Today we’d like to introduce you to Elle Puckett.
Hi Elle, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m Elle. I started a band with my sister when I was 15. We got signed and did a lot of DIY tours, slept on floors and in parking lots, busked when we didn’t have gas money. Went hard for years. When I was 20, I moved to Nashville. Lived there for a few years playing and teaching music. A combination of burning out on music and coming out of the closet convinced me to leave the South and moved to Portland OR. I put music aside and was a bartender and barista for a while. One day I got a call to audition to play guitar for an artist who was about to start a long tour. Long story short, I got the gig and ended up going traveling around the world (a couple of times), playing SNL, putting out my first single, and ultimately moving to LA and making music my full-time career again. I now produce, write, and tour. Wrapping up several projects to be released this year.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has absolutely not been a smooth road. A lot of trial and error, a lot of luck (good and bad), a lot of stubborn persistence and hard work. I’ve had a very unconventional life. It can come with a lot of uncertainty and instability at times. I come from a small town in New Mexico, I got my GED when I was 15 and I didn’t have a road map to get to where I’ve gotten. I’ve had to learn a lot by experience. I’m very grateful to have ended up where I’m at but I couldn’t tell you how to do what I did. It was not a straight line. I will say, I have always kept music as my plan A and B. That was the key for me.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a music producer, artist, and guitarist. I am most known for playing guitar for Maggie Rogers, Lorde, and Christine and the Queens. I have a solo project called Rosie Ugly where I release songs I’ve written and produced on tour. I now write and produce for other artists in LA. To be honest, I’m just proud of making it to 31 and living a very authentic life. I was raised in a very conservative and religious household so I’ve had to endure a lot of pushback to get to where I am today. I’m proud I’ve stayed true to who I am.
What does success mean to you?
Success is a mindset. That’s all I’ve learned. You can just decide you’re successful and you are. It’s kind of like an exercise in gratitude. Money, achievements, and stats can all fade away and are kind of a bullshit gauge of making it because you’re only as happy as the last thing you made. It doesn’t stick. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to have goals and to move forward but for me, success is when I can settle my mind when my nervous system is calm and I feel genuinely at peace and present. I live for the little victories.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://rosieugly.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/rosieugly
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@rosieugly
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@rosieugly
Image Credits
1st photo: Reece Martinez (www.reecexmartinez.com) 2nd batch of photos: Tommy Lundy
