Billie Eilish has opened up about being on the road without her brother Finneas for the first time and avoiding loneliness on tour.
During a conversation with CBS News, the pop star spoke to Anthony Mason about her current tour in support of her third album ‘Hit Me Hard And Soft’. The arena tour sees Eilish hit the road without her brother Finneas and her parents for the first time.
Speaking about the difference of this tour compared to her previous run of dates, Eilish shared: “I’ve never done a show without my brother in my life. I mean, I’ve barely performed and sung without my brother, like never. I don’t have my parents on the road. I mean, they’re coming out to visit, and that’s been amazing. But I don’t have the same kind of structure that I had before.”
When asked by Mason if she had to prepare herself to embark on tour without her brother, the ‘Birds Of A Feather’ singer said: “Yes, we talked about that happening like two years ago and it’s been a known thing within our family for two years. We were like, ‘Oh no, it’ll be great,’ and it’s what’s right, and whatever. And then, two weeks until I was gonna leave came, and we were both getting a little sad and just bittersweet, and emotional.
“And then the couple days before I left, I was kind of a mess. Just a little choked up every time I’d talk about it or think about it. Finneas was so sweet about it, and he was like, ‘You know, this is the way it is right now but like, if you ever need me, I will get on a plane as soon as you want,’ which is really sweet.”
Though Finneas and their parents are not on the road with her, they have come out to a handful of dates, with the ‘For Cryin’ Out Loud!’ singer performing with Eilish at Newark’s Prudential Center as well as her three-night run at NYC’s Madison Square Garden.
Eilish also added that instead of preparing emotionally for her solo tour, she took precautions to avoid the feeling of loneliness that had made her previous tours take a depressive toll on her.
In order to avoid the loneliness of the road, Eilish revealed that she had done things like bringing her “best friends as my openers, hiring a couple of my best friends as my backup singers, hiring more band members, bringing another one of my best friends to work on tour. Make sure we’re going to the park, make sure we’re playing games, make sure we’re getting food, going out.”
“Tour has been such a depressive experience in my life in the past and I’ve said this before, but I had like, a realization where I was like, ‘Oh, this isn’t just, like a temporary thing that I have to suffer through.’ I can make this enjoyable. It should be enjoyable. I love doing the shows so much that I shouldn’t have to just be miserable up until the show. It should be like the whole day is, you know, obviously it’s like travel, and it’s tiring and it’s gruesome, but it’s fun.”
However, despite Finneas being largely absent from her current tour, Eilish has insisted that she will continue working with him.
In an with the Los Angeles Times, it was noted that Finneas would be joining his sister onstage “as his schedule permits”. When asked by the publication if any conclusions should be drawn from Finneas’ absence, Eilish responded: “It’s really not the end of anything. You can’t be in two places at once.”
Elsewhere, Finneas recently revealed he has given Eilish a “basic” kit so she can learn how to produce music herself.
“I’ve been setting up Billie’s recording studio for her so she can do home production without me, because she’s very good at it!”, he told Guitar.com.
He continued: “And it’s funny, I’ve been giving her, like, the bare minimum of stuff, just so that she learns it all. I’m like, ‘Listen, I could give you all the stuff that I use now, but it took me years to even have a use for it. And, if I give you this basic thing, it’ll make sense to you right away.’”
In other news, Eilish recently played two new snippets of some songs, revealing that she has been “making music” again.
