Elizabeth II – PRESHOW RITUALS

In this Preshow Rituals segment, the pop rock artist, Elizabeth II, reveals what she does before taking the stage. You can check out the story, after the break.

As a singer and guitar player, I have a couple of different exercises that I like to do before I get on stage. My vocal exercises consist are a bit wacky, so let’s start with the less weird one. To strengthen my lungs, I breathe in as much air as I can and hold it for five seconds three times in a row with two quick gulps of air between the last two intervals of five seconds. This helps with my lung endurance by essentially stretching out my lungs to their full capacity and holding it in place, allowing me to use more air than normal before I sing a full set. The weirder vocal exercise I do is rollercoasters! It consists of using my belting range to slide from the lowest note to the highest note in my range, then back down. I do this for about five minutes as my band laughs in the corner. As for my guitar exercises, I like to warm up by alternating picking chromatic scales up and down the neck as fast as I can to get the fingers loose. There’s also a neoclassical alternate picking exercise that I like to do before I play that consists of over 20 different arpeggios up and down the neck. All in all, my pre-show warm ups and exercises take about 20-30 minutes.

As for eating and drinking and drinking habits, before I play, I try and make sure I always have something in my stomach before I play. I prefer warm foods for my voice, and avoid dairy when I can. I make sure to eat enough to where I’m satisfied, but not so much to where I go on stage and feel bloated. For drinking, I try to drink as much water as I can the day of and limit myself to 1-2 alcoholic drinks beforehand so I can perform to the best of my ability.

My state of mind while performing isn’t as much of a ritual as it can be for other people. As soon as I step on stage, my brain flips a switch to where all my nerves disappear. I’ve always had a laid back personality, so panic and stagefright is a bit of a foreign concept to me. What also really helps get me into a positive performance mindset being able to have comradery with my band. The more comfortable I am hanging out and practicing with my band, the easier it is for me to communicate with them on and off stage.

Keep up with her on Facebook, Instagram and her website.