Elliot Wren is an 18-year-old emerging Indie pop singer-songwriter who hails from the Boston area.
Elliot Wren’s music takes you on a journey through their experiences with their raw lyrics and expressive sound. Elliot reveals their substantive soul through the lyrics and arrangements they write and the ease at which they capture your heart.
Elliot Wren has been fortunate to have been an artist on the All You Got Tour for the 2019 season, Countdown To Christmas Concert in Celebration, FL, and First Night Boston in Copley Square. Whether they are performing at a larger venue or smaller more intimate venue, Elliot is always excited to meet new people and share their music. Elliot Wren plays festivals, coffeehouses, microbreweries, and bars/pubs in New England. They can be found weekly playing at open mics at all the well-known venues in the Boston area or rehearsing in the Strega Studios in Brighton. As an 18-year-old solo artist, Elliot Wren has had the pleasure of playing with some of the incredible local music artists on the Boston music scene. Look for more DIY collaborations and new music coming out this spring.
QWIMB Q&A with Elliot Wren
at Article 24 in Brighton photo by Lisa Teeter
Q What brought you to Boston?
A For me, music was always a way to express myself when I didn’t have much else. Whether it was singing or writing, it was a way for me to cope because I never really fit in growing up. I was always different and singled out, and the music was just my way of dealing with it. It probably saved my life if I am being honest.
Q What’s one message you would give to young queer music artists just getting into the music scene?
A It’s going to be hard but my honest advice is to just be who you are. Don’t try to be someone you aren’t. People will see you being authentic and will respect you for that and eventually you’ll find the people who will support and love both you and your music.
Q Are there any artists who you look up to or who have inspired your own music?
A One of my biggest inspirations is Hayley Kiyoko. She is an incredibly talented queer music artist who changed a lot for the LGBTQ community and musicians. I have followed her music career for a long time now.
Q Do you think things are getting better for queer performers or are there still barriers to overcome?
A There are definitely still barriers to overcome and there probably always will be but as long as we continue working to break down barriers it will keep getting easier. One of the best ways to help in this process is to actively support other queer music artists on social media and by attending shows. I love the DIY music scene and the opportunities to highlight the diverse talent in this city.
Q When do your ideas for songs come to you?
A It’s been at the weirdest times and because of the weirdest things. I’ve written songs in the car while my mom drove (safety first), at friends’ homes, at performance venues before a show, you name it. Most of the time though, it’s late at night after everyone’s asleep that I get my best ideas. I end up writing them all in my notes and coming back to it in the morning.
Q Describe your creative process.
A I will start with a song idea, usually a concept of the type of song I want to write or a line idea. I then grab my guitar and will play the chords that come to mind initially. After that, it’s usually a stream of consciousness. After that, I will go back and clean up the chords and the lyrics I have written. Once it’s all cleaned up and I have a first version of the new song, I will send it to my manager and if it ends up getting shortlisted for recording, it will go through some slight changes before actually being recorded in the studio.
Q Have you ever dealt with anxiety about going on stage?
A Oh absolutely. I just try to take a couple of deep breaths and I remind myself that I will be fine. I have to consciously remind myself that people are there to support me and even if I do mess up a chord or something, I can grow from the experience and hopefully never repeat it. One thing’s for sure, in live music anything can happen, but that’s part of the fun.
Photo by Len Films & Photography
Elliot’s New Single, RIP My Diary, Out Friday February 21, 2020
Check out their new video for RIP My Diary onYoutube.
Hegemonix is the solo experimental electronic pop project of Ava Vex. They have been making music under different project names for a couple years now and identify as trans femme non-binary. They just released their latest EP “The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted.” They make music to explore identity and politics and also to make people dance and have a good time.
Hegemonix in the studio by Ava Vex
QWIMB Q&A With Hegemonix
What
brought you to Boston?
I’m from the area and have been an
active member of the DIY music scene here for a couple years now.
Have
you experienced a strong scene for Queer women in the city in terms of
music/performers etc.?
Yeah a great DIY scene that’s
accessible and supportive for people starting out playing shows and new
projects as well as connecting online to book shows.
Do
you have any sense of a history of a Queer scene in the city?
I know a little bit about clubs like
Machine and Jacques Cabaret but nothing specific.
What
made you decide to join a band?
I started making music and
performing and putting it out independently when I was 12 and have kept doing
since. I started making and recording music to experiment with sound and also
to explore my identity and relation to the world around me, which I’m still
doing.
In Studio By Ava
Are
there any artists that you look up to or who have inspired your own music?
There are a couple of cis male
musicians who have influenced me sonically for a while like Aphex Twin, David
Bowie and Beck but right now I find a lot of female and trans pop musicians
like Sophie, Charli XCX and Black Dresses to be inspiring in terms of exploring
identity and sound in new and exciting ways.
Do
you think things are getting better for Queer performers or are there still
barriers to overcome?
I think things are getting better in
terms of there being more widespread acceptance and understanding of trans and
gender non-conforming identities but also there’s still work to be done to
diversify fields like music production and live sound tech.
What
has been your proudest moment performing music or as a musician in general?
My performances over the past year
of being more openly queer and trans have been great and very inspiring for me
and others from what I can tell.
Hegemonix Taken by Elsie Hupp, live at Caffeine Underground in NYC
What
advice would you give to a queer woman thinking about starting a band or
learning an instrument?
Personally I would say experiment
and keep trying to find what works, just like I would say to people who are
exploring their gender identity, there are no wrong answers, just options
Are
there any other current or former bands or solo artists you would like to see
featured by QWIMB?
Lyrics from the new Hegemonix EP “The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”
1. Revolution Is Gay
This is a double-edged
song showing how a violent revolution can devolve into a sort of religiosity
with the sing-song ending kind of substituting actual change, sort of an opiate
of the masses obfuscating systemic changes. I imagined it as a queer Fight Club
kind of revolt, like cis guys realizing their repressed gay and trans yearnings
and finding solidarity in having gay sex instead of beating each other up in a
masochistic display of irrelevance. Also for the record I don’t think Marx is
wrong (that’s the narrator of the song speaking) although not entirely right
but a useful figure to consider when approaching societal change and the
emancipatory potential of labor.
Well we burned all the
factories tonight
Ran out in the street
and had a fight
Pitting ourselves
against one another
Hey man are you still
my brother?
The police showed up
and made a scene
Arresting us while we
were peeing
On a monument of our
boss
Guess it’s a symbol of
our loss
I don’t care
Anymore
Revolution is here
We’re all queer
Well I’m sitting in a
jail cell alright
Talking to my comrades
about our plight
Working class
rebellion is the best
As long as you can pay
the cost
The robot guards are
on our asses
Telling us we’re
unemployed masses
The revolt didn’t work
and now we’re dead
This is the afterlife
instead
All the time
We were lied to
Marx taught us wrong
Everything is a song
Sing for your life
Don’t be scared of the
cause
Change
everything
Open up all your
thoughts
Free love is here
If you want to be
saved
Trust in the sound
Of your golden voice
Lyrics from the new
Hegemonix EP “The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”
It’s been called
“the single worst incident of racial violence in American history” as
white authorities decimated what was then the most prosperous Black community
in the U.S. I felt inspired to write the song to explore how racist systemic
police violence is still very alive as we all know and to speak to how
fundamentally violent the state is above and beyond supposedly “violent
criminals.” I included a quote from the amazing Angela Davis from this
interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIDgDFvyeS8&t=8s
I was wary about
releasing this song at first because it’s written from a place of purposeful
ignorance, a somewhat conscious citizen who insights violence without
considering the racial dynamics of the situation. I just want to clarify that I
don’t directly believe what’s stated as “I” statements in these songs
but rather wanted to illustrate a somewhat flawed point of view that might be
the more common understanding of such events as peddled to us by the mainstream
media.
Woke up this morning
With tears in my
eyes
I couldn’t see through
All of the lies
Hundreds dead in
The city tonight
Police killing whoever
They like
We must maintain
Law and order
To have a story
For the reporters
The citizens
have
Gotten unruly
Time to show
The power of cruelty
White lies
Black lives
Violence lives
In hearts and minds
They say that
it’s
A story in
history
So why is it such
A big mystery
Black citizens
Killed for
resisting
White powers
Still insisting
We’re making
A movie about it
Promotional
Responses are rabid
Profiting off
Tragedy like this
Is how we respect
Whoever resists
We like
Bad times
Stories thrive
That surprise
Angela Davis:
“Because of the way
This society is
organized
Because of the
violence
That exists on the
surface everywhere
You have to expect
that
There are going to be
such explosions
You have to expect
things
Like that as reactions
If you are black
person
Who lives and walks
out
On the street everyday
Seeing white policemen
Surrounding you”
Whatever man
Race is dead
Violence is fine
As long as it’s mine
Lyrics from the new
Hegemonix EP “The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”
3. Ode to the End
Haha the big finale
and definitely the opposite of what I believe. This song is complete
resignation and acceptance of the hegemonic order of understanding, that
nothing can change and we should just accept societal decay and environmental
collapse. No! Maybe there’s some acceptance towards the end of the song though,
like transcendance through giving up and being born anew as an empty subject
ready for sustenance through revolution, circling back to the first song on the
EP. Shout out to Julian and the Strokes for inspiring this song and the first
one, big inspiration and definitely someone whose fighting for truth in the
face of lies and deception. Keep up the good fight and I hope you enjoy reading
my lyrics and commentary!
Endless wars
Burning Earth
We’re not gonna win
Anymore
The climate is done
It’s all a hoax
Like the moon landing
He says as he smokes
On a cigar
He bought from a store
Down the street
Next to the prison
Where they keep those
Who do not fit
Into the state’s
Definition of a
citizen
He wants you to cum
But you don’t care
Because you are
So debanoire
Part of the queer
Vanguard of hope
That will help us
Slacken the rope
All the
Time you spent
Is not
Gone
It’s just part of
Experience
That helps you
Move on
Are you not
Entertained
Anymore
Is this not
What you asked
For
What is this trauma
Processing grief
Actor plays
parts
Reading out lines
I’m calling cut
Redo the shot
It was all wrong
So I walk out
This movie is fucked
The plot is so
bad
It’s going nowhere
Now we’re all
bored
Talk to my
shrink
Who says hold on
Find a new cast
Rewrite the
ending
He wants a cut
Of all the
profits
Withholds my pills
Until I sign off
Of course I agree
I’m not a fool
Compromise
Is my golden
rule
Finally
The grand
Premiere
We’re all here
The audience
Just loves it
As they clap
On cue
Are you not
Entertained
Anymore
Is this not
What you asked
For
Oh
The end
My friend
Once again
Oh
The end
Begin
Pretend
Catch their next show at Outpost 186 on 2/14/20 with Fen Rotstein and Expletive.
