From Exeter into the World

One day after EES' official album release date and really impatiently awaited by all her believers and, I guess, the whole SellaBand community, Ellie Wlliams is going to release her debut album on October 13th. Although she is very busy preparing the release, she found the time to answer 50K MUSIC MAG's questions:

50K MM: Where are you from?
Ellie: I was ‘born and bred’ here in Exeter, Devon in the Southwest of England. I have travelled a little bit, but Exeter has always been my home.

50K MM: How would you describe yourself in three words?
Ellie: Happy, Sad, Dreamer

50K MM: Where are you coming from artistically, what are your influences?
Ellie: Growing up I was really lucky as I listened to a lot of different music. My parents had mostly(!) good taste, and this was peppered with two older sisters who would record the top 40 chart show on a Sunday and we would learn all the words. For me though, people that left a lasting impression would be bands like The Carpenters, Mamas and Papas, Roberta Flack, Kate Bush and even a little bit of Mike Oldfield. At the moment I’m listening to people like Imogen Heap, Lamb, This Album Leaf, Shawn Colvin, Sara McLachlan, Bic Runga and Annie Lennox. Thats a bit one sided actually, I’m also listening to male artists such as Surfjan Stevens and Joshua Radin. I don’t really have a particular genre of music that I listen to or won’t listen to. Anything can move me. Sometimes it might be a piece of incidental music on something like Neighbours (Aussie soap) that moves me. Yes-I am quite, quite sad!

50K MM: How would you describe your music?
Ellie: Do you know what, I really struggle with this question. I would actually like a bit of help here from anyone reading this. I generally just bluff my way through with something like singer-songwriter type acoustic stuff. As you can see it is not the most eloquent description.

50K MM: How did you find the way to Sellaband? How has SellaBand changed your life? What were your experiences on your (short) way to 50k?
Ellie: I actually found Sellaband as my husband Steve pointed out an article to me on a tech news site called VNUnet.com (now V3.co.uk). I was at a bit of a low ebb when it came to my music, and was considering just settling down to my day job and putting this particular dream to bed. I was really skeptical at first, but Steve encouraged me to do a little research and then I found there were lots of articles praising SAB, in particular the larger UK papers such as The Telegraph and The Guardian. I thought that it must be reputable by being mentioned in those papers, so I decided to give it a try! I uploaded the three songs, which at the time were Fin’s Song, Firefly and Unseen. All three of which made it on to the album.

The 50 day period now to be honest seems like a blur and a distant memory. It is amazing though when I come to look back on it. I remember the excitement of initially checking my computer every few hours to see if anyone had sent me a message and to see if any parts had been sold. As the days went on, whilst I was at work, I would get texts from various members of my family saying- ‘Oh my god, you just sold 5 parts’ or ‘someone has just bought 20 parts in you!’. It was a time for being glued to the computer as soon as I got home from work, until about 1am and then not being able to sleep as I was so excited. This only increased and in those last few days, I think I slept for about 3 hours. It was so amazing. In between this I was trying to get as much ‘outside’ support as I could and tried to bring new people onto SAB. I met so many people on SAB, artists and believers, and so many that I am in regular contact with, or that I have been lucky enough to meet. It is hard sometimes, keeping up with everything that needs to be done, and sometimes the relationships can suffer because of that. For the main part though, I think my believers know that I am doing my best. I haven’t come from a stage school, I wasn’t spotted at a young age, I have no previous experience in this industry or running my own business and in this current age you cannot just be a musician anymore. You have to be your own business manager, promoter and accountant.

SAB really has changed my life, and I feel that that is in no way an overstatement. I was working in an office, singing in my bedroom and writing songs for my family to hear. In 18 months, I have gone from that person to giving up my regular day-job, replacing it with a part-time job, moved in with my dad to cut bills, radio and TV interviews, gigs and running my own small business. Nothing could have prepared me for what has happened, and I am still waiting for the moment for it to sink in, or for me to wake up. Or for the slap in the face that says ‘stop dreaming, and get back to a real job’!

50K MM: You had an overwhelming support from local radio stations and local press on your way to 50k ... and still have, now that you're going to release your album. Please tell us, how you brought them on board.
Ellie: I get asked by a lot of new artists or believers regularly-what was my secret, how did I do it? My honest answer? I just got out there and did it. I am quite a naive person really which I think worked in my favour. I didn’t have the knowledge of the business to know whether I was going to get laughed out of somebody’s office or not. So-I just sent emails to everyone that I could think of. Firstly, I sent an email to everyone I knew. EVERYONE. I just asked for help, and asked those people to ...

Read full article in latest issue of 50K MUSIC MAG