I love "Pressure", the lyrics are so heartfelt and relatable. What did it feel like to express your thoughts and feelings through this song?
Ellie: Writing songs is like therapy for me! When I write a song I have to be truthful for the lyrics to really stand out and make an impact. Especially with ‘PRESSURE’ I made sure to just be honest with myself and talk about the invisible pressure that everyone feels. The song is designed to talk about the mental struggles in everyday life and explore feeling not good enough or having expectations set for yourself, by yourself. I wrote the song so quickly and easily so I think tapping into that other side of me was really helpful and helped me learn a little bit more about my feelings.
You're only 14, you have so much talent at such a young age! What is your earliest memory of music?
Ellie: Music has been such a major part of my life for so long that there isn’t one memory I can think of, although singing myself to sleep when I was a baby might’ve been my earliest start!!
You were recently on an exchange program in Spain, how do you feel your time there impacted you?
Ellie: It was such an amazing experience for me as it just set boundaries for my life. I realised that I’m literally functioning in another country and speaking in another language on my own and if I can do that then I can do so much more!! The exchange also taught me that the world is so much bigger than just my house and my school and that I should never care what other people think because there is so much more out there that is more important than someone's opinion.
You've gotten some attention from talent scouts for the West End. What has that experience been like and do you see yourself pursuing theatre in the future?
Ellie: Although I don’t see myself pursuing theatre, it’s always an option - when I was younger I trained in a theatre company so I do have some of the skills it takes BUT I can’t dance!! Jokes aside, it was crazy to open my emails and see that the West End Musical Theatre company wanted to me audition, there was a few processes that I needed to go through first but, in the end I decided that performing my own music was what I really wanted to do.
When you're not working on music, what do you like to do?
Ellie: I’m either sleeping because I love my sleep or I’m doing school work as I have quite a lot at the moment - it’s not great.
What things are you looking forward to in 2023?
Ellie: I’m just so excited to record new music. 2023 has already been going so well. I’ve been on BBC Radio Solent again with my new song ‘PRESSURE’ and in a few weeks I’ve got a very exciting meeting with a management company so we’ll see how that goes!! I just want my music to evolve this year, now that I know what I’m doing - maybe play some more gigs and gain a bit more exposure.
Interviewed By Tessa Brainard
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