Today I’d like to introduce you to a bona fide rock goddess, Ellie Maybe. Ellie writes songs for and performs in about 5,000 different bands, and is awesome in all of them. She has a show coming up this week, Thursday, October 13, so be sure to check her out at LiveWire. Thanks for sharing, Ellie!

What is your name and city of residence?
Ellie Maybe – Chicago, IL

What medium do you work in? 
Music

rock goddess

How often do you work on your art–is it a full-time endeavor or something you work on in your spare time?
I haven’t had a real job in three or four years.  I’m gradually (read: barely) approaching the point where I’m actually making the majority of my income off of live music, which, while I am hanging by a thread and paying rent late every month, is pretty exciting.  That said, I’m still looking for a part-time bartending gig so if you know of anything…… heh.

How does art fit into your life, in general? Is it something you think about and talk about every day, or every week, or only in certain situations, etc.?
Music is the basis and motivation for everything I do.  I am a musician.  Even odd jobs I work are based around music (music marketing, graphic design for artists, roadie gigs, et cetera).  Every day I’m booking shows or rehearsing or promoting gigs or trying to start new bands and projects.  It’s not something I could really go a day without — listening to music in the car while running errands makes me want to go home and pick up an instrument.  My phone’s memo app is filled with song ideas, random lyrics, names of tribute bands I haven’t created yet.  It’s a constant thing for me… there’s not a second of the day where I’m not (at least in some capacity) thinking about, creating or promoting music.

When you start on a piece, what kind of end result do you have in mind? Does it get performed or published, put in a permanent form or is it more temporary?
Music is intangible and the “end result” is inarguably emotional — what the listener experiences and, in cases of live performance, what the artist experiences while playing. Personally, I often envision reactions from an audience (or occasionally the person I’m writing for/about) while writing a tune… how will this make them feel?  How will this lyric come across?  Will my exboyfriend know I wrote this song about his best friend? Hahaha…

What goals do you set in relation to your art, both short- and long-term? Is it something you hope to make money doing, or is it something you want to keep uncommercialized? Does the term “sell-out” hold meaning for you or do you see the art/commerce relationship as a necessary one?
This is a topic on which I’m very vocal.  I don’t believe that “selling out” is even a concept. Artists create to share their work with the world, and those with the proper talent and drive should be compensated to do so.  Sure, there are certain companies I’d prefer not to sell my music to, but if McDonald’s wants to use one of my tunes in a commercial and it means I don’t have to *work* at a McDonald’s to make a living, I’m gonna do it.  I am a musician by preference, but above all else, by trade.  I consider this a job.  I love it and I would play music if I couldn’t make a dime at it (and have), but I want to make a living doing this, and turning down opportunities simply because of an outdated stigma of “selling out” just seems silly to me.

I was once asked by a professor at an audition whether I would rather have a half-assed album that I was ashamed of go platinum and make millions, or an independent release I was incredibly proud of that only sold ten copies.  I told him that I’d take the former any day, and use the proceeds to fund the marketing of the latter.

“Selling out” is what you make of it.  Money makes our society move, and it’s important in this industry to have backing… It’s futile to attempt to preserve your artistic integrity by allowing less people to hear the music you create.

What role does collaboration with others play in your art, if any? 
Music in and of itself is a collaborative medium.  The writing end can be a little more personal… For the longest time, I refused to collaborate.  Songs just kind of fell out of me. I’d get an idea, sit down to write, and it was done.  I don’t like to edit.  However, about six years ago I met a guy who was an amazing guitarist and fairly accomplished songwriter.  We ended up working together on a lot of things.  We were involved in a romantic relationship as well, so there was a comfort level there… I still refused to write with others until 2008, when I participated in Steel Bridge SongFest’s weeklong Construction Zone songwriting workshop.  I ended up working with dozens of people I’d never met before (including freaking Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go’s!!) and came home ten times the musician I was simply for the experience of interacting with these folks.  I’ve since been able to cowrite with bands, producers, et cetera and I’ve become a much stronger writer for it.

The creation of music is a very personal experience, but I’ve learned that the challenge of pouring your heart out into a song with another writer can actually be quite therapeutic — and often times the piece comes out stronger than it could have with only one perspective.

collaboration in action

How conscious are you of your artistic influences? Who are your artistic influences?
While I have very defined favourites who I would usually list as influences (Tom Waits, Foreigner, KISS… yes, seriously), there are very few instances in which I really push my style to emulate them.  Actually, as far as musical influences go, I take a *lot* from rap music.  Syncopation and literary devices fascinate me, and there is a heavy emphasis on that in hip hop.  There’s nothing quite as cool as getting that perfect lyric — the one that not only expresses the sentiment clearly, but makes you think, “How has no one already said this?”  Rappers have a flare for this — it’s what they do.

Since this is a travel blog, how does travel relate to or affect your art? (Themes in what you produce, road trips to perform your music, thoughts on what happens to your painting when you ship it across the country to a customer, etc.)
Travel is one of the reasons I am a musician.  My goal in life is to pack my dog and my guitar into an RV and tour the country.  I’m currently writing a new solo record so that I can make this dream a reality — my freaking Twitter tagline is “I want to go everywhere and meet everyone.”  And it’s true.  I haven’t been many places (outside of the Midwest I could probably list them on one hand) and I’m thrilled by the concept of discovering new dive bars in small towns across the country, seeing baseball games in different parks, and making new friends who will give me a reason to come back and visit.  One of these days I’m hitting the road and I’m not getting out of the damn truck for at least a year.

And finally, a right-brain question: If your art was a map, what would it be a map of?
The El.  Seriously.  I still think west is up on a compass because of the damn Elevated maps.  The CTA ruined me.  Maybe I should take a navigator with me in that RV…. ha!

If you’d like, share your website/Facebook page and any upcoming gigs/plans you’d like readers to know about.
Thursday, October 13 @ 10:00PM
LiveWire (3394 N Milwaukee Ave in Chicago)
The Sonnets (my band) with Black Market Parts & Tiny Riots (from Madison)

www.emaybe.net (me)
www.the-sonnets.com (my band)
www.slutter.net (my all-lady KISS tribute)
www.twitter.com/ellie_maybe

Slutter, all-lady KISS tribute band. YES.