Today we’d like to introduce you to Ellen Winter.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I knew from age 5, I wanted to perform and write music. Soon after, I started piano lessons, my parents gave me one of those obscenely large plastic tape recorders/players, the kind of thing you’d use to play Raffi casettes. I’d bring it with me everywhere, it was my biggest source of entertainment on car rides. The first tunes I ever wrote were recorded in the back of my mom’s Toyota on trips to the grocery store.
High school was when I first shared my music publicly – I made the coffee shop rounds, started doing open mics. Meanwhile, I was studying acting and playwriting at Duke Ellington School of the Arts in DC. The worlds of theater and music in my life were beginning to intersect, but I had no idea how they’d end up fusing.
When I moved to New York, I discovered that when you collaborate with artists that inspire you AND perform with those artists, concerts themselves become a form of theater. I realized I wanted to create a new kind of musical theatre, one that was both accessible and pushed the form. I sought out other artists who were creating in that in-between and I concentrated my efforts on simultaneously developing work in theater and in the indie music scene. The real joy is when the two fuse to make a weird, wonderful new thing as a result of interdisciplinary collaboration between open-hearted, hard-working humans.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I’ve been very fortunate over the last few years, and that is owed largely to the collaborative, growth-minded community I am lucky to be a part of. It has not been a smooth road by any means. Committing to life as an artist is a financial and emotional struggle. When you’re starting out, you’re working three jobs while probably working on three different projects (at least) and at some point, you have to eat and sleep,
Most of the road bumps I’ve experienced boil down to fear. When you don’t get that grant or your show gets rejected or maybe you booked a 7 pm slot on a Tuesday night off an unreliable train and no one shows up – it’s easy to get down on yourself. BUT the lesson is in dusting yourself off and trying again. At 22, I made a promise to myself to move towards my fear. Whatever made me feel insecure artistically, I made it my mission to do it. And if I was sick of my own work or feeling heavy self-doubt, that was a sign to work on other people’s projects, to join a team and help realize a vision. The community here has taught me that an insurmountable challenge is only insurmountable until you exceed your own expectations and practice interdependence.
Please tell us about Ellen Winter.
I’m a composer, writer and performer creating a collaborative genre and form-pushing work in music and theater. As a solo musician and am on the verge of recording my first full-length album, which I’m incredibly excited about! My team and I met our fundraising goal this past January and that was a major accomplishment that would not have been possible without the humans who contributed, spread the word and believed in the work.
Last year, my writing partner, Chris Littler and I wrote the first ever podcast musical called “36 Questions”! Produced by TwoUp, it’s basically a Broadway musical that lives in your earbuds. Jonathan Groff and Jessie Shelton play a husband and wife on the brink of divorce who use the 36 Questions you ask to fall in love to try and save their marriage. We learned so much about musical form and the podcast medium throughout the process. After three records together (Chris and I are also in Chamber Band, a nerd rock group who writes concept albums in fictional universes) and years of writing musicals on our own, it truly felt like a culmination of all that we had learned over the years. And it was so liberating to create something that anyone can access at any given moment – it isn’t a show you have been in New York to see or pay $300 to get a decent seat. And it never closes! You can download it right now (what?!). I’m really proud of it. I’m proud of the whole team.
I also have to shout out to Chamber Band. My first music fam outside of school. We’ve made three records together, have gone on three national tours – and we still love each other, like a lot. So, I’m proud of that family. I’m proud of the work we’ve made and will continue to make together.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Wouldn’t change a thing. All my mistakes were lessons learned. Failing sucks, but getting back up makes us stronger.
Contact Info:
- Website: ellenwintermakesthings.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @itsellenwinter
- Facebook: facebook.com/EllenWinterMusic
- Twitter: @itsellenwinter
- Other: https://ellenwinter.bandcamp.com/
Image Credit:
Rae Clarke Hendel, Alison Grasso, Chris Littler, Alison Grasso, Nate Bertone, Kristin Goehring, Alison Grasso
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
