Interview + Photos By: Emma Hintz
I had the lovely opportunity to chat with Ella Galvin, your new favorite genre-bending popstar out of New York city. We discussed her journey as an artist, her new single “Do not Disturb” which is out now, the New York music scene and more.
Emma: Can you start off with a little introduction for the readers at home?
Ella Galvin: My name is Ella Galvin, I do “Soul Pop” stuff, but in this new project I’m experimenting with a lot of different genres, which has been really fun because it’s really helping me find my sound. I have a pop soul song, I have a slower more singer-songwriter song, I have a hyperpop song and then I have a pop punk song, and a super jazzy one, it’s just all over the place. I feel like I've always wanted to do something like that and have a project that is so many different things because I just love music in general and I’ve never wanted to have to put myself in a genre box.
Emma: So you’re pulling off so many different genres in your music, where do you find your inspiration?
Ella: My biggest inspiration I feel is Amy Winehouse because she has such a vulnerable, soulfull, jazzy, unique voice that is just so real, and so raw. I take so much inspiration from the 70’s like Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, a lot of 70’s and 80’s stuff. I feel like I take inspiration from specific songs rather than one specific artist, which has really inspired me to do different genres because I’ll hear something cool and think like, I wonder if I could do something like this. I’ve been listening to the new Olivia Rodrigo stuff and I think her approach to pop music is very unique, but also Sabrina Carpenter does very cookie cutter pop music and it’s just so perfect. The best pop music has hints of other stuff mixed in, whether it’s interesting chords or melodies there’s something more there. Songs with so many different elements are my favorite because you can listen to it a hundred times and it never gets old because you’re always hearing something new.
Emma: It’s so cool when you can listen to a song and be like, holy shit this is unlike anything I’ve ever heard before, you can just put your headphones in and be transported to a whole different universe. You have a single coming out April 12th, can you tell us a little bit about that?
Ella: This one is a lot different than the one I released last Friday, that one is more singer-songwriter, indie-alternative, and a little slower, and this one is super hyperpop, my vocals are highly edited in a way that is stylistic. The nature of the song really captures the feelings of the lyrics because it’s about this situationship I was in where I was like, I don’t really care about this but I am intrigued, where is this gonna go, but also I don’t really care, I don’t know it's pretty funny to me. The song is called “Do not Disturb” and it comes from me putting on Do not disturb on my nights in but I would change the ringtone and allow notifications from that person, I was just waiting for a little text. So yeah the song is really silly like that.
Emma: Well I feel like everyone has been there at one point, have you played any gigs recently, do you have any coming up?
Ella: I have one tomorrow, it’s just like a little coffee shop gig, it's nice because they pay me to basically practice. May 10th I have another show at Parkside lounge for my next single, and then I’ll have another show at Heaven Can Wait in the East Village for the EP when it comes out, so yeah I have a whole little rollout plan.
Emma: So you’ve got an EP coming out and all these shows, is there anything else you have planned for the future?
Ella: I’m hoping to go on a little mini tour this summer, I’m still working out the details for that. I’m working on new music. Having deadlines has really helped me, in my head I used to think it took years to make a song because I would be like, who's producing it? I’ve met a lot of people working on this project and I know how they work which is helpful for deadlines. I had a new session for this new song I’m working on that I don’t even think is going to be on the EP which is exciting. The EP isn’t even done and I’m thinking about new stuff, so that’s really exciting.
Emma: Have you been on tour before or would this be the first one?
Ella: No this would be my first, I feel like I only really play shows in New York.
Emma: Well that’s really exciting, how do you enjoy playing shows, are there any challenges that you face?
Ella: I think a big challenge for me was breaking both of my elbows when I was 18, this was when I was starting to learn guitar so I had to take a break from learning guitar. Another big challenge is finding a band. I have a lot of people I can call but it’s kind of different every time, I really wanna solidify a band so I can just be like, hey are you guys free on this day? It would be a lot easier to plan things, it’s a lot of work but it’s so much fun, I really love playing shows. I’ve been learning guitar again and playing guitar in my live shows which is super fun. I love playing gigs by myself, I find it very empowering to not have to rely on other people.
Emma: I feel like that’s really great because if you can play by yourself and you have the confidence to do that you can really do anything. Do you have any dream cities you’d like to play?
Ella: So many, ideally I would like to play in every city but of course the big ones, Chicago, LA, Boston, all the classics. I’ve never been to LA so I would love to get out there. I feel like a lot of people say New York is more live music heavy where LA is more production based.
Emma: So are you from New York?
Ella: I’m from Boston, I grew up there other than like, two years when my family moved to London. We lived there when I was 12 or 13 which is where I think my love for the city came from.
Emma: How long have you lived in New York?
Ella: SInce 2019, I went to school in Chicago for two years, and then I transferred to Fordham in the Bronx because I wanted to be in a city with more opportunities. I feel like Chicago had those but it was harder to find them. A lot of my connections were on the east coast so it just made sense.
Emma: Do you feel that living in all these different places has had an influence on your art?
Ella: I used to Ski really intensely in high school, so when I was deciding between which schools I should go to I was like, well I’m not going to Ski my whole life but I’m definitely going to sing my whole life, so I went to Chicago knowing it was a super jazzy and fun. There’s music everywhere, in London I have this memory of going to ballet and hip hop dance and that’s what I used to want to do. I thought for sure I was going to end up being a dancer and now I’m filming a music video soon and I have dance rehearsals for it. 12 year old me would be so pumped.
Emma: I feel like having that background helps so much with performing.
Ella: Yeah I’ve always performed, being in New York the music scene is so small and everyone knows each other and I love that. I think it’s so cool that there’s always a new artist on a bill that I’m on and everyone usually stays or comes early to watch the other sets, I feel like it creates such a great community that is so supportive.
Emma: You know, you always hear that New Yorkers are so mean and standoffish but I’ve come here so many times now and every time I go to a show everyone is so supportive and so friendly.
Ella: I feel like it’s because everyone is doing the same thing, I just feel like I’m able to learn so much from my peers.
Emma: It’s really cool to see how everyone is connected somehow. Do you have any last words for the readers at home?
Ella: I just hope everyone likes the music, I want everyone to feel empowered listening to my music. I want people to be able to relate to it, no experience is unique. I’m trying to work on writing more, specifically, I think that makes it so much more enjoyable when you can listen to something and be like wow this is so specific and someone has been through the same thing as me. I find it really inspiring to listen to music and see the journey that other artists go through.
Find Ella Galvin here.
Stream "Do Not Disturb" here.
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