I, Walter Zalis, have never been married, so I can’t claim to be any sort of authority… but perhaps Ellery has it right. Ellery, the duo out of Cincinnati have been married and making music for some time now, enduring the ups and downs, hardships and amazing experiences the road and industry have to offer – together. It hasn’t always been easy (requiring the band to take a break from the scene for a while), but Ellery has continued to refine their sound, coming back today with their second full-length album, “This Isn’t Over Yet”. 
 

We ask Ellery to tell us about the collection – they said, “we recorded it last summer with a fabulous producer named Malcolm Burn, who's worked with artists like Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, Kaki King, etc, people whose music we'd long loved. We had last recorded in 2005… and you know, we'd grown up a good bit during the previous four years, so the songs we were writing, and our style and approach, had matured and developed.” The duo went on to tell us about the sound we should expect: “I've heard Ellery's sound described as ‘emotive lush-pop’, which feels accurate. Perhaps with the slightest tinge of Americana… We place a lot of importance on lyrics and communication; we love poignancy and intimacy, the way even the catchiest song can say 20 different things depending on when you're listening.”

  

The band is back on the road, so check out a show after you investigate their schedule. Expect Ellery show to “create a moment, the kind of thing you experience in the middle of a great fiction when, although the story is an escape, you somehow feel more human, more alive, more yourself.” There’s a lot more below, so check out “This Isn’t Over Yet” and read on for the answers to the XXQ’s.

 

XXQs: Ellery

 

PEV: How would you describe your sound and what do you feel makes you stand out over the others in your genre?

 

Tasha: I've heard Ellery's sound described as "emotive lush-pop," which feels accurate.  Perhaps with the slightest tinge of Americana.  I don't know that we stand out "over" others in our genre -- I think there's room enough for all of us -- But I do believe we do something unique.  We place a lot of importance on lyrics and communication; we love poignancy and intimacy, the way even the catchiest song can say 20 different things depending on when you're listening. Or perhaps it just says something more every time you hear it.  We also have a thing for vulnerability; we make music because we want to feel connected: To ourselves, to other people... So there's a lot of intimacy in our songs, and at our live shows. 

 

PEV: What kind of music where the members of the band into growing up? Do you remember your first concert?

 

Tasha: I grew up in a pretty religious home, so for many years my music was restricted to religious concerts and the CCM genre.  I have a lot of varying regrets about this, but I don't regret my exposure to hymnody when I was a child: Its poetry, simplicity, harmony.  I still find myself playing some of those melodies if I'm left alone in the dark at a piano.

 

I think Justin's love of music began a little later... He suddenly found himself entranced by a Pearl Jam tape when he was in ninth grade.  He found an old beat-up acoustic in a dark closet in his house and went to work learning every song on the record. 

 

PEV: Hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, tell us your take on the music scene there and what was it like trying to break into it?

 

Tasha: Cincinnati's a great music town with a rich history; King Records started in Cincinnati: great country/western and R&B.  And the city has this fascinating north/south identity crisis going on, a rich Greek and German ancestry, and a number of colleges and universities... all of which makes for a great (and sometimes hilarious) place culturally.  It can be an uncertain city for our particular genre, but we're illogically head over heels for it anyway.

 

We first connected with Cincinnati through the media outlets we'd long loved: Citybeat, WNKU, WVXU.  We were stunned, and still are sometimes, to be so welcomed by them; they've all been enormous supports. 

 

And a lot of connecting with Cincinnati, or any city, has been via word of mouth.  Our sound has a broad reach: We've often seen three generations of fans show up at our concerts, and we're always hearing, "I don't usually like this style of music, but I like you guys."  This is great news, but it means there's no one proven way to get the word out.  So when our fans tell the story, the music goes; we're so grateful for that.

 

PEV: With that, what can fans expect from a live Ellery show?

 

Tasha: Our hope with our shows is to create a moment, the kind of thing you experience in the middle of a great fiction when, although the story is an escape, you somehow feel more human, more alive, more yourself.  I think it's the welcome sense that life is bigger than our particular stories, or maybe that by finding ourselves in a character we get to realize that who we are - our feelings or history - isn't such an anomaly. 

 

Obviously we hope our songs offer these moments in themselves, but to create that feeling in a public space among friends and strangers at a show - what a lovely thing.  So we try to be ourselves, to play music like we're in a living room or sitting round a fire.  We want it to feel like conversation, like we've all been together and it meant something.

 

PEV: What is the first thing that comes to mind when you step on stage?

 

Tasha: I'm not sure what happens when we step on stage, but right beforehand, we almost always tell each other some version of, "Let's have fun with this.  Let's be ourselves.  You look great."

 

PEV: Having all been in other bands before how is playing with Ellery different then those other works?

 

Tasha:  We actually haven't been in other bands, although we've occasionally played with other musicians for events here and there.  And we usually love it. 

 

PEV: What was the underlining inspiration for your music? Where do get your best ideas for songs?

 

Tasha:  A lot of songs begin when the first line shows up out of nowhere, often without a melody, just repeating itself in my head.  I try to see where it wants to go, what the song is about, what's unfolding.  (The older I get, the more suspicious I am that this is some kind of dialogue with my subconscious.)

 

But however they begin, the songs almost always come from people: from suffering or dreaming.  The sources aren't always real people... Well, I don't know.  They probably are in some way.

 

PEV: Thinking back to when you first started out, do you ever look back at your career and think about your earlier days and how you’ve arrived where you are today?

 

Tasha:  As little as possible!  Just kidding.  We don't like to think too much about the music we were making then, or the poor souls who endured it. But we're so grateful for what we've learned.  It took us a long time to figure out who we were as individuals, let alone as a couple or as musicians or as a musical couple.  So our road has been a long and winding one, but we don't regret it.  Not usually, anyway.  We unknowingly side-stepped the typical music-biz work of new bands, which hindered our progress, and we sometimes feel like awkward latecomers to a party.  But then again, being a bit older, we're more likely now to be like, "We're awkward!  Hi!"

 

PEV: What’s one thing we’d be surprised to hear about the members of Ellery?

   

Tasha: So - Justin's the nicest person in the world.  I'm not biased; people tell me this all the time.  And he loves everything.  He won't even hurt bugs.   (We both eradicate insects from our home via complex Rescue Missions.  "You'll love the outdoors!  There's dirt and leaves!")  But I'll tell you - Justin is a great shot.  Although he has no desire to own one, the man knows all about guns (and gun safety, I might add).  And he will beat you at target practice, guaranteed.

Hilarious.  Hilarious.

 

I'm not sure what would be surprising about me... I haven't had soda or alcohol for two years.  Does that qualify?  It's so random: I was at Kripalu (a yoga school) for a month in 2008 to get certified as a yoga instructor, and they didn't have either.  So when I got back home, I thought, "Hmm.  I'll just keep not drinking soda.  Or alcohol."  And then two years went by. One more confession: I haven't had caffeine in a year.  This is all so embarrassing; I'm quickly losing rockstar points.  Let's talk about depression and Cymbalta again! 

 

PEV: Being in a band can be stressful enough on each member, let alone the fact that you are married. How do you balance the professional and the personal?

 

Tasha: I don't think we did for many years.  The line between Tasha and Justin as married-couple and Tasha and Justin as Ellery has often been super-blurry or nonexistent.  Our conversations over dinner would be about music and business; our roadtrip conversations about songs and writing.  The thing is, these are all things that we love, so we want to talk about them, and it's good to do so!  But it was often difficult to know who else we were besides musicians, besides Ellery.  And I'm a workaholic, so there was never really a spare moment to be anything else, to let go.  So if things weren't going well for Ellery, or if things were uncertain, that uncertainty seeped into everything.  Everything. 

 

That's a lot of what this spring has been about.  As a result of depression on my part late last year, we made the decision to not book any more Ellery shows this spring, and to spend the time figuring out who else we are, what else we love.  It was a very healing season, and in the process we got to learn so much about each other.  Life and marriage became 3-dimensional again.

 

PEV: Tell us about your debut album, “This Isn’t Over Yet”, on June 15th. What can fans expect from this?

 

Tasha:  This is actually our second full-length album; we recorded it last summer with a fabulous producer named Malcolm Burn, who's worked with artists like Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, Kaki King, etc, people whose music we'd long loved.  We had last recorded in 2005, and one of the reasons it took so long to get around to recording again was that we wanted to have the right collection of songs, and we wanted to work with the right producer -- Someone who could challenge us as songwriters, who could capture our sound, who could expand who we were and break us out of any ruts.  Malcolm fit that description, and working with him was an honor and a welcome challenge.  And you know, we'd grown up a good bit during the previous four years, so the songs we were writing, and our style and approach, had matured and developed.  So I think listeners can expect a lush indie-pop record with a hint of americana, a healthy dose of intimacy, some catchy sing-along-ability, and quirky hooks. 

And love.  Lots of love. 

 

PEV: How is life on the road for you in the music world? Best and worst parts? Does being a married couple help out the situation?

 

Tasha: The best part is seeing the country, and meeting so many different people.  This sounds cheesy, but the best thing for us has been meeting people from all kinds of religious, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, of varying political persuasions, diverse educational and work histories, etc... And finding that we can always have a conversation.  We're all a lot more alike than we think.  There's a lot more room for all of us than we think.

 

Being married does help so much.  We don't have to leave anyone behind when we go on tour, and we get to share our experiences, which is such a gift.  We can look out for each other and provide a sounding board.  And we don't each have to be everything all the time: artist, venue liaison, performer, driver; we can share the work and the roles.

 

PEV: Is there one area you wish you could travel around and play that you have not yet?

 

Tasha: We were just talking about touring in Scandinavia!  We'd love to tour Europe in general, but there's so much music going on in Scandinavia that's a similar style to ours; we'd love to connect with some of those artists.

 

PEV: How have all your friends and family reacted to your career? What’s it like when you get to play at your hometown?

 

Tasha: We're very fortunate in that both of our families have always been very supportive of our music, and even of our making a living via the music.  For many years, whenever my mom called she would ask if we were eating. So I think the instability of it, the never quite settling down, and the financial craziness of this life have sometimes concerned our families.  But - never in the sense that they wanted us to do something different, which I think is so interesting.  They just wanted to make sure we're doing well, staying healthy, getting by.  They've all provided for us and watched out for us in their own ways.  And they like our music!  They listen when they don't have to, and they come to our shows.  That's so awesome; such a rare gift.

 

I could say the same about our close friends.  They take care of us, they support us, and they genuinely like the music.  For a long time we thought they were humouring us.  "You don't have to come," we'd say.  Or, "You don't have to listen to this CD."  And we meant it.  But they did come, and they did listen, and they meant it, too.  How unexpectedly lovely.

 

PEV: What can we find each of you doing in your spare time, aside from playing/writing music?

 

Tasha: Unfortunately, playing and writing music makes up the smallest portion of our musician-lives.  So if we're at home or off the stage, we're usually at our computers sending emails or making calls.  When we actually get to write and play music, it often feels indulgent, and we guiltily wonder what else we should be doing! 

 

So playing/writing in our spare time is definitely a gift.  Other than that, Justin would likely be spending his time with people, and I'm not sure it would matter what they were all doing.  He also loves engineering and recording... what's great is that there are generally people involved with that too.  :)

I would likely be doing yoga, reading, or perhaps eating an irrationally large bowl of popcorn.

 

Depending on the time of day, you may find us both on the back porch, watching bunnies. 

 

PEV: Name one present and past artist or group that would be your dream collaboration? Why?

 

Tasha: I'm not sure about collaboration, but I'd love to connect sometime with Patty Griffin.  I love her songwriting, and her voice is such a lush, intricate instrument.  Loud louds and quiet quiets; it's emotional and brilliant.  I've also been enamored lately of Josh Ritter's newest record...

Justin is really interested in the producers and people making the records, like Peter Katis, Dan Lanois, Brian Eno --

 

PEV:  Is there an up and coming band or artist you think we should all be looking out for now?

 

Tasha:  We love The Seedy Seeds, also based in Cincinnati; their music is such a good time. 

 

PEV: If you weren’t playing music now what do you think each of you would be your career?

 

Tasha: Justin would be helping folks make records.  In any capacity, really.  He loves the process and he has great ears.  I'd probably be teaching Yoga, and I'd be writing.  Or-- perhaps someone would pay me to read poetry.

 

PEV: So, what is next for Ellery?

 

Tasha:   Right now we're working on plans for a Fall tour, a Release Tour of sorts.  And we're coordinating some shows with other musicians, which is so fun.  (We generally perform as a duo, so it's lovely when we can throw another soul into the live setting.)