We recently connected with Elise DeMae and have shared our conversation below.

Elise, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

It all started with my first national television appearance when I was only 3 years old. I was participating in a Latvian vocal competition and apparently somehow my parents knew that this girl has some creativity inside her that needs to be developed.

Back in Latvia I had a chance to go to a professional music high school since I was 7 and that’s the place where I got most of my knowledge about music and got exposed to all different kinds of styles of it. The first was the classical music training that turned into studying jazz vocals and musical theatre singing. To be honest, I think I never thought that I will be doing something other than singing, writing my own music and just being a great musician. The same as I always dreamed about coming to New York or Los Angeles to develop my artistry and live in the biggest metropolitan of the music industry.

The other passion I had in life was mathematics and chemistry, but let’s be real – life being a musician sounded more fun. Apart from school I was already pursuing my career participating in many different projects, and I always loved the rehearsal processes that resulted into great performances, so I never wanted to let that go. The only problem was that I felt I wanted to do more than my country allowed so here I am – living and studying in Los Angeles and getting inspired by every corner of this city.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Last year I released my debut single “Is It Okay” under my stage name Elise DeMae so overall as a songwriter I am an infant, but when it comes to music career as a 22-year old, it is quite comprehensive, I think. I am Latvian singer-songwriter, currently based in Los Angeles, My career involves releasing my original music, arranging for a cappella groups, choirs and other artists, recording for my own projects and other artists, playing piano, and touring as a background singer with Latvian artist – Laima Vaikule.

Currently I am enrolled in a music college in Los Angeles and for a girl from such a small country like Latvia, being in the United States, especially in a city like Los Angeles, it means a lot. I am forever grateful for all the people who have helped me to get this far and for me to be able to work on my original music. My music is mostly pop-R&B, I would say, but I love Gospel music and I inspire from it a lot, so you will hear a lot of harmonies, a lot of choir moments in my songs, that is for sure. Probably in my music you could hear that I have inspired of some of my favorite artists – Yebba, Tori Kelly, JPCooper, Adele.

Right now I am working on my next single, as well as collaborating with some great upcoming artists from LA, Latvia, London, Peru, Lebanon, Croatia, Serbia, and other places of the world. And that is the most beautiful part of LA and this college community – you can meet so many talented people from all over the world, make music together and make your audience feel connected to it.

I wish every person I know could experience the music scene here. There are so many events, artists, people to inspire from, and at the same time I feel that everyone could find their right place here no matter what.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I am very critical of myself, and only when I came to LA, I started learning that sometimes it is good to be aware of the things you are good at. But apart from that – for me the most rewarding aspect is when other great musicians respect you as an artist and a person, as well as they want to work with you. Also it fulfills my heart when people that have listened to my music or see me performing say that they felt moved and connected to the story I was telling on the stage.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My overall goal is to live my best life being an excellent musician and making people feel good when they are listening to my music. I want to be one of those people who came from a small country, fought for their dreams and traveled the world by doing what they love the most. I have always believed that with a constant hard work everything is possible, so I will just keep releasing music, and you all start or keep listening to it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elise_demae
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elisedemaemusic
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@EliseDeMae?si=wD74dH_Yp1-IDbf1

Image Credits
The Featured photo – taken by Nate Haiden Other photos taken by few photographers – Finlay Mathias , Aksels Robets Zirnis , Nate Haiden.