Billie Eilish doesn’t want to ban filming at her concerts. In the NME interview she explains why cell phones are part of concert culture – and what her new concert film has to do with it.
Billie Eilish expects a sea of cell phone cameras on her tours. The musician told NME that she has no problem with her fans filming her concerts.
“I just think that’s how it is. My generation and the generations after that – we love filming things. All I do is film and photograph things – all the time.”
The reason for this is that many fans want to relive the show at home.
Eilish also sees herself guilty in this case. “When I was young and went to concerts or festivals, I would film every single minute of them – and then watch every single video I shot over and over again until I even knew the sound of the crowd by heart,” she said. “I don’t think this should be taken lightly. A big part of this culture is that we all stare at our damn phones! It keeps us connected. It really does!” That’s why she has no plans to stop filming at her shows in the future.
The singer was only able to build her career thanks to the Internet and video recordings – like many artists today. “Without the internet I wouldn’t have a career. I wouldn’t have fans. Without the internet I wouldn’t have the connections that I have,” she told NME.
Between experience and recording
The criticism of the matter is that many concertgoers no longer really sing and dance along, but instead stand rigidly in the crowd so as not to destroy their recordings. This means that the energy at concerts is significantly dampened, and the fans themselves ultimately only experience the event through their cell phone screens.
For this reason, some artists prohibit filming with cell phones at their live events. Harry Styles, for example, did not allow his fans to take out their cell phones at his album release concert – video and photo material could only be taken with disposable cameras.
However, Eilish doesn’t see a problem with this. She’s also lucky that her fans can also film along to her music, as can be seen in her new concert film “Hit Me Hard and Soft”. She brought this to cinemas together with star director James Cameron on May 7th.
Thanks to modern 3D technology, you feel like you’re at a real Billie Eilish concert. That’s exactly what the singer expects from her fans. “I want people to sing along, I want them to scream, I want them to stand up, I want them to run around,” she told Capital at the London premiere. “I feel sorry for the cinemas.”
