My name is Jay Elle. I am a singer, songwriter, and guitar player. I write pop songs, most often appearing under the label “singer-songwriter.”
I started playing with bands in high school. One thing led to another and pretty soon all I was doing was playing music, or at least that’s all I remember doing. I don’t spend much time in the past unless I need to recall some specific emotions for a song I am writing or a performance.
I live in New York City. The city that never sleeps and where music doesn’t sleep either, not even for a catnap.
I admire anyone who writes well-crafted songs from Cole Porter to many contemporary writers you hear on the radio today, in all genre. Of course, I have my preferences, writers who combine lyrics and music in a very unique way, and happen to be amazing musicians and singers, some of which are now classics: Billy Joel, Freddie Mercury, Paul McCartney, Sting…etc.
By the way, I am a big fan of Billy Idol, Katy Perry, Elvis Presley, Pink, Avril Lavigne, Celine Dion, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, Pat Benatar, Eric Clapton, Jay Z, Beyonce, etc… so the list is quite long and eclectic. Add to that great composers like Bach, Chopin and Listz, to name only a few, and the list of influences and inspiration becomes endless. I listen to everything really. And everything influences what I create musically. In fact, everyone. Inspiration does not come only from other musicians but from the people in your life, nature, pets, life events, life itself. Life is a unique experience for each of us. Can you put a life in a song? In a few CDs perhaps.
I always strive to create better songs all around. Spend more and more time on each note or word. There is a limit to the pre-frontal cortex creative process though. The “thinking” has its limitation. The “critique” is bound to its knowledge. At some point you want to minimize that voice and free the artist.
