On the Guestlist: ELLA MARI
Ella Mari dares you to want her, but she’s done trying to make you.Ella Mari has always wanted to be a rockstar, and with her new single dare you, she’s finally getting there.
Fresh off signing with Mandatory Music, she’s sitting down for her very first interview to talk finding her sound, her most controversial music opinion, and who’s making the guestlist for her first headline show.
Scroll on for the full Q&A.
Ella Mari by Sakina Indrasumunar (@kindravision)
For anyone discovering you for the first time through this interview, who is Ella Mari?
I have always wanted to be a rockstar and Ella Mari is (finally) the product of that. I love music and have played music my whole life. I have a permanent curiosity when it comes to music and am always looking for new sounds or improving my skills or learning a new instrument. I really got into songwriting during and after various music projects / bands throughout uni.
You could characterise my music as indie rock/alternative, but sonically I am very much inspired a lot by rock, shoegaze and pop. I sound similar to the likes of beabadoobee, Nieve Ella, Soccer Mommy and Annie DiRusso.
My songs reflect and are intended to embody my personal experiences growing up including all the messy, exciting and embarrassing parts of being human. My lyrics are supposed to be relatable and fun, and often cover the topics of heartbreak, yearning and insecurity.
You released your very first single, you, darling, and now you’re here with dare you. Looking back at those early releases, how do you feel you’ve grown as an artist and songwriter since then?
I feel as though I’ve really found my voice and sound in music. It does sound a bit cliche but it is definitely true! In retrospect, ‘you, darling’ was a bit of an experiment and more about just putting myself out there to see what I could do, and what sound I’d like to achieve but also what I wanted my songs to say. I think stylistically ‘you, darling’ and ‘dare you’ are also quite different as a result of a bulk of the work being done in the studio, rather than before the studio and coming into the studio with something already done. So not only has my songwriting changed in terms of lyrics, melody, chords and sounds but so has my process of creating songs because when I’m at the studio, I’m working on how to make a pre-written song better.
Your latest single, dare you, feels like a really exciting shift into grungier, rock-leaning territory. What made you want to explore this sound, and was this a direction you’d been wanting to take for a while?
Yes, I have allllwayys wanted to write music like this.
I think my roots in music began with the guitar, I have always loved playing, learning and writing songs that feature a prominent, heavier guitar sound. I also just love to play electric guitar and bass guitar live too (I play bass for The Ra Ta Tas).
Also, when I first discovered beabadoobee, I fell in love with her music and her songwriting style. I discovered her when she put one of her really early singles out called ‘If You Want To’ and really enjoyed hearing about her process of writing songs in Open D tuning on the guitar, but then hearing the final product and that being really rock, heavy distorted guitars with female vocals. I just loved that sort of juxtaposition and I think she has been the most influential artist in my own songwriting.
You worked with Sam Woods from Juno on dare you. What was that collaboration like, and how did the production come together? Was there a particular sound or feeling you both wanted to capture?
Kahlia Ferguson (also from Juno) was part of the collab too hehe.
Yes, I loved it!! It was totally on a whim – Sam asked if I was interested in writing something together and of course I said hell yeah. When Sam and I first worked together, I said I wanted to lean into the Annie DiRusso and beabadoobee style, which I think meshed really well with what Sam was wanting to write. We have managed to blend that with pop. That is the same vibe we were aiming for with ‘dare you’.
In terms of the lyrical side of things, I said to Kahlia that I wanted this to feel a bit like the sequel to my previous single ‘i wanna be your girl’ and she understood the vibe immediately. We wanted to send the message that instead of continuing the yearn and making myself the vulnerable person out of the two in the hypothetical relationship, 'dare you’ is about realising who you are and putting yourself first by asking that the other person meets you halfway.
There’s something quite raw and almost reckless about dare you. What was going on in your life or in your head when you were writing it, and what does the song mean to you now that it’s out in the world?
Greatttt question. Further to what I said above, I think the song inspiration came from a place of constantly experiencing these types of relationships (or more aptly put, ‘situationships’) where I didn’t feel as though the other person really / genuinely wanted to be with me which sounds so silly but it’s true. As the lyrics allude to, I think there is very much a theme of needing to ‘dare’ that person to want me, but in a way that is a bit cheeky. I dare you to want me, but I’m no longer trying to make you want me. It’s about self-respect and love really.
I think broadly speaking, the song kind of captures the reality of modern dating – it's hard out there!
Ella Mari by Sakina Indrasumunar (@kindravision)
You’ve recently signed with Mandatory Music - congrats! What did that moment feel like for you, and what are you most excited about entering this next chapter with a label behind you?
I’m super excited about working with Mandatory Music having signed the docs and putting music out with them moving forward!!! I’m most excited about working on lots of new music and feeling more comfortable putting it out into the world with them behind me, rather than doing everything independently. It has also been super nice being able to talk to real humans and get their advice about all things music.
You’ve already taken us through you, darling and i wanna be your girl, and now we have dare you. If someone listened to all three songs back-to-back, what do you think they’d learn about you as an artist?
Love this question. I think for starters, they would notice the songs are superr stylistically different. I think ‘you, darling’ was super sweet and now ‘dare you’ is a bit more grungy and cool girl. I think people would also see the confidence really come out in the music over the time and stories that the songs are about. I think people would also just think I have a lot of feelings, hahah!
We’d love to get a little glimpse into the world behind dare you. What were some of the visual, musical or cultural inspirations behind the song?
I think visually some inspiration included lots and lots of red moody aesethetics (my fave colour), as well as very urbanny visuals and thick eyeliner and lipstick type vibe, maybe even some metallic accents.
What are you listening to right now? Give us a handful of songs that either have you inspired, completely obsessed, or make you want to dramatically stare out a car window.
OMG!! Love this. ‘Estranged’ by beabadoobee (actually her whole Pylon album really), I’ve also been loving ‘Cool Guy’ by Asha Jeffries, ‘Whatever You Like (Butcher)’ by Hannah Brewer, ‘Fur Elise’ by Blondeshell, ‘Cramps’ by Slow Pulp and ‘You’ by local artist Dirty Harry. Some artists I will ALWAYS come back to are The 1975, Wet Leg, Annie DiRusso, Nieve Ella and Hannah Cole.
Some very important questions: What’s your go-to karaoke song, what’s your most questionable music opinion, and if dare you were a person at a party, what would they be doing?
Oh my god I love these questions.
On the karaoke question, it one hundred percent depends on who I’m with. If it’s the classic Filipino gathering, then it would be ‘Hey Jude; by the Beatles and recently I have been hollering my heart out to ‘Thinking of You’ by Sister Sledge (so random!). If I’m with friends or colleagues then it would be ‘Accidentally in Love’ by Counting Crows or old faithful, ‘Valerie’ by Amy Whinehouse or even some ABBA.
My most controversial opinion is that I desperately dislike country music 🙁
‘dare you’ would be that one person who is causing a bit of chaos, stirring the pot even. I think they would probably be causing arguments for sport...
Final question: Which 10 people, dead or alive, famous or non famous, you’d like to add onto the guestlist of your very first headline show?
Ok it would have to be first and foremost friends and family (ie. The people who helped me get there which is at least like 5 people), and then it would definitely be beabadoobee (obvi), and some other great female artists including Annie DiRusso, Nieve Ella, Hannah Cole, and Olivia Dean