Brightest Young Things

Not too long ago, I briefly interviewed a talented young woman. Hopefully, she'll soon be playing in the D.C. area.

Remember this name: Elle King.

The fashionable 19-year-old's piercing voice and heartfelt lyrics will captivate you.

“I feel completely at home when I’m performing, and it gives me the biggest rush,” says the singer-songwriter. “So, I’ve pretty much always known I wanted to be a performer.”

King is wearing black high-waisted trousers, a silk black tank top and her most treasured possession, a black leather jacket. She’s a fan of designers Jill Stuart, Marc Jacobs and Zac Posen, as well as the lingerie line Agent Provocateur.

“My style is always changing,” says King. “There’s no real category to put it in.”

The striking bleached-blonde shares that she mostly shops in thrift stores, since she finds herself cutting and sewing her own creations.

“I don’t shop that much,” she says. “Somehow, over the years, I have collected so many items of clothing that I couldn’t possibly fit anything else in my little apartment.”

While her style inspirations vary, King loves the way women dressed in the 50s.

“I find myself constantly studying old pinup photographs for their hairstyles,” she adds.

King makes sweet music

Brooklyn-based King, who was born in Los Angeles “to some crazy, wonderful parents,” moved to New York when she was 11 years old.

“My amazing step-dad was the lead singer in a kick-ass band called Bob City,” she says. “He was from New York, so he moved us with him.”

King, who just finished her “pretty outrageous” first year of college, explains that he was the one who put a guitar in her hands.

“I practiced until my fingers bled and sang until my voice went out,” says King, who has been writing music since she was 13 years old.

She will be rerecording her songs and dropping an album as soon as she can, she says.

In the mean time, fans can check out the video for “No One Can Save You,” a song King wrote after “a really heart wrenching time.” Her friend, filmmaker Jason Druss, directed the recording.

“We had a blast,” she says. “[We] made the whole thing in 12 hours.”

Today, the performer plays her songs around the New York City area.

“I am so excited to be touring,” she says. “It’s really nice that I used to go to these shows, and now I’m playing them.”

King, who is greatly influenced by soul singer-songwriter Otis Redding and Rachel Nagy of The Detroit Cobras, adds that she hopes to tour across the country.

“Music brings me happiness, and I want to feel this way forever,” she says. “I think that means that I’ll be singing and performing for a long time.”

Listen to her songs.