Eleni Drake on CHUCK and Change

Photo by Alice Rose Lee

British-Greek singer-songwriter Eleni Drake has built a devoted following since her first single ‘Ceilings’ arrived in 2019, blending alternative, indie, and soul influences with intimate, self-written storytelling. Now pulling over 345,000 monthly listeners, she’s become best known for ‘King Street,’ a track that has surpassed eight million streams and introduced many to her warm, hazy, emotionally grounded sound. 

Drake’s musical world has been shaped by an eclectic past – from childhood CDs of ocean sounds and flute atmosphere, to Nirvana, Paramore, and later Mazzy Star and Mac Miller. She picked up a guitar at eleven, teaching herself to play upside-down because the school guitars were all right-handed, and recorded her first song at fifteen. After university, she initially planned to write and produce for others, but encouragement from those around her pushed her toward releasing her own work. Her new album CHUCK, released at the end of October, came together at remarkable speed: written last August, taken into the studio by December, and fully mastered by early this year. The project marks her most confident and cohesive era yet, arriving just months after her first-ever tour and expanding the introspective world she’s always written from.

We spoke with Eleni about the making of CHUCK, how movement and environment shape her writing, and the evolving influences behind her sound. 

CHUCK came together quickly – from writing last August to being fully mastered by early this year. What did working at that pace reveal about where you are creatively right now?

Photo by Paul Fencaros

It showed me I have no patience and that when I get an idea, it just gets done. But honestly, it all fell into place naturally. There wasn’t any pressure or deadline, it just moved fast because it felt right. 

You’ve said you’ve only ever written music from personal experience. As you evolve, do you feel that approach expanding, or is that intimacy still at the core of what drives your songwriting?

Right now, writing from my own perspective feels the most natural. But I’m open to changing that one day…maybe I’ll get bored of myself and start writing from someone else’s point of view. I’m not closed off to it, it’s just easier and more honest to speak from my own life at the moment. 

How much does movement influence your creative process? Do songs come differently when you’re travelling, home in Greece, or rooted in your everyday London rhythm? 

I wish I had a cooler answer but being in Greece or the UK doesn’t directly spark creativity for me – it’s more about the space I’m living in. My ‘internal home,’ my environment, that’s what inspires me. I love nature and being near water, whether that’s in Greece or the UK. So the place matters, but not in the strict location-based way people expect. 

Would you then say that it possibly influences your lyrics instead? 

Definitely. I go back to the same island I’m from every year, but I’m a different version of myself each time. The island stays the same, and so do the people, but I see it through a different lens with every visit. Sometimes that feels positive, sometimes it’s harder, but either way it shapes how I think and write. 

Your musical roots stretch from ocean-sound CDs to Nirvana, Paramore and eventually Mazzy Star and Mac Miller. How do you see those early, very different influences showing up in your sound today? 

Mazzy Star is the world I live in now, sonically. When I was younger, listening to Nirvana or Mac Miller, I didn’t sound like them at all – but I loved how their music made me feel. That emotional connection is what I try to translate into my own songs. Not the sound, but the feeling. 

Photo by Alice Rose Lee

You learned guitar upside down because you’re left-handed – has that unconventional starting point shaped the way you write or approach melodies? 

I picked up the guitar that way without knowing it was ‘wrong,’ and didn’t know I was doing it wrongly until someone said ‘What the fuck are you doing?’ I was very young and I wanted to get a left-handed guitar but they were so expensive that I just ended up learning this way. It wasn’t a stylistic choice, just convenience but it has shaped how I play. Some chords I can only play because of the upside-down set up. If I’d learned the conventional way, maybe I’d be a better guitarist, but this way has given me a different melodic perspective. I play things I probably wouldn’t think of otherwise. 

Last November you completed your first-ever tour. Now that some time has passed, what stayed with you from that experience? 

Honestly, the best part was being with my friends. My band are some of my closest people, and spending every day with them was just easy and fun. The music industry can feel heavy, but touring made me realise how lucky I am. Supporting Flipturn and forming that connection was also really special. The human side of touring – the friendships, the strangers you meet – that’s what sticks. 

If you could support any bands at the moment, who would you pick? 

Big Thief and Arcy Drive. Big Thief feels epic to me and they’ve soundtracked half a decade of my life. Adrianne Lenker is an unbelievable songwriter, so opening for them would be a dream. Arcy Drive has such great energy and a solid discography. They’re more high-energy than me, but I think our worlds could meet in a cool way. 

With CHUCK now in the world and reaching such a wide audience, what excited you most about this next phase – whether that’s sound-wise, live performance, or even stepping into new roles like production again? 

I’m excited to play these songs live and let them evolve. They stay true to the recordings, but I like shifting small things to keep it fresh for me and the audience. I love giving songs a slightly different life on stage. Releasing this album feels like a closing chapter. I’m happy it’s out and I’m grateful people connect with it. Now I’m ready to move forward. 

Listen to Eleni on Spotify, Apple Music, or SoundCloud, and follow her on Instagram to keep up to date.