VIDEO: INTERVIEW – Ella Jane Says The Idea Of Music Career Seemed Unrealistic When Growing Up, Talks ‘Marginalia’

The new EP, ‘Marginalia’ from Ella Jane dropped in October via FADER Label and features not only catchy melodies but also honest and vulnerable lyricism. The New York native has always used songwriting as a way of marking up the experiences of her life, a process she’d often document and share in real-time with an ever-expanding online community. Of Marginalia, Ella stated, “I used to think that growing up was synonymous with hitting certain milestones, like a driver’s license, or an 18th birthday, or maybe a high school graduation. But it’s not, of course it’s not. What it really is, I’ve come to find, is the ability to admit to yourself the truths you knew all along. Once you do that, you can start telling the truth to other people. And once you do that, you can start growing up. This project is a coming of age story. And if I want to connect to an audience who is also coming of age, then it is imperative I tell them my own truths.” Standouts like “Warhol” and “Party Trick” are introspective and self-analytical as in the former, while embracing her queer identity in the latter. Ella shared, “coming from a super small high school where not a lot of people dated and then immediately at the end of my senior year and start of my college experience was the pandemic, I didn’t have normal teenage relationships. I was less so thinking like ‘I’m finally going to write about a girl’ but more that something was happening with a girl and I needed to get it on paper. It wasn’t really until the song was done that I was like this is really my first time coming out in my music, as opposed to somewhere in real life.” Ella Jane just wrapped up a successful headlining tour that included numerous sold-out dates this past fall and will hit the road again in February.

Ella Jane spoke with B-Sides host Pete Mar about how she always approached music as a hobby until getting exposure on TikTok, talks about the vulnerability of her songs on ‘Marginalia’, the impact of honest songs like ‘Party Trick’ and more.