Ellise, the “dark pop princess,” is a rising independent artist known for her dark pop sound and girly-meets-spooky aesthetic. Her newest single, “Pretty In The Dark,” a collaboration with Ashley Sienna, has amassed nearly 4 million streams since its release, going viral for its manifestation powers. Ellise’s music teases the line between eerie, confident, and feminine, making her a standout in the industry with moody and introspective lyrics that capture the hearts of fans worldwide.
Payton: How did you get to know Ashley Sienna?
Ellise: It’s actually a really cute story. I found her on TikTok when she was just starting out. I think I found her when her account had, like, under ten thousand followers. So she was just getting her start. And I found her because she had been, like, mentioning me in a couple of videos being like, ‘if you like these dark pop artists’ and like threw my name in there. So that’s how I stumbled on her and I went and listened to her music and I was like, “oh my god. She’s like, really, really good.” I was playing shows in Southern California this past May, and I went to go see what was up with Ashley Sienna because I remembered really liking her music and her vibe. I went back to check her TikTok and she had blown up. And I was like, “Yes, spooky pop girls are thriving!” So I just messaged her on TikTok and I asked her if she wanted to come out to California and do some shows with me, and she said yes.
P: And what was the moment you said “we need to write a song together?”
E: I met her for the first time in person at my show. She did her set. She killed it. And then after the shows, she asked me, “Hey, I have this song. It’s half written and I really want to feature on it. Would you want to be featured on it?” And I heard the song and I thought it was amazing and it was “Pretty in the Dark”. So I was like, “Yes, of course” and I went in and recorded it.
P: “Pretty in the Dark” went viral for fans claiming it had manifestation powers. Was that intentional when you were creating the song and how does that make you feel as an artist to see people talking about your music like that?
E: It was absolutely intentional. Ashley does a lot of manifestation music that’s kind of like her thing, and she grew up, you know, fully manifesting her career. She taught me a lot about the power of manifestation and things happening. I mean, she even told me she was manifesting doing shows in America and literally the next day I messaged her and was like, “Hey, do you want to come do my shows with me?” So I feel like I’ve learned a lot from her, like how to harness your power and how to speak and feel things into reality. And I do very much believe in that. We created the song with this manifestation intention. I mean, obviously it’s a song. It’s not like magic. It’s not going to bop things into your life, but I do really believe when you create a piece of art with intention and then people listen to it with that same intention in mind, it helps manifest the feelings that the artists intended for the song.
P: Do you think the song has helped you in that way?
E: Absolutely. I mean, even the song getting big on TikTok, obviously a big song on TikTok is what every artist right now wants. And me and Ashley were, like, manifesting it. We’re speaking it into existence. And I feel like because we had so much belief in that and we really felt that in our souls, I do feel like that’s part of what helped the song to start kind of blowing up on TikTok.
P: What inspired the “Pretty in the Dark” music video?
E: We were inspired by the movie The Craft. We kind of wanted to create a very witchy sort of dark vibe. We also kind of wanted to just bring the dark pop manifestation energy into it. We filmed it in like this gorgeous old Victorian house that was like an hour out of LA. That location and just the overall like effects that they put on the video, the black and white, the dark outfits [is what really brought the vibe together].
P: You have a reputation for very cinematic music videos. Can you walk me through the process of brainstorming for a music video?
E: Thank you! Honestly, a lot of my songs start with an idea for a music video already in my head. I like to write very visual and conceptual songs. So a lot of the time when I’m in the studio, just kind of like writing or even just at home writing for fun, I always like to kind of attach a loose visual concept to all of my songs. So by the time the video is actually getting made and we’re going into like storyboard and mood board it out, I usually already have a pretty strong idea of what I want to portray visually.
P: Were there any fan responses that really stuck out to you?
E: I think it’s really cool to see people saying that it really did help them manifest what they wanted. So just like these happy stories of different girls, and boys, too, but I would say it’s mostly girls being like, “Hey, I actually found courage in this song to, like, help myself gain what I wanted and it’s working.” That’s like, the coolest thing ever.
P: How did you settle into your alt-pop sound? Did you always know that was your genre?
E: Honestly, growing up, I always had a liking and a taste for darker media. I’ve always loved horror [and] I was a huge bookworm and I always liked to read like mystery and horror fiction. So even coming into being a songwriter and an artist professionally, I guess I always knew I wanted to do darker things. I was very inspired by Lana Del Rey, Melanie Martinez, Lorde, and I’ve just always kind of been keen to that alt pop, darker sound. I think what really made me realize this spooky dark sound is what I love to do and what comes the most naturally for me is when I dropped my first Halloween EP in 2018, and I kind of just had the idea. I’d heard a lot of Christmas music and Christmas albums, and I was like, well, I love Halloween, so maybe I’ll do like that but for Halloween. Ever since I’d released that EP, that’s kind of what made me realize I love making this style of music.
P: Are there artists that stuck with you growing up and have bled into your music now?
E: I think a big one for me growing up was definitely Nirvana. I really loved Nirvana as I think I found them when I was like 12 or 13. I was like, “Dad, have you heard of this band?” I love Kurt Cobain. His lyrics are just insane, obviously. I was in like middle school [when the alt pop sort of Tumblr-era movement] happened, and I feel like that altered my brain chemistry. Hearing Lana Del Rey for the first time, hearing the Cry Baby Melanie Martinez album, hearing Lorde’s first album, even The Neighborhood’s first album, that era of music really, really influenced me to not only want to be a singer, because I’d always been singing since I was a little kid and I’d always been reading and writing, but not necessarily writing songs. So hearing that era of music really made me go from like, “I’m just a singer” to “I want to create an entire universe around my music. I want to write visual lyrics. I want to just make it feel like a deep, deep pool of layers of things.”
P: When you go into the studio, what headspace are you in? How are you preparing? And is there a certain point in your life that you like to draw inspiration from when you’re going to write?
E: I’m in the studio very often. At least like four days a week most weeks. So it kind of just depends. Some days I’m not great at writing happy music or love songs so I like to think about really trying times in my life. I’ve lived in LA since I was 17 and I’ve seen and done a lot of crazy things. As you can imagine, being in LA with no parental supervision as a teenager. So I have a lot of inspiration to draw from and I don’t know, I like to think about my past relationships. I kind of like to get in the headspace of like, okay, what were you feeling at this time? And try to capture one specific feeling.
P: Are there any artists that you would love to collaborate with moving forward?
E: If I could collab with anyone in the world, it would definitely be Ariana Grande. I’ve loved her since Victorious, and I just think she’s like the vocal queen of our generation. Other artists I would love to collaborate with are more up and coming. I have an amazing friend, Lila Blue. She’s iconic. She’s an amazing singer and songwriter. I’d love to collab with her. There’s a lot of really awesome female rappers coming up recently. I’m obsessed with Flo Milli. Collabing with her would be a dream. I know Ashnikko is not necessarily a full rapper, but I love her too and would love to collab.
P: I would love to see how your style would blend with some of those artists. So you played some live shows earlier this year. What was your favorite part about playing those shows?
E: Honestly, the whole experience was just very surreal for me. [They were] my first headline shows ever, so probably my favorite part was just getting to experience that whole thing for the first time. Like the nerves before walking on stage, and all the nerves disappearing the second you’re actually on the stage. But definitely my number one favorite part was getting to actually meet fans who enjoy my music in real life because luckily we’re in the age of the internet where we can all kind of like conversate with our fans, but getting to like hug someone and meet them for real and like have a conversation with them is just such a different experience.
P: You released your album Chaotic two years ago, and you’ve released two singles this year and have been teasing a new Halloween EP. Can you give us any more info about that EP or maybe other new music?
E: So the EP is coming. I’ll give a hint, which is that it’s going to have more songs than my typical Halloween EPs have. My typical Halloween EPs have four, and I think I’m going to make this one a little bit longer. So I’m very excited about that. And yeah, other than that Halloween EP in October and then really working hard to get an album coming in the first quarter of next year for sure.
P: How is the style of your new music going to compare to your previous releases?
E: I think it’s a little more mature. I think in the past a lot of my music has been very like a sad, depressed girl, heartbroken, you know, that kind of vibe. But I’m not that girl anymore. I’m not sad, I’m not heartbroken. I’m a lot happier. I’m older, I’ve experienced more life. And I think that reflects in my music a lot and an underlying theme of a lot of the stuff that I’m going to be putting out is more of like, that sexy. Like I’m in power. I’m in control. No one’s going to mess with me, type of music.
P: Is there a big takeaway lesson or something that you’ve learned over the past ten years following this dream that’s really stuck with you?
E: There’s so many. That’s a good question. I feel like the number one lesson I’ve learned and I feel like I say this a lot, but it really is so true, is that you have to prioritize your own gut feelings and your own intuition above everything else. And while it’s definitely important to have like your trusted people that you take their opinions to heart, I think at the end of the day in this industry, there’s going to be a lot of people around you. Everyone’s going to have a different opinion. Everyone is going to want what they think you should be or what they think you should be making. At the end of the day, your own gut is always the best thing for your art because it’s your art. It’s literally coming from you. So you have to put your own feelings and thoughts before everything.
P: When can fans expect to see you on stage next?
E: Hopefully very soon. I am trying really hard to get back on the road, not only in America, but I also really want to go to Europe and do some touring there. I don’t have anything solidified to tell you, but very soon, fingers crossed.
Listen to “Pretty In The Dark” by Ashley Sienna & Ellise here!
