Vera Ellen
Vera Ellen Williams (born 1995 or 1996), known as Vera Ellen, is a New Zealand musician and winner of both the Taite Music Prize and an Aotearoa Music Award.
Early life
[edit]Ellen grew up in Naenae, Lower Hutt, the youngest of four siblings with Polish and Welsh ancestors.[1] She played in bands with her siblings and cousins, then while at high school joined friends in punk band Gaol Bait.[2]
Career
[edit]Ellen's first solo album, Monte Cassino, was released online in 2015.[3] Beat Yr Name, also self-released, followed in 2018.
Early bands and emergence as a solo artist
[edit]From 2016 to 2020 she was a member of Maple Syrup, Sweater, and, while she was in the USA studying on exchange to UCLA, Girl Friday. In 2019 she supported New Zealand band The Beths on an American tour, during which her postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome affected her balance.[4]
The COVID-19 pandemic brought her back to New Zealand in 2020 and led her to return to solo recording. That year she released two EPs, World Emotion and Songs No-one Should Hear, and signed to Flying Nun Records. She also began recording songs for her next album, It's Your Birthday.[5]
She made a short return to the USA in 2021, during which she was short of money and affected by depression. While she was there, Girl Friday recorded new material and toured the west coast. In the same year Ellen was hospitalised after a seizure.[4][6]
Her third solo album, It's Your Birthday, recorded in 2020 and released in 2021, won 2022's Best Alternative Artist award at the Aotearoa Music Awards. It was also shortlisted for the Taite Music Prize.[7]
Ideal Home Noise
[edit]Vera Ellen wrote Ideal Home Noise to be an honest record of her difficulties with her physical and mental health (the song "Broadway Junction" describes suicidal ideation), balanced with “this part of you that really wants to push through, and really wants to see the best in everything and everyone, and in yourself”.[4][8]
The album was released on 31 March 2023 and went on to win the Taite Music Prize.[9]
On the basis of being shortlisted to play South by Southwest 2024, Ellen arranged a small US tour to begin in March. Days before departure her place at SXSW - "one of those career dreams of mine" - was confirmed. She played in New York and then, on the day of her flight to Austin, joined the artists boycotting the festival in protest against its links with the US defence industry.[10] She still played non-SXSW shows in Austin, including the annual New Zealand Showcase.[11]
At a ceremony in Auckland on 23 April 2024, Ellen was honoured with the Taite Music Prize for Ideal Home Noise. The prize included $12,500 cash from Recorded Music NZ. Accepting the award alongside producer and collaborator Ben Lemi, she compared the moment to a fever dream.[1]
heartbreak for jetlag
[edit]In May 2024 she released her fourth solo EP, heartbreak for jetlag. Self-recorded in her bedroom, she had initially been unsure whether to share the songs beyond friends.[12][13]
Awards
[edit]- Winner, Best Alternative Artist, 2022 Aotearoa Music Awards (It's Your Birthday).
- Finalist, 2022 Taite Music Prize (It's Your Birthday).
- Winner, 2024 Taite Music Prize (Ideal Home Noise).
Discography
[edit]Solo albums
[edit]- Monte Cassino, 2015
- Beat Yr Name, 2018
- It’s Your Birthday, 2021
- Ideal Home Noise, 2023
Solo EPs
[edit]- Yuppie Farm, 2017
- World Emotion, 2020
- Songs No-one Should Hear, 2020
- heartbreak for jetlag, 2024
With Girl Friday
[edit]- Tiny Hats (EP, 2017)
- Fashion Conman (EP, 2019)
- Androgynous Mary (album, 2020)
- I’m Impossible/You’re Getting A Dog (EP, 2021)
With Sweater
[edit]- Rock ’n’ Roll Picasso (album, 2017)
- How to Throw an Attacker (EP, 2018)
With Maple Syrup
[edit]- Ace & Gab's Honeymoon (EP, 2016)
- Who is Maple Syrup (album, 2017)
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Vera Ellen wins 2024 Taite Music Prize". RNZ. 23 April 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
- ^ Hay, Karyn (23 April 2024). "Vera Ellen". Audioculture. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
- ^ "Listen: Vera Ellen - Modern Girls". Under the Radar. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
- ^ a b c Stamp, Tony (1 April 2023). "Vera Ellen is finally back home". RNZ. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
- ^ Ellen, Vera (8 October 2021). "It's Your Birthday". Bandcame. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
In January of 2020, Vera and Mark [Austin] recorded over a couple of days with the help of some friends at Pyramid Club. ....[Vera] was able to add songs and extra instrumentation to the album throughout the year.
- ^ "NewTracks New Artist: Vera Ellen". NZ Musician. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
- ^ Cudby, Chris (10 November 2022). "Aotearoa Music Awards 2022 Winners Announced". Under the Radar. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
- ^ Ellen, Vera (5 July 2024). "How I got a reputation for telling my audience to shut it". The Spinoff. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ "Taite Music Prize 2024: Vera Ellen takes home top award". New Zealand Herald. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
- ^ "Kiwi musicians Vera Ellen and Georgia Gets By boycott US festival SXSW due to defence industry sponsors". RNZ. New Zealand Herald. 14 March 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
- ^ Williams, Vera Ellen. "On Foreign Soil: Vera Ellen At SXSW 2024". NZ Musician. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
- ^ Stamp, Tony (17 May 2024). "Review: Heartbreak For Jetlag by Vera Ellen". RNZ. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
- ^ "2024 Taite Prize Music Winner Vera Ellen Shares New EP, heartbreak for jetlag". New Zealand Music Commission. 17 May 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2025.