Bionic Buzz Interview with Ella K Sol
(Bionic Buzz) Hi Ella, Thanks for joining us. Let’s dig in. So, you are a 17-year-old high school senior who just released your debut EP. “Hello My Name Is.” What’s it like balancing high school and a recording career?
(Ella) Well, honestly, adding this to my “To Do” list hasn’t seemed to change things much because I’m used to my life being crazy! And music is a passion, so it doesn’t feel like work. But in my day to day, I am always going at a crazy speed. I’ve got all the typical teenage stuff: school, job, soccer, homework, friends, music, and MAYBE a little bit of sleep if I’m lucky. On a good day one can say I am a master multi-tasker, juggling many activities at the same time and when the wheels fall off, like this morning when I locked my keys and my backpack in my car in the student parking lot 10 minutes before class started, I roll with the punches and pick it all back up. It definitely can get hectic at times, but I really don’t mind. Although I would always much rather be writing new music than doing my math homework!!
Your life sounds a bit like a Teen Movie, that said how did your friends and fellow students react to you releasing an EP?
It feels like a movie for sure and a comedy at that! But as far as how my peers reacted to the debut of my music, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Students, and teachers, came up to me in the halls to tell me they loved the new songs. Some said that they didn’t even know I played music or wrote songs or sang at all. Before I decided to make a career out of music it was something I always held very close to the vest, only sharing with my closest friends, and asking for their opinions and feedback. A lot of people I knew were very surprised. My music even helped me connect with some individuals that I’d never even spoken to before.
It has been amazing to feel so incredibly supported. It made me feel free to be myself, which was something I was worried about. Putting your music out there is like putting on display a little piece of your soul, which can be very scary.
Your debut EP “Hello My Name Is” came out in February 2021. Tell us about it.
The new EP is exactly what it says it is. Hello My Name Is is an introduction of myself to the music world. Making all the songs was so much fun and each had their own process and has their own story that goes with it. All in all, I think the journey of making it and recording it was the best part. I’ve been able to learn so much through this process about the industry, and about myself as a person and musician. The EP consists of four songs, The Great Mistake, Time Capsule Picture, 7’11, and Hard To Be Good. My personal favorite is either The Great Mistake or Time Capsule Picture, depending on the day, HA! A little fun fact, Time Capsule Picture was originally written on the ukulele.
The EP features four songs, can you tell us a bit about each of them, inspirations, recording process, videos, etc.?
I absolutely can! Starting us off is The Great Mistake. I wrote this song with an established and incredibly talented musician; Chad Chapin and it was so much fun to make. The essence of the song was not based on any personal experience in my life, but more so inspired by the teen movies where the girl gets screwed over by the bad boy and comes out bigger, better, stronger than she was before. I was 13 at the time we wrote it. We tested it on an electric guitar the first time we were messing around with it. It was so incredibly fun.
Next, we have Time Capsule Picture. To set the scene I originally wrote this song on the ukulele in front of a big window at my dad’s house while my little sister was screaming in the background. Definitely a unique songwriting experience, to say the least. This song also wasn’t based off of a specific event of my own life, but I think is relatable to everyone, including myself. It was a story I had been wanting to tell for some time. I wanted to capture the perfect moment in time forever preserved in a photo, a moment, and nothing more. I think we can easily forget how certain situations unfold and our memory’s images get blurrier as time progresses, but I know personally, I always remember how they made me feel, and that is what I wanted to emphasize in this song. You can remember the times you had and everything you felt even if the person in your time capsule picture is nothing to you anymore except a distant memory.
Following Time Capsule we have 7’11. This was another song I wrote around the time I was thirteen. This song was based on something that happened to me, that didn’t seem so significant at the time, but always kind of bothered me. I was with a friend and we were both down in the dumps. I mentioned something about being insecure about how I looked, and he looked at me and said, “no, you’re like a seven!” It’s sad because I know he was trying to actually compliment me, but it stuck with me, and not in a good way. I thought about what he had said, and I decided that I was in fact NOT a 7 but an 11, and I added some grit to the storyline to make it more of a story than just the situation I had been in. The song is just about not letting anyone define you. It doesn’t matter who you are, what gender you are, your sexuality, what you’re about, this song is a song that wants you to celebrate how unique and wonderful you are. You should feel confident and NEVER let anyone tell you you’re “less than” because they are dead wrong if they think you’re anything less than amazing.
Last, but not least, we have Hard To Be Good. This song I wrote a while back, and it’s really about the misconceptions we have about each other. We are so quick to jump to conclusions and judge other people when we all project what we want the world to see versus who we are. Situations are never black and white. We live in a world made up of gray areas. This song was just meant to make people think. I mean, the person who knows us best under the mask, is ourselves, and unless we are willing to share that secret part with others, they should not be so quick to make judgments about things they know nothing of.
The recording process for all of them was such an amazing experience. Ironically, we left Music City (aka Nashville) to go record in St. Louis with producer Josh Harris. It was so great being in the recording studio for the first time. The ceiling was lined with old records and their covers which became my focal points while I sang. We’d start mid-morning with some Cinnamon Cardamom tea as we warmed up for the day and tried to piece together some cool tracks and by late afternoon we were huddled around the soundboard reviewing the day’s work… All in all, it took about 4-5 days to record all 4 of them. From there, we took the top two songs and decided to film videos for them. The creation process was incredible, thanks to the director, Brad Ford who came to the table with so many great ideas!!! And on set I felt like a movie star as hair and makeup artist, Colleen Runne, primped me all day. What I loved most about The Great Mistake video is that I felt like it highlighted my different personalities, and Brad showed them off in such a clever and fun way. In the same way, I am not just one personality, my music is also not just one genre of music, and that’s what I wanted to portray. Brad nailed it! And Time Capsule Picture was just a beautiful vision and wonderfully moody. The setup with the dim red lights and the gorgeous piano just took my breath away. I stood mesmerized as Brad filmed the cello part first before I went up, admiring how perfectly it matched my vision of what the song stood for. Also, the dress in the video was supposed to be my prom dress before the world shut down and everything was canceled due to the pandemic! I’m so glad I got to wear it!! I definitely got my money’s worth out of it ha-ha. All in all, it was a great learning experience and so much fun to be a part of that creative process and watch something evolve from plucking chords and writing song lyrics on my bed at night to recording a finished EP and watching it visually come to life in the videos!!! It’s been a dream!
At what age and how did you get into music, start singing and writing, and do you play any instruments?
I started my journey and love of music at a very young age. Of course, back then it was just me making up my own little songs and singing them on swing sets and at the top of jungle gyms. I was five when I first remember starting to mess around with silly tunes and singing as a whole, but when I was eight is when I really felt like it kicked into gear. I went from singing songs in the shower to taking voice lessons which I continued for years. After a brief sabbatical, I came back to start honing my songwriting skills with Chad Chapin, with who I wrote The Great Mistake. Through this process, I took some piano lessons on the side, and I taught myself how to play guitar and ukulele. Now, Jimi Hendrix certainly does not need to worry that I will swoop in and take his title as the best guitarist of all time BUT I learned enough to hammer out the songs I was working on. In all, I began getting into the songwriting end of things at age eleven. It was the start of what I hope will be a long and inspired path ahead of me.
For people that have not heard your music yet describe your sound.
This is a question I get quite a bit, and the best way I think I can describe my sound is eclectic and real. In my music, I want to portray a story and whether that is a melancholy tune or an upbeat pop-anthem, the lyrics behind it are what truly matters and that is why the genres of my songs change. The melody fits whatever I think the lyrics are meant for.
If your music were a smoothie, what flavors would be in it?
First of all I LOVE this question! Second of all, I would have to say it would be a dark chocolate, strawberry smoothie, with mint to top it off. A little bit moody, a little bit sassy, and all-around unexpected, but delicious of course!!
What’s the backstory of the name Ella K Sol?
Well, when thinking about what I wanted to go by, I originally thought maybe just Ella K, but I still felt like something was missing and I began to spitball ideas with my parents. So, as random as this sounds, I love the Spanish language and culture, and my best friend used to refer to me as the sun when they would talk about me, and so the word “Sol” just seemed to feel like the perfect missing piece. Voila! Ella K Sol! A representation of many things near and dear to my heart, including this music career that shaped its reason for being.
If you could jam with any other artists (dead or alive) who would they be?
I would definitely jam with Panic At The Disco, Weezer, Ella Fitzgerald, Beyonce, and last but certainly NOT least, Kasey Musgraves!
In addition to music, what else are you passionate about?
Other than music I am passionate about soccer and about helping others. My favorite times when I’m not writing music are when I’m dashing down the side of the soccer field or when I am abroad doing service work. I have had some amazing opportunities, in my short life thus far, visiting other countries and helping to serve communities in need. And even had downtime to play soccer with the locals while I was there!! I have been playing soccer since I was three years old, and for over a decade it took up all of my free time. Soccer season was a 12-month sport, ha!! Soccer has always been there for me, especially when I needed to let off steam, and it’s something I love to do very much. I don’t think I will ever be ready to hang up my cleats permanently! I will always be involved in soccer, whether that is coaching my children’s teams someday, or whether I play in an adult league.
And as far as helping others and giving back, I just like to see people smiling and knowing I have helped ease their burden in some way, and being an integral part of that is such a special feeling.
I will always find time to help those who need it, and if I can’t find time then I will move mountains to make some.
You are still in high school, but close to graduation, what’s next for you?
Ah yes, the magic question. Well in all honesty I have no idea yet. I applied to eleven colleges and I have heard back from and been accepted into half of them so far. Until I have the rest of my answers, I have not decided on where I would like to go and what I will be studying, however, I do know for a fact that music will remain a part of my life forever and that I look forward to continuing on this incredible journey I’ve started this past summer.
Can you share where our readers can follow you. you? (please list all your social links and best streaming platform)
Contact: ellaksol.music@gmail.com
Website: https://www.ellaksol.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ellaksol1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellaksol1/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFryCNL56nzggRsXNXBpqTQ
And my EP is available for download on all music streaming services.
Anything you would like to say in closing?
Ella – Just thank you so much if you read this. I appreciate it and it means so much to me! I hope you have a wonderful day, and to anyone out there that feels like they are having a rough go of things keep… your head up, you’re strong, you got this!!!!
Interview by Steve Sievers from Bionic Buzz.
