Credit: Shane McCauleyElle King recently wrapped up her first-ever headlining tour in support of her debut album Love Stuff and her hit single "Ex's and Oh's," and on Saturday, she'll make her debut at Lollapalooza. The singer, who was VH1's You Oughta Know artist for July, says for her, festivals are a chance to enjoy new music, and gain new fans.
"It's really cool for me to see a lot of these new acts that I've been loving," King tells ABC Radio, adding that she's also "so excited" to see Paul McCartney, one of this year's Lollapalooza headliners. But she says the opportunity to win over people who may not be familiar with her music is thrilling as well.
"I think that I get a lot of new fans by people seeing me live, because me and my band, I think that we're good performers live," King says. "I like to see on social media the new fans I get after performing at a festival...some people may not know who I am but they just hear me and if they like my music, that's an exciting thing. That's what festivals are cool for."
Even if people who check out King's set at Lollapalooza don't know her entire album, they probably known her cheeky single "Ex's and Oh's," which currently sits in the top-five at Alternative radio. The singer says she really gets a kick out of performing the song live because the response is always so enthusiastic.
"I like to engage the audience and the fans and I like to play with them," King tells ABC Radio. "And so I do a couple of songs and I go, 'Do you guys know the words to my songs?'...and then I’ll kind of go, 'Well, maybe you know the words to this song.' And it's just...they go crazy!"
"It's awesome to have a single like that," she laughs. "And yeah, 'Ex’s' can make you lose some hearing!"
In addition to Lollapalooza, King is also set to perform at the Squamish Valley Music Festival, Bumbershoot, Atlanta's Music Midtown and more. She'll be opening for fellow Lolla performer James Bay in the U.K. and Ireland later this year.
The Lollapalooza 20015 lineup also includes Metallica, Florence + the Machine, Alabama Shakes, Of Monsters and Men, Alt-J and Twenty One Pilots.
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