Meet the artist: Ellie Sax
There hasn’t been a dull moment in Ellie Sax’s career. Her musical talent has led her across the globe – performing in places like Dubai, Hong Kong and Barbados. If you catch her at a gig, you’ll find her surrounded by a buzzing crowd. Her energy is contagious.
Despite studying a degree in classical saxophone at the Royal Northern College of Music – her heart was always in dance music. Her weekdays were all about classical work, whilst the weekends were spent performing at venues like Tiger Tiger. After meeting her now-husband, Harry at college – they decided to travel and perform together after graduation. The duo has been unstoppable ever since.
We chatted with Ellie about her secret project, new releases and the challenges she has faced as a woman in the industry. Keep on scrolling to read the full Q + A:
What have you been up to in lockdown?
In the first one, we did loads of location streams from mostly different places in Yorkshire. And then we went to Ibiza for the summer and worked out there because it was more relaxed with all the restrictions. We came back in December. Since then, we've just been making new music, working with different people and booking things in for the summer.
What made you decide to stay in Ibiza?
It looked like all of our Ibiza events were going ahead, granted with kind of some restrictions, so we just decided to pack up our car and get our little dog a passport. We've got a house out there and just drove down. We did Nikki Beach every week, O Beach and Rio. We had about three gigs a week, it was really nice.
What was the atmosphere like in comparison to a normal year?
It was actually illegal to dance - it was quite weird. You could have a party, but people had to sit on their beach beds. When people would start getting excited and dance, the security would come over. So, the music that we were playing was a bit more deep house and funky house, rather than as hard as we usually go. It was a different energy because you weren't trying to get people to party - you were trying to just get people to enjoy the vibe and drink and chill. So still a really nice vibe, but it was very different from normal.
Can you tell us about your upcoming secret project?
We are going to be doing an early evening family festival at The Piece Hall […] at the end of May. It should be good fun for everybody and there will be lots of vendors and food. We’re going to have a party with everyone!
What have been the biggest challenges in your career?
There are benefits to being a woman in the music industry, but there are also definitely challenges. You do get some people who don't take you seriously - especially with things like technical problems. But that's becoming less of an issue further through my career I get, which I'm hoping is an industry-wide thing. But I don't know if it's just that the more well-known you become, the less people challenge you. I think you do come across behaviours that sometimes feel a little bit threatening. Most people are really great and really nice.
What have been your favourite events and locations to perform at?
My favourite location is the Maldives. I did a Hed Kandi event out in Mombasa in Kenya and that was awesome - I loved that. It was out on the beach and we got to go on a safari. It was just so much fun. My favourite event has got to be Sin Sundays at O beach - I love them. The atmosphere is just insane.
You have such great energy with the crowd. Did you ever find it scary when you were starting out?
Yeah, definitely. I still get nervous before I go on. I used to get really nervous about it. It’s a really similar feeling - nervousness and excitement. It’s the anticipation. I think you realise that when you get up on stage, people aren't there to hate. They just want to have the best time they can have. So, if you can help them have a great time, then it just feels awesome.
What events are you most looking forward to performing at this year?
I've got some really fun events with Party Hard Travel that are in Kavos, Zante, Malia, Malta and Aiya Napa. And Sin Sundays at O beach. Then we've got The Piece Hall event. All of the festivals and nightclubs have just starting to come in now, so I'm hoping more of those come in as well because I just love doing it.
What's it like working with your husband?
It’s really fun, we really enjoy working together. And because we both love the same types of music, it means that he knows what I'm going to enjoy playing over. We don't have to have a set playlist because he knows that he can drop in a song I've never played before and he knows I'll enjoy it. He always tries to throw challenges at me as well. Midway through a set, he will drop in something that he knows is really hard and he'll look at me as a joke.
Your outfits are incredible - the sparkles, the glitter! Do you have an interest in fashion?
Yeah, I love crazy carnival glitter outfits. It’s been quite hard to find them sometimes. I basically just spend a lot of my life on the internet looking up crazy fashion, trying to figure out how I'm going to save up for a dress made entirely of metal.
You hit 3 million streams on ‘Scatman’ in February - congratulations! How did it feel?
Amazing! We’re up to 3.8 million now, so we’re heading for that 4 million mark which is just insane. It was such a long time in the making too. Harry and I made the base of it probably two, three years ago. It's been really, really popular - I think mainly in the States and in Europe.
What 5 tracks have been keeping you going through lockdown?
1. Girl - KC Lights
2. Douha (Mali Mali) - Disclosure
3. Heal Me - Biscits Remix - FARR
4. Delta - Nora En Pure
5. Burning - Gorgon City
Words By: Megan Milstead