Ella Red

Ella Red is the reluctant star. With dreams of being the songwriter behind the hits, she has emerged as a force of nature. Her debut album on Nettwerk, IT’S NOT REAL, is a stirring achievement that balances anger, joy, love and self-image.

IT’S NOT REAL includes the singles “Ball and Chain”, “Funeral”, “He Asked For It”, “Parasite”, “Party Animal”, “Religion” and “IT’S NOT REAL.”

Ella Red will be going on the road for IT’S NOT REAL joined by her labelmate PEGGY for TOUR’S NOT REAL. This is her first headlining tour.

#ellared

FEMMUSIC talked to Ella Red about the new album and more.

FEMMUSIC: What was the biggest challenge making IT’S NOT REAL (the album)?

I think the biggest challenge when making this album came with realizing that I was making an album, and not just a bunch of singles. I was like, “Oh! These all need to be cohesive and have an underlying theme! Ok…” and that scared me for a minute! But then I realized that the theme was already there- I was already writing about all the things that scared and bothered me and the world was already creating itself.

FEMMUSIC: Can you describe your songwriting technique?

ER: My songwriting normally starts with a single line, followed by fleshing out the idea further by doing a repetitive, mindless activity, most often while driving or sitting at the piano playing the same chords on repeat for around 30 minutes to an hour. I never force the writing- that isn’t how it works. I can’t decide to sit at the piano at 10am and force inspiration into myself, but I can ask for that inspiration throughout the day and when I’m feeling charged up it’ll start flowing out of me. Sometimes I’ll be doing dishes and go, “Sorry mom, gotta write!” and she’ll shoo me away to get the ideas down as quickly as possible. I can normally write the majority if not all of the song before ever getting in the studio, but once I am in the studio the song finishes itself when I can hear the production.

FEMMUSIC: I understand when you started to work in the music industry, you wanted to be a songwriter (and not a singer/performer). How has becoming a singer changed you and the way you approach your own music? How do you overcome stage fright?

ER: Yes I did not want to be a performer!! I wanted to be as far away from the stage as possible! The way I overcame my stage fright (and I think this helped me overcome a lot of social anxiety too) and how I entered the industry was quite literally trial by fire. We released ‘Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is’ as my first “official” single, and it did so well on the radio in Denver that they asked me to play their holiday show in December that same year. I think I had 2 shows before that, favors pulled in tiny venues so I could figure out what I’d do on stage, and then I was thrown in front of 3500 people and blacked out the entire show- I can remember maybe two things that happened and that they loved me but that’s it- I had to sink or swim.

FEMMUSIC: On that same vein, tell me about he song “Always the Artist.” How did that song develop?

ER: As the artist, I feel like I’m often forgotten in the way that I love. I write poetry because I want someone to write poetry about me, I make art because I want to be someone’s muse. To love like an artist is such an intense and emotional and deep thing, but when we aren’t loved like that in return it somehow doesn’t feel like it’s enough. I wrote Always the Artist as a kind of lament for my love.

FEMMUSIC: I love the arrangements on “Aphrodite.” Tell me how that song developed?

ER: Growing up as a woman, we all have the shared experience of wondering if all our worth comes down to is how we look. Feeling the lament over that idea is how the song started, but there are some lines I put in there as odes to my body dysmorphia, when I look in the mirror and can’t recognize the skin and flesh that’s staring back at me. I knew when I was writing this one that I’d want there to be strings and for it to have a more acoustic feel, and while developing the bridge and chorus I realized how deeply it needed something more- so I went on the hunt for speeches and news clips and found Angela Davis in Washington during the women’s march almost a decade ago, and wanted that to be the focus during the bridge.

FEMMUSIC: “Cupid” is a heartbreaking song. Again, how did this song develop?

ER: The song began as something I imagined an ex would be thinking about me after we broke up- those first couple lines “did you change your medication like we always talked about?” and “You don’t scratch at your right arm or rub your hands over your eyes”, both had to do with me and my own habits. It’s when I wrote the next line, the pre chorus, when I realized this song wasn’t for myself, but it was for my sister. “Did I love too much, or not enough? Was it worth the price of losing us?” She was going through a bad break up at the time, and while talking to me about it I had unknowingly written my sister, who has “too much” love to give, into the song. When I realized that of course I can no longer sing it without thinking of her and crying.

FEMMUSIC: Switching gears, IT’S NOT REAL, is your first album with Nettwerk. What made you decide to sign with a label?

ER: It really came down to needing help, needing money, and needing connections. I was (rightfully) terrified of major labels and very cautious about making any deals that I wouldn’t be happy with years down the road, but Terry reached out and there was no beating around the bush- Nettwerk had a very artist-forward approach and I had only heard amazing things about them, so there was really no reason to say no.

FEMMUSIC: “He Asked For It” flips the script of female objectification. I was wondering what your own experience has been as woman in the music industry?

ER: Being in an industry where you’re constantly being judged for not only how you look, but every part of your being is constantly scrutinized by the entire world, is definitely not for the faint of heart! I’m still fairly new to the industry, and I thankfully have been taken incredibly well taken care of by my current manager, my old manager (my mom who learned the industry with me to try and protect me), my A&R at Nettwerk who is also the CEO, and my booking agents! They all I think feel a somewhat paternal protectiveness over me, so I’ve had very little poor experiences with colleagues at this point. Just being an artist at this stage, though, does mean I am required to be on social media pretty much all the time, so I’m subjected to the entire world outside of the industry judging the life I have within it. I’ve also found that it’s incredibly difficult to get people to listen to the words I’m saying instead of just paying attention to the way I look sometimes, or look beyond a single twenty second video to find out more about me and my project instead of forming an opinion based on those performative 20 seconds.

FEMMUSIC: You worked with labelmate PEGGY last year for “Alice.” Who else in your scene do you want to tour with, or collaborate with and why?

ER: If we’re shooting for the stars I’d love to tour with Billie Eilish and work with her and/or brother FINNEAS, I have a long list of incredible people I’d love to work with though. One artist I’ve admired for years and have actually just seen live is Sofia Isella, she’s someone I’ve been interested in collaborating with for forever now.

FEMMUSIC: What one thing would you like to change about the music industry?

ER: There are so many things that I think could change with the music industry, but just one would be the impact social media has on music and on an artist. I think social media doesn’t reward the actual art, just the catchiest, corniest 10 seconds someone can come up with and it puts this pressure on the artist to create something surface level that will serve the deterioration of our attention spans instead of creating something that will question those surface level ideas. I think that social media has been a great tool for discovery, but the impact it has on the art isn’t worth it.