We recently connected with E J Edward Ouellette and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, E J Edward thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
E J (Edward) Ouellette is a music artist/entrepreneur and owner and CEO of Whole Music Records™ and Whole Music Studios. His lifetime in the music business has brought him much joy and a multitude of skills. He is a multi instrumentalist, singer/songwriter, a music producer, an engineer, a music business consultant, and a practicing yoga music therapy coach. He is proud to be a Producer/Featured Artist/Engineer/mixer of a Grammy® nominated Song.
www.wholemusic.com & www.ejouellette.com
EJ is a longtime voting member in NARAS, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (The Grammys®) in the Recording and Production Wing, and the Education Wing. He is also a Recording Academy District Advocate for Massachusetts and a Recording Academy Liaison. He is a member of the New York Chapter for the Recording Academy and is on the American Roots committee of NARAS.
As a music producer, E J has been developing artists/musicians, singer/songwriters/recording artists for 47 years with over 1450 releases. He has personally trained over 16,000 musicians/student/clients at Whole Music Studios and many have gone on to higher education institutions including Berklee College of Music, Belmont University, Nashville, the Boston Conservatory, U Mass Lowell and the Guitar Institute in Los Angeles.
E J is a multi instrumentalist. He is primarily a Roots Artist with a focus on American/Celt/Acadian Roots Music. He especially loves fiddle, banjo and singing! “Heck I am not a one trick pony.” Ouellette has played and produced many styles of music, all human driven recordings. No AI.
E J is an in demand studio instrumentalist with a history of touring with regional artists in many Roots Genres. He is a sought after fiddler in the Boston Irish Circuit and beyond. He is currently booking dates for 2025 with his band E J Ouellette Crazy Maggy and of course releasing new music to the planet.
E J currently is recruiting artists who are potentially qualified to join NARAS, primarily in Massachusetts/Northern New England into Eastern Canada, Labrador, Greenland, Ireland and Scotland. However there are no boundaries for becoming a member of the Recording Academy.
E J has taught music/instrumentation/voice/songwriting and audio engineering on the Community College level (Northern Essex Community College) for 25 years and contracted Music Therapist and professional traings for the Massachusetts Department for Rehabilitation for 25 years.
One of E J’s loves and passions is teaching his method of Yoga Music Therapy. He has developed this through a practice of 30 years using Yoga methods to develop healthy, effective playing techniques as well as vocal health and maintenance with his Vocal Yoga developmental exercises. This program is an exercise driven practice.
He is the past owner of two large music academies in the northeast of Boston, Pine Island Music and Whole Music which both included recording studios. His academics served 400 students each and employed full staffs with over 21 teachers each. He is currently director Whole Music Virtual Academy
A natural performer playing gigs since he was 12 years old, E J has been a performing artist for most of his life. He has performed in all types of venues including concert halls, festivals, clubs, openers for major artists, coffee houses, colleges, pubs, corporate/private events and celebrations. In the past 23 years he has been performing solo and with his band EJ Ouellette and Crazy Maggy.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My main business model at the moment is developing artist in my Whole Music Artist Development program. It’s been the mainstay of EJO Whole Music Records™ label for years now with many artists releasing on our label and bring them into the professional music realm. Here are some of the recent releases: https://open.spotify.com/album/02DRbOjBpkj1toRtacpXiq?si=JYQUGl-hQJ-
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About E J Ouellette
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kOwTG89p-rg I produced this album. He didn’t put my credits on. I am the band
on this album. I will be updating my credits soon.
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About E J Ouellette
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Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Most artists do not think about profit. I am a music business professional with many hats. My art comes first but the thinking that “I just want to make a living” is a poor business and artist model.
Art and business are intertwined for me. It’s important to have financial sustenance in order to drive one’s career and not have to take side jobs to sustain an artist’s career. This makes one a hobbyist.
Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?
A pyramid scheme…
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wholemusic.com/ & https://www.ejouellette.com/
- Instagram: ejouellette3rd
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ejedwardouellette/
- Linkedin: EJ Ouellette
- Twitter: @EJOuellette
- Youtube: @ejouellette235
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ejouellette
Image Credits
Lisa Anne O’Donnell