Milwaukee singer-songwriter Ellie Jackson performs with Milwaukee’s Caley Conway and Old Pup, but she brings a force all her own to her solo work, writing ’90s-meets-modern-day indie folk rock with gutsy vocals, thoughtful lyrics and plenty of distortion. Jackson released two new songs this month: “Dream Girl” and “Dinner With a Friend,” recorded at Silver City Studios with Josh Evert.
– Erin Wolf, 88Nine
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
One of your hallmarks as a musician is your grit. Where do you pull that visceral sound from?
I’m really drawn to female vocalists and singer-songwriters. I love listening to Julia Jacklin, Angel Olsen and Japanese Breakfast. I grew up in the ’90s, so l love Fiona Apple and Sheryl Crow.
“Dream Girl” is the first song you wrote. What does it mean to you?
It came from an angsty and fed-up place about the male gaze – are we supposed to be a muse to other people? And what if we are a muse to other people? Does that have to be performative, or can we actually just be amazing for the sake of it and not for any other reason or person?
The full interview is available at radiomilwaukee.org.
