Elle Carpenter – Musician, Actress, Country girl, Homemaker, Aerialist, Acrobat, Chocoholic!
Having joined Twitter in May this year, my 34th follower was
a girl called Elle. I must admit that I picked up and followed through another
follower, the infamous ‘Tray Dushay’!
I listened to a couple of tracks, visited Elle’s website, listened to a
few more tracks and that was that, ‘Follow’. There was a three
way exchange regarding ‘Pirates Day’, then on May13th Elle posted “Weather With
You” by Crowded House (cover song by Elle Carpenter): https://t.co/xweZu7pU5V one of my favorite tracks ☺, and the rest is; well, not exactly
history, more a progression of exchanges, replies, retweets and similar
interests.
Over the past few months we have kept in touch and now Elle has agreed
to be my first interviewee for my new Blogging adventure.
Well Elle, it’s great to meet you, ‘Electronically’! Sit back, take a
deep breath, and compose yourself, now answer as truthfully as you can, or not
if you so choose, who really cares or will know anyway!
When did you first realize that you had a
musical talent?
I grew up singing with my family and performing in
musical theatre but to be honest I didn’t realize I was actually good at it
until just a few years ago. My
siblings overshadowed any musical talent I had as a kid (not a bad thing - it
made me work harder) and I always thought I was better at the acting part than
the music part. In my early 20s, a
realization came that I was a talented songwriter. In the past 4 years since I’ve been doing more touring than
ever before, I realize that people like my voice a whole lot! I’ve become accomplished at multiple
instruments and I get a great response when I play and sing. Still, what drives me as a musician is
writing songs!
Did your
parents or other Family members encourage you?
I think I just answered part of that. Truthfully, only two of us (out of
five) are pursuing music and so yes, my mother and siblings continue to
encourage me. Also, my half
brother Edward was the first person to invest in my music career back in 2009.
What is your favorite animal?
I
want a cat. My husband and I have
a tortoise. I strongly dislike
snakes.
If given the chance what other profession
would you have chosen?
I don’t have an answer for this question because I’ve
done so many things in my life. I
started working on a farm at age 6 or 7 and babysitting at age 8. Since then I’ve had so many jobs it’s
hard to keep track. I’ve already
done so many things I’m interested in that I believe I’ve had a shot at many
professions. My current goal is to
continue my music, while focusing on booking more acting roles, I starred in a
movie this year and it was a great reminder as to how much I love and miss
acting.
Parents or Grandparents origins?
On my mother’s side: Polish/Unknown. On my father’s side: English/Scottish
& Unknown. I didn’t know my dad and Carpenter is a pretty popular name so
it’s hard to figure out that Unknown.
Your current style has changed from your
original music, what molded this?
The biggest reason I was able to mold my own music is
because I was an independent, unsigned artist for so long that I could do what
I wanted with my sound. During the
time when I was writing/recording my first three albums (The Best, With Open
Hands, Simple Girl) I had a band in Los Angeles and so I wanted to sound more
rock. But then I went on tour solo
and so many people asked me for an acoustic album that I felt obligated to
record that next (Life Just Happens to You). The acoustic album helped me to get signed with an Americana
label and the rest is history. New album “Sincerely Yours” is coming this
November.
You feature cars in some of your music videos, what's your favorite vehicle?
Hard to say.
I will say that I am looking at getting a diesel next time because I put
A LOT of miles on my car. Diesels
improve the longer you drive them and they can also be converted to vegetable
oil pretty easily.
Current Car / Vehicle?
Toyota Yaris, white, 2007 - Best gas mileage for what I do, however not the best car for winter so I’ll probably want to trade it in before too long.
What's your most amusing story whilst touring?
My favorite (and usually most humorous) moments while
I’m on stage involve small children dancing to my music. Recently, last month, I was performing
at an outdoor show and this little girl was swinging her hips to one of my most
calm and serious songs. It was
amazing. I had to work very hard to
not crack up in the middle of my performance.
This one's for the girls out there. How often do you change your
hairstyle?
Every couple years. I mostly go from blond to dark and eventually back to
blond. When I dye my hair dark it
fades to red which is why there are a bunch of redhead pictures too.
All time favorite artist?
This is very hard for me because
I didn’t start discovering classic artists (unless we’re talking folk here - my
mother raised me on classic folk which I do love) until I was in my 20’s. I loved Avril Lavigne as a kid and also
Dar Williams. I love so many
artists and I’m pretty sure I still haven’t discovered my all time favorite
artist.
How's your cooking skills?
Homemade pizza, cheese, Thai food, sushi, Mexican - it’s too hard. I like almost all food!
What activity would you perform if your musical instruments were taken away for a week and duct tape applied to your mouth to prevent you singing? 'Elle smiles ☺'
How's your cooking skills?
Yes, yes I can. Check out my latest YouTube video!
Now that you have branched into the realm of food videos, what's your; favorite food?
https://youtu.be/1bhyWqbmm8M
Now that you have branched into the realm of food videos, what's your; favorite food?
What activity would you perform if your musical instruments were taken away for a week and duct tape applied to your mouth to prevent you singing? 'Elle smiles ☺'
That happens to me when I come back from tour, not because I’m being forced but because music is my job and I LOVE breaks from it. I hike, I cook, I clean, I do aerial silks & lyra, I watch TV, used to read a lot - would like to get back into that. The list goes on, depending on what week it is.
You are given 29.35 seconds to decide on a new location to live, anywhere in the World. Where
would you choose? - "Your time starts now." Tick, tock, tick tock...!
Maybe the south of France or Italy. I love traveling and honestly I think I
could be happy anywhere.
You have started acting, how did this come about and / or was it something you
had always
planned to do?
I started from such a young age
that it feels like it is something I’ve always done. I loved my theatre time as a kid, perhaps because it was
something I could keep to myself.
Siblings weren’t overshadowing me and my time on stage was all the
attention I needed.
I hated school, how was this period of your life?
I homeschooled from age
8-13. Then I decided to go to high
school. Part of why I decided that
is because I’m the youngest in my family and all my siblings had left so
homeschooling would’ve been pretty lonely. In general I think I liked school. I enjoyed the structure, getting good grades (although I
struggled particularly with science) and being around so many people - although
so many people felt pretty intimidating to a kid like me.
Do you have any plans for touring / performing with other musicians / bands?
Not really. It’s hard enough to do it solo I think it’d be much more expensive the more people involved. However, I do hope to be put on the bill with other fun artists. Even if we’re not touring together it’s
a great way to meet fellow musicians and support each other.
What are your views regarding Social Media, and which platform do you feel promotes your
exposure the most. “Any negativity also welcome!”
It really depends. Each social media platform attracts a
different group of people - we all have our favorite right? I notice that my posts on Instagram,
Facebook & Twitter get completely different responses on the three platforms. Something that’s
popular on Instagram won’t get as many likes on Facebook and something that’s
super popular on Facebook won’t even be noticed on Twitter. It’s very interesting really. It takes skill to navigate all three to
a different group of followers.
I suppose this could be like an ‘Open Mike’, let go, rant, rave, praise etc.
etc. On your mark,
ready – let rip.
I have really enjoyed the people
I get to meet on social media - including you Jack! It’s amazing how many of us are out there in this world, and
even though I’ve never met so many of my friends/followers you all make me
crack up, inspire honesty in me, allow me to bond on certain issues we have in
common, and for the first time in my life I feel like one of the popular
kids. That being said, I don’t
ever snub anyone unless they’re being rude and inappropriate and I’m just
protecting myself. I think the
more open minded we can be of ALL PEOPLE the better off our world will be.
We converse, chatter, chatter, blah, blah, blah in the background, Elle, produces a Pizza smoothie, I take it… Stop this was an electronic interview, Jack wise up!
