EYE CANDY #3: Billie Eilish

WHO IS BILLIE?

Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell was born in Los Angeles, California, on December 18, 2001, the daughter of Maggie Baird and Patrick O'Connell, both of whom are in the entertainment industry. She is of Irish and Scottish descent and was raised in Los Angeles' Highland Park. Eilish was homeschooled and joined the Los Angeles Children's Chorus at age eight. She began singing at a young age and began writing songs at age 11, taking after her elder brother Finneas O'Connell, who was already writing, performing, and producing his own songs with his band. She gained a following in 2016 when she released her debut single "Ocean Eyes" on audio distribution platform SoundCloud, subsequently released on the record labels Darkroom and Interscope Records.

UMMM... WHAT IS SHE ALL ABOUT GWAP?

Eilish and her brother Finneas collaborate on songwriting. Eilish called Finneas her partner in making music. He produces her music and also performs with her on live shows. Eilish and Finneas "like to completely make up things and become characters" and "have songs that are really fictional". Eilish said a number of the songs also derive from her and Finneas' experiences. They try to write "really interesting and conversational" lyrics: "We try to say stuff that doesn't have to be that deep [...] but you say something way deeper in a certain way that makes sense, but you haven't really thought about."

Finneas has stated when he writes songs for his sister, he aims to "write [songs] that I think she'll relate to and enjoy singing and empathise with the lyrics and make her own".When he writes with Eilish, he tries "to help her tell whatever story she's trying to tell, bounce ideas off of her, listen to her ideas", and use a language that fits her voice telling the story.

SO IS SHE A ONE HIT WONDER?

Her debut EP, Don't Smile at Me (2017), reached the top 15 in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, and spawned the single "Bellyache". Eilish also collaborated with American singer Khalid for the single "Lovely", which was released in April 2018 and added to the soundtrack for the second season of 13 Reasons Why. Her debut studio album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019) debuted atop the Billboard 200 and reached number one in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. The album contains the US Billboard Hot 100 top 40 singles "When the Party's Over", "Bury a Friend" and "Wish You Were Gay", and top 10 "Bad Guy". Eilish has seven gold and three platinum singles in the United States. Eilish and her musician brother Finneas collaborate on her music.

SHE DRESSES... INTERESTING.

Eilish's clothing style consists primarily of baggy, ill-fitting clothing. She said that Tyler, the Creator influenced her aesthetic. In 2017, Eilish stated that she likes dressing out of her comfort zone to feel like she grabs the attention of everyone around her. Eilish tries to be "really different from a lot of people", and wears clothing opposite to what others are wearing. Aiming to "look memorable", Eilish said she believes she "proved to people that I'm more important than they think", and she is "kind of intimidating, so people will listen up." In 2019, Eilish appeared in a Calvin Klein ad, wherein she mentioned that she dresses in baggy clothes in order to prevent people from body shaming her. She has noted Rihanna as an inspiration for this style choice, after she called fashion her "defense mechanism" during an acceptance speech.

SHE DID WHAT?

In April 2019, Eilish released clothing in collaboration with Takashi Murakami, inspired by her music video for "You Should See Me in a Crown", also directed and animated by Murakami, as well as a limited edition vinyl figure of herself from the video. Eilish also collaborated with Adobe Creative Cloud the same month for a series of advertisementsas well as a social media art contest, where users would submit artwork with the hashtag "#BILLIExADOBE".Eilish appeared in the debut of Calvin Klein's "I Speak My Truth In #MyCalvins" ad campaign in May 2019, as well as the Ad Council's "Seize the Awkward" campaign, a series of PSAs targeting mental health awareness. She fronted MCM Worldwide's fall 2019 advertising campaign in July 2019, and later that month, collaborated with Los Angeles-based clothing brand Freak City for a clothing line. Also in July 2019, she performed at a dinner hosted by Chanel on Shelter Island to celebrate the brand's pop-up yacht club.

So what is she like when we hang out?

Billie Eilish holds great compassion and seeks to be of service to others. She is a healer, and capable of giving comfort to those in need - she will frequently offer a shoulder for others to cry on. But actually, Billie's mission in life is to develop the tools that allow her to be truly helpful to others rather than just a sympathetic ear. Billie Eilish must find the balance between help and interference, and the delicate art of the counselor who knows when to leave the struggle to others and when to avoid taking away the necessary experiences and lessons of life.