age...
and you are out playing festivals which are over 18...
It sucks.
So what do you guys do about it?
It sucks. I hate it.
I just think it's so stupid.
I love playing the shows I'm playing and I love performing no matter what.
But... if I wanted to go to this festival...
18 and over
I wouldn't be able to go. You know?
I can't even go. They won't even let me in the audience and I'm playing the festival.
How does that work restriction wise?
When you walk in, to green room, up to the stage...
Do you have any freedom to move around outside of that?
Ahh no.
I stay in there and if I don't want to be in there, that's too bad.
I have to stay in there anyway.
I can watch from backstage which is fine.
But it's like... I'm always the one at festivals and shows right at the front.
Like moshing and stuff.
So to limit me to not be able to do that...
Sucks.
And it's like, young fans
they're the ones that care the most
because they have more caring in them
than older people who've lost all of that.
Like when you're-
That's crazy! I just realised that.
When you're young you haven't wasted all your love yet.
Yeah, you're full.
You're full of love.
Billie Eilish, you're an absolute pleasure to talk to.
Thank you so much.
Enjoy the rest of your tour, don't damage your voice.
You too, what the heck?
Don't do this, don't do that.
And none of that.
There it is.
See, tips. I got tips.