elijah woods on being mistaken for The Lord of the Rings actor, & debut album, Can We Talk?

Fresh off his headline tour across Asia, L.A.-based pop artist and producer, elijah woods, discusses the misunderstandings that come with having a very similar name to a certain The Lord of the Rings actor, why he fears the return of skinny jeans, and he delves into the inspiration behind his new single, Slicked Back Hair, and debut album, Can We Talk?.

With four JUNO Award nominations, multiple platinum and gold certifications, over 1 billion career streams, and high-profile performances including opening for Niall Horan in Jakarta, elijah woods has built a global following – and entirely as an independent artist. Across 11 songs, Can We Talk? blends raw vulnerability with irresistible hooks, affirming the singer-songwriter as an artist who thrives in the space where honesty and undeniable pop energy meet.

Where are you speaking to Headliner from today?

I’m currently in Los Angeles. I’ve been home for a couple of weeks now, and it’s been great. I’m originally Canadian, so this is like my quasi-home right now. It’s lovely and the weather is incredible, that was largely why we moved here. I grew up in a really small town just outside Ottawa, and I really enjoyed it.

Who is the first artist you can remember having an impact on you?

I got into two main bands early on, mostly because of my older brothers. When I was growing up, I had this little tape machine and I’d record songs off the radio. One day, my older brother made me a mixtape, and it was mostly Limp Bizkit and The Offspring. I

was eight years old, listening to it, and it’s definitely not age-appropriate for an eight-year-old! I was just swearing along, especially to Break Stuff, which was huge for me. I didn’t even know what it all meant; I just thought it was cool because my brother liked it.

That mixtape also had one Eminem track that really grabbed me – early Eminem, probably from The Marshall Mathers LP, with all the dark, violent stuff. I was eight, and I was like, “Yeah, this is the kind of music I like,” [laughs].

But I also grew up with my dad, who’s super musical. He plays guitar, drums, sings, and has been in a Beatles cover band for as long as I can remember – he’s an incredible musician. So my childhood was steeped in band culture, music, and all kinds of stuff: ‘80s disco, Stevie Wonder, Macy Gray, Jeff Buckley… and then, at the far end of the spectrum, Limp Bizkit.

What do you think will be in your Spotify Wrapped at the end of this year?

Bro, it’s so embarrassing… my Spotify Wrapped is basically going to be cosy jazz, AI, coffee music, or whatever. There's this bootleg playlist my wife and I found a while ago that we play every single morning. It’s just the worst Charlie Brown AI jazz garbage you’d hear in a coffee shop.

We always have it on at the house. It’s really mellow in the background, super relaxing. So yeah, my entire Spotify Wrapped is probably going to be that. It’s rough because I know it’s AI, I know it’s not great, but it’s just so soothing. For the record, I do hate it, and I hate that it's such an identifier in my life now. But it's definitely a cornerstone of my existence at this point.

Obviously, your name is very similar to a certain actor’s. You must have a few instances where you were mistaken for him, or when it worked to your advantage?

Honestly, I’ve never really taken advantage of it in that way, and I probably should. That’s a mistake on my part! At the start of this artistic journey, it was a very conscious choice to keep my actual name. Obviously, there’s a huge actor named Elijah Wood, from The Lord of the Rings and Spy Kids. 

He’s very talented, and apparently a lovely guy. I did think, “Can I actually use this name?” Then I realised he’s not really active on social media or trying to stay hyper-present in pop culture, he just does his own thing.

So I figured, worst-case scenario, I’d get tagged in some Lord of the Rings posts. And I do – every single day. I’ll wake up and see I’ve been tagged in something from a Comic-Con appearance or a Frodo meme. People see “Elijah Woods” pop up, assume it’s him, and tag away.

The funniest one happened on a plane. Honestly, it happens pretty much every other time I fly; it’s one of those names that makes people go, “Wait, I know that name… why do I know that name?” Which, to be fair, was kind of intentional, even though it’s literally just the name my mum gave me. When she picked it, he wasn’t famous yet. I think The Lord of the Rings came out when I was maybe 10, so kudos to my mum, it’s just a solid name.

Anyway, on this one flight, the gate agent saw my passport, got really excited, and told all the flight attendants that Elijah Wood was on board. I just went along with it. I put on sunglasses and leaned into it a bit. When we landed, they were all waiting at the gate, looking at pictures of the real Elijah Wood on their phones, trying to spot him.

I walked right past – six foot five, definitely not Frodo – and not a single person wanted a photo with me. They were just waiting for the wrong Elijah Wood. The crazy part is, he’s a DJ too! I think he plays at events or clubs, but every so often I’ll get tagged in posts like, “Elijah Wood’s music was DJing at this place,” and I’m just like, “Hell yeah, I was, brother!”

What do people not realise about what it takes to be an independent artist?

I was lucky enough to go through the major label system at a young age. I was in a band before, and we signed to Big Machine through this TV show we won, which taught me a lot about how the label infrastructure actually works. I’d also studied music business a long time ago, so I had a basic understanding of things like owning your masters, collecting publishing, and how artists actually generate income.

When I looked at my own skills – mainly production and making the music itself – I realised I’ve basically been a “100 percenter” my entire career. Even when I started singing, I taught myself how to do it. I record my own vocals, and I mix and master everything myself.

Then I looked at what Republic was doing for me and our band at the time, and I thought, if I’m a mid-tier, growing artist, I need to do this independently. A company like that represents artists such as Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift — they're obviously going to invest in them, not me, because they’re generating hundreds of millions. From a business standpoint, I understood that I wasn’t that profitable.

So while I’m building and scaling, I figured I could do this myself. I’ve built a great team – booking agents, social media people, and a few management connections over the years – and I’ve found a good rhythm with releases, fan development, and social media, which has been massive. Without it, I’d just be some kid in a bedroom making music no one hears.

So my thinking was, why give a company 80% of my income, even post-recoupment, when I make the music for free? I own all my gear. I can sit down, make a song, mix and master it, and release it through DistroKid for $12.99 a year. It's not complicated maths. Why give that up for the slim chance of getting on a playlist that might bump my streams 10-20%? I’d rather keep building it organically, directly with fans.

Your new single, Slicked Back Hair is a feel-good anthem about growth, vulnerability, and lasting connection. Where did this inspiration come from?

I wrote the song a few years ago, and it kind of just found its way onto the project. I wasn’t initially planning for it to be on the album. I’d always really loved it; I thought the melodies were great, but I didn’t fully understand what it was saying at the time.

I’d had the chorus written for about a year and a half, during a period when I wasn’t really feeling like myself – a bit low, honestly. It was winter in Canada, which is always pretty bleak, and I just wanted something that felt summery, upbeat, and light.

I started thinking about the fashion choices I’d made as a young adult, before I met my wife. Then I looked at photos from after we met, and I was like, “Damn, you definitely got better looking!” The correlation was pretty clear – it was about what I was wearing, how I was carrying myself, the whole vibe. So I wrote a song about how I used to look like that thing.

It was actually inspired by the Tim Robinson show, I Think You Should Leave. That kind of absurd, self-aware humour definitely fed into it. He’s an incredible writer and actor, but the song’s actually based on one of his skits where he talks about how he used to be a piece of shit, with slicked-back hair and skinny jeans. I remember seeing that and thinking, That’s such a funny image. " Then I looked at old photos of myself and was like, “Bro, that’s literally you; you’re such a loser,” [laughs].

So I ended up writing a song about it. It’s really about how someone came into my life and changed it for the better; not just my style or aesthetic, but even parts of my personality. Everything’s been elevated because of this good person being around me, and that’s ultimately what the song’s about.

Do you ever fear that skinny jeans will come back again?

Oh my God, I hope they don’t come back. I’m at this point where I’m not doing the super baggy stuff, and I’m definitely not doing the super skinny stuff either. I’ve landed on the classic Levi’s 501s, and honestly, that’s where the world needs to stay forever. If we can just stay there perpetually, I’ll be happy. 

A good leather jacket, or a denim shirt – keep it classic, keep it right there. Because I just can’t do skinny jeans again. It’s not a cute look. I’m tall and slim, but not that slim. I’m in that middle ground where it just doesn’t hit right. You try to go skinny, and it’s giving “Mick Jagger at 21” – and not in a good way.

Congratulations on the release of your debut album, Can We Talk? Did you have a concept in mind for the album?

I wrote a bunch of songs last year that were meant to make up an album, but when I listened back, I realised they didn't really say what I wanted them to. So instead, I split them into two separate EPs – both a lot more concise than a full-length record.

Going into this new project, I decided to just write a lot – to experiment, to figure out what I actually liked, what spoke to me, and what held my attention. I ended up writing something ridiculous, like 150 songs, working with a ton of writers I really admire, and then narrowing it down to a few I collaborated with across the whole project.

About halfway through, I realised there was a really clear through line running through the songs — one about difficult conversations. The idea that when you face those hard talks in life, there’s always some kind of reward, at the very least, clarity. Sometimes it’s a better relationship, sometimes it’s a deeper understanding of yourself and how you handle conflict, whether that conflict is good or bad.

It’s everything from telling my wife I loved her for the first time, to telling a friend he’s a narcissist and I can’t deal with him anymore, to looking in the mirror and saying, “You need to do better. You need to take care of yourself.” It’s about those uncomfortable choices, and the growth that comes after.

I didn’t really see that theme clearly until I wrote a song called Can We Talk. It’s probably the least impactful song on the album in terms of commercial potential or lyrical weight, but it gave me the thread I needed – the conceptual backbone. Once I found that, the rest of the album poured out of me, and I finished the last few songs really quickly.

Do you have a favourite song on the album?

It’s like picking a favourite child! It changes every day. Today, based on my mood, I’d probably say a new one called I Miss You, which actually replaced another song on the album. It’s been doing really well online, and I wrote it in the style of an acrostic poem. Throughout the track, every lyric starts with the letters that spell out Do you miss me? Because I miss you. Can we talk? – It runs all the way through the song like a hidden message.

That one felt like a real button or bookend to the whole concept of the record, and funnily enough, I only wrote it a couple of weeks ago. The rest of the album was finished months back, so it was a last-minute addition, but I’m so glad it made it on. 

Seeing it connect with people online has been such a relief – it’s like, “Oh my god, now people are actually going to listen to this project I’ve poured so much life and energy into”.

But then there’s another song, Exercise Your Demons, which I originally wrote as a joke – and it turned into something I really love. We wrote it as a country demo at first, super twangy and kind of silly, just for fun. Then I listened back and thought, hang on, there’s something special here. 

I added these breakbeat drums, reworked the melodies to feel a bit more R&B and rhythmic than my usual stuff, and it suddenly clicked. Within the context of the album, it felt fresh – like something that pushed me into new territory.

The album’s lead single is Ghost On The Radio. Why did this stand out to you as the lead single?

Straight away, when I played it for a few close people in my life, everyone was like, “Yo, there’s something really sticky about that song.” Nobody could quite put their finger on it, but everyone agreed it would be a perfect door opener for the album.

I was about to head out on tour in Asia as the song was coming out, and I just kept picturing those live moments. Playing a song live feels completely different to hearing it in your car, the studio, or through headphones – there’s just this energy exchange. 

And with that track, I could already imagine the whole crowd singing the “Oh, I wanna know” part back at me. I was like, I need that moment. So a big part of releasing it first was about creating that connection. I wanted people to feel part of this next chapter, to have that shared experience with me from the very start.

In terms of performing live and expressing yourself through music as an independent artist, what does the phrase Play out Loud mean to you?

I think Play Out Loud means giving yourself permission to make mistakes publicly. There’s such a huge misconception about perfection, like everything has to look polished, sound flawless, and be presented as this fully baked idea that perfectly represents you.

My favourite artists are the ones who are willing to be vulnerable online – who’ll say, “You know what? I messed up. This maybe wasn’t the right song to release,” or who’ll show the behind-the-scenes moments where they’re stumbling through a lyric fifty times before they get it right. 

For me, that phrase is all about not being afraid to fail in front of people, because that’s the most human part of all of this.

Away from music, what do you like to do?

I'm back on my feet, on my health journey, and I love taking my little Corgi for walks. We have a three-year-old retired show dog, and he's so sweet. We didn't show him ever, but he's the sweetest little peach. I like working out. I'm a huge snowboarder – when there is snow, so I'm trying to get out a lot this year to do that in the winter. I like hanging out with my friends. I like just relaxing at home. 

My favourite thing to do ever is just be at my home. I'm such a homebody. Whether it's my wife cooking food or it's us ordering something and watching a movie, I love the pace of that, because I feel like when I'm on the road and when there's tons of work stuff, I always yearn for that slow pace of life with nothing hugely pressing.

What’s the last film you watched on a plane?

I think I watched Tenet, the Christopher Nolan one. I’ve watched it like four times, and I still don’t fully get it, but it's visually fascinating. I love all the actors, and the soundtrack is wicked.

Photos by Austin Calvello