Exclusive Interview with 'ELLA FENCE'

Singer-songwriter, master musician, and sonic explorer Ella Fence has received a lot of praise for her music. She was nominated for the 2019 Carol Lloyd Award, eight Gold Coast Music Award nominations (winning two), and the title of finalist for the Australian Women In Music’s “Best Development Artist” award. The icing on the cake is that Ella’s music has received over 4 million Spotify streams. Ella will be releasing new music internationally throughout 2022. Ella will release a number of new singles throughout the year, leading up to the release of a brand-new album. In order to produce an evolving body of work that embraces a resurgence in guitar-based Rock N Roll mixed with Avant-Garde…a demonic sonic fusion—Ella teamed up with local Australian and American producers. Ella has been compared stylistically to artists like PJ Harvey and Saint Vincent. Her music disturbs the accustomed and soothes the unsettled.

A power rock, pop blast can be heard on “I Don’t Mind.” The Go Go’s and The Bangles, two female new wave bands from the 1980s, are the inspiration for the song “I Don’t Mind.” The upbeat and catchy songs feature BOOKER T keys, frantic garage guitar, and Ella’s unmistakable, commanding vocals. The chords and chorus of “I Don’t Mind” are a burst of cool and a cocktail of wild. “I Don’t Mind,” a vivacious and feisty song, will give you energy.

The song ‘Take My Time’ gradually builds in intensity, just as the title suggests. This song takes hold as the listener prepares for the crescendo climax and Fence cranks up the anticipation levels with a slow cooker simmer. In “Take My Time,” Ella Fence displays her renowned voice and delivers a masterful songwriting lesson. In this magnificent song, There is both “unfenced” vulnerability and ominous hostility; it is a journey that will captivate you. Check out her latest double single release and the exclusive interview below:

1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?

ELLA FENCE: It’s 1999. Computers are taking over at midnight; the world as we know it is ending. Down a short hallway, through rainbow beaded curtains, behind a closed door, a young girl sits on her bed trying to both simultaneously understand and ignore the world outside. Prince would be proud.

2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?

ELLA FENCE: I’ve been singing my whole life and began formally training in vocals when I was 14. My first vocal coach was a jazz singer, which still comes through in my singing. Most of my experience and progress has come from stage and studio, listening to my voice back in videos and refining it. I used to play the flute in school, so that’s where I began reading music and getting into harmonies and how instruments communicate with each other. I’ve always written lyrics and poems, and would come up with melodies from there, and then when I was 19 I taught myself guitar so I could begin crafting my own fully formed songs.

3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences? Why the name ‘ELLA FENCE’?

ELLA FENCE: I’ve always been really inspired by Florence and the Machine. I remember listening to her earlier albums a lot when I first started writing and I still adore her music today. I’ve seen her live a bunch of times and am seeing her again early next year. Supporting her live on stage has always been a goal of mine, so who knows, maybe I’ll be able to give my tickets to someone next year because I’m playing live on stage?

Ella Fence is a play on words. It’s a progression from my real name, and it’s supposed to sound like “Elephants”. I used to collect them whenever I’d travel somewhere new. Now I have far too many all over the house haha (sorry housemates).

4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?

ELLA FENCE: When I’m writing, I imagine I’m taking my audience through something, moving from one place to another. Music for me (performance and creation), is a lot about processing emotions. Sometimes in a positive and healthy way, sometimes in a dark and counterproductive way. When I’m writing I like to imagine I’ve already figured out what I’m trying to work through, and the song becomes a conduit from before to after.

5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as INDIE?
**ELLA FENCE:**
If you dive into my back catalogue, you will find it is quite the voyage of a vast range of musical styles. My early sound was very cinematic, then I moved to electronic for a while and now I’ve anchored myself as an indie-alternative-power-femme-rock music artist. But all the music is me, and the throughline is my writing and my voice telling the story. Art isn’t linear and the more someone tries to define me, who I am and what I do, the more determined I feel to create something completely different.

6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative and entertainment?

ELLA FENCE:

Music is both for me. It’s a journey of personal and professional development, and also an opportunity to say and experience things I wouldn’t usually be able to out there in the wild.

7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfilment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?

ELLA FENCE:

As a creative, music is a reflection of life. Any creative I have ever asked this kind of “are you there yet?” question to, is always looking to the next thing – for the next musical adventure. If you’re at the finish line, you’re looking in the wrong place.

8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?

ELLA FENCE:

When I’m writing “organically”, it usually starts with an overwhelming feeling. Then I try to understand and put into words what that means. The building blocks of music come later for me.

If I’m sitting down for a writing session, the process can be very different, I might sit down at the keyboard instead of the guitar and see what new thing can be found from writing on a different instrument with different chords. Writing like this is a good way to tap into a mood and find themes and emotions that are hiding below the surface.

9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?

ELLA FENCE:

I don’t usually put this in writing. But I sometimes talk about it live at shows.

10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?

ELLA FENCE: the most enjoyable thing for me is the feeling of freedom, through travelling and performing live somewhere exciting, or somewhere new. Meeting new people at shows, or when my best friends and family come along to shows and say how much they love it. I feel very proud having performed overseas in the US, Canada, UK, Berlin and across Australia. I also feel so proud having performed my own live show with a full band at Commonwealth Games Festival 2018 closing weekend. Those are a couple of experiences I hang my hat on in pride, and I am so excited to have more experiences like that now that the world is opening up again.