We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ella Pullicino. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ella below.

Ella, appreciate you joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I was not a kid who grew up in music, well, not in the traditional way. My parents introduced me to the world of dance when I was very young. From the age of 5, I was spending hours at my dance studio, learning everything from ballet, to jazz, contemporary, and even hip-hop. I loved to dance, it was my passion when I was younger, but as I’ve grown older I’ve come to realize that what really enticed me to dance was the way the music made me feel. The way I choreographed to rhythm and lyrics, spending hours improvising to whatever movements the songs directed my body in, the emotions I felt when listening to music translated into dance. So one could say I was not sat at an instrument being classically trained from a very young age, but music was no stranger to me.

‘My children will grow up in a house full of instruments,’ my dad used to say, and that is why for my 9th birthday, my parents gifted me with a friend- a little Yamaha electric keyboard. It was new to me, I didn’t know how to use it, but I liked that it made noise. Truthfully, I didn’t properly pick it up until I turned 13 when my first teen lover broke my heart, and for some reason, I ran to this piano and wrote my first song. I had poured my heart into it, not even knowing the proper names of what chords I was using, but it comforted me, it took the pain I was feeling and turned it into something physical, something that made sense to me, even if it was a sappy 4 chord break up song in C major.

From then on, I took an interest in music. I kept discovering the piano alone, understanding that certain white keys sounded good with others, starting diaries with lyrics and song ideas, recording different voices, and putting them together. I then found the ukelele, a ‘less intimidating guitar’ as I used to call it, and more songs were written. I fell in love with it. Just like choreographing a dance, I wrote songs. It felt natural to me.

Now I play the guitar and bass too and consider myself a singer-songwriter. So even though music wasn’t my first love, I think my journey happened organically, and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Ella, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi, my name is Ella Pullicino, commonly known as Ella Puci. I am a musician & singer-songwriter from the tiny Island of Malta. My music is both my work, as well as my passion, which is something I strongly believe in and recommend. I always knew I was good at creating things in different areas of my life, therefore, when it came to music this was no different. I wrote for myself, I write to express myself and be challenged with new instruments, to discover sounds and harmony and pair them with complimentary lyrics. Not only is it a personal experience, but creating with others is an experience like no other. Seeing something come out of nothing, one after the other until you end up with a library of original work, which can eventually grow to a more professional standard, which is incredibly fulfilling.

When deciding to pursue music, I was in love with anything jazz, neo-soul, RnB, and bossa nova inspired. I took these elements and understood how I could branch out from them. Besides creating music, I allocate time to my practice, learning my jazz standards, and improvising both vocally and through instruments. Creating a set list of tunes which I now play with in several duos, trios, and quartets. Attending jams and pushing myself into the world of gigging was an important step for me. It grew my stage presence and taught me how to deal with clients and understand music from a business perspective. Some nights I am a confident jazz vocalist, swinging with her band and singing all of the classics, other nights I am writing music with my neo-soul band, Peach Talk, releasing music and growing a following of groove-loving music nerds, and sometimes, I am back in my bedroom with my guitar turning my feelings into songs.

Music is a constant journey and learning process, it never really ends and you never really stop learning. Find your niche, understand what you love, and let that be the reason you do what you do. Practice and dedication are important, the pressure and today’s standards can get very intense, but as long as you stick to what you feel is right, it’ll lead you to where you are meant to be.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

It is never too late to start, and even when you do start, do not expect perfection from the beginning.

I feel that there is a lot of pressure surrounding age in music, this feeling that you need to get good and make it at a very young age, that if you aren’t a ‘child prodigy’ then there’s no use in even trying. The truth is that music does not have an expiry date, it is a timeless thing that is mostly subjective and up to interpretation. This being said shouldn’t disregard the importance of learning and polishing skills, but we all start somewhere.

Being a perfectionist myself, it can be hard when you don’t get things right immediately- unfortunately, that is exactly how music works. You do not get things right time and time again, but this shouldn’t push you to give up, it should encourage you to keep going. After singing multiple wrong notes and having the tips of your fingers indented with string marks will you start to feel a difference, and hear an improvement. It takes time, time that you should enjoy instead of beating yourself up over not managing at the start.

It’s okay to make mistakes, and it’s okay to start at any point in your life. That’s the beauty of music, it’s always there for you.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Music bringing people together is not a new idea to any of us, but bringing people together with the music you’ve written is a different feeling. As fulfilling, expressive and personal the journey of writing my own songs is, I’ll never forget the first time I had an audience sing my words back to me. Seeing people enjoy what I am playing or singing, so obviously feeling the groove together, strangers now connecting through music, there’s nothing like it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: ellapuci
• Facebook: Ella Pullicino
• Soundcloud: Peach Talk

Image Credits

Peach talk photos- Radhika Caroli