Singer-Songwriter ella jane Shares Her Roots and Wisdom
Growing up, singer-songwriter ella jane wanted to write books. Despite being born into a musical family, it wasn’t until she was twelve that Jane realized she could combine writing and singing. Thus, her passion for songwriting emerged.
Jane has always resonated with pop music, but indie folk’s influences are a significant presence in her discography. Previously, Jane thought she had to pick a side — one or the other — but has reached a point where she’s no longer boxed in by her own mental framework and societal expectations. “The music I love most transcends genre, and that’s all I want to do,” says Jane.
Marginalia, Jane’s 2022 EP, is a project she feels encapsulates her as an artist. It was the first time she’d written an entire body of work from scratch, as her previous EP was a collection of songs she wrote throughout high school. “I was faced with the task of having to create a project that was representative of who I was in a specific, shorter period of time — or representative of certain ideas,” says Jane. Sonically, she is incredibly proud of the way Marginalia’s tracks turned out and is confident some of her best writing is on that EP. When Jane starts second-guessing and overthinking her sound, going back to Marginalia grounds her.
Jane’s most recent single, “Deadweight,” gets at the overwhelming feeling of finding someone who likes you for you — no longer do you carry the baggage of memories past, this new person has given you the courage to move on. It’s hard to believe that such emotional and nuanced storytelling came toward the end of a writer’s block. Often, what gets Jane out of a writing rut is being home in New York, inside the house she grew up in and with the piano she began writing songs at. Back on the East Coast for the holiday season, Jane sat down at the piano and immediately started playing around with chords. “Piano lends itself to pop writing because it’s more of a blank canvas, whereas when I sit down with a guitar, eighty percent of the time I’m going to churn out some depressing shit,” Jane says with a laugh. Writing the chorus of “Deadweight” took only thirty minutes and the artist says it was a nice feeling — getting back to L.A., sitting down with her producer and already having an exact blueprint of the song. Returning to her roots was exactly the release she needed to get herself unstuck.
Jane spends most of her time writing and obsessing over lyrics, and the way she writes has changed overtime. “It’s kind of impossible to write now without thinking about the audience [and] what people might want or like,” says Jane. As an artist, she’s conscious of how her music will be received both critically and by her fans, but makes sure not to let the public eye change her writing. It’s important to her that she stays true to herself, as an artist, while still thinking about how she can connect with her fanbase.
As she continues to make music, she is curious as to what accidental patterns listeners will pick up on within her lyricism. “It’s like when you read the same couple books by an author and you notice subconscious themes woven throughout,” Jane says. She’s passionate about songwriting as a skill and always striving to improve her craft. Whatever metaphors and trends fans are finding, Jane wants to hear them.
Image courtesy of @jacq_justice on Instagram
On November 1st, Jane embarked on an epic UK tour with four locations. Performing is, and has always been, one of Jane’s favorite things to do as an artist. Over the past few years, she’s watched lots of live shows and taken note of what she feels makes an engaging performance. Now, she feels these enchanting elements are starting to show up within her own tours. “I’m excited to be everywhere. I’m even excited to be on the train, I’m going to feel very [much] like Hermione,” Jane jokes. The venues she’s playing will be small, but she feels there is a particular magic to the more intimate venues, a magic that will only be enhanced in places like Edinburgh and Manchester. Jane is touched and grateful to have reached people on a different continent and can’t wait to have special interactions with everyone who loves her music and comes to the shows.