It’s not just sharing O’Sullivan as a surname and witty charm that made me notice Ellie; it was the fact that she was everywhere. Growing up in the same school, it was hard to miss Ellie. From folk guitar lessons with a disastrous teacher (which we both suffered through) to singing in the drama productions, you name it, Ellie did it.
Yet sitting in her lounge with her dog bounding up and down the kitchen, Ellie is still as down to earth as she ever was. I always found that despite the 4 year age gap between us, she was always more mature than the rest of her peers. Going to a private school like we did, it was difficult to become your own person as it became apparent they tried to mould us into the same “ideal young woman” yet Ellie and I had the same rebellious streak.
At school, she performed in productions such as Grease. However despite not being the star role it didn’t stop Ellie from shining talent wise in the singing and dancing roles. “I liked acting at first but I liked it when people were clapping for me, so I didn’t other stuff to get me attention” so went on to learn guitar despite her mum wanting her to learn the violin and responded with “ do we look like a posh family?!” and made the decision at a young age that she was “going to be all Irish and acoustic”. And this started led on to her writing at the tender age of 10 yet wrote songs worth listening to at 13.
Ellie quickly realised that she didn’t fit in at school. “They actually all hated me (girls in her class) they were all wannabe’s and I just wasn’t. I used to hang around with girls in the year above because they were fun and had a bit of banter, which the girls in my year lacked.” After the high school we attended closed down (long story short, it wasn’t making enough money so shut down…) Ellie changed schools leaving her past behind and starting fresh in a brand new school.
Ellie of course is tres hipster as she doesn’t listen to chart music and says she’s very “old school rock”. Her taste in music is definitely old school “I listen to like The Stranglers, The Ramones… stuff like that. Oh and I love the Arctic Monkeys”
You’d think that being a such a young age, someone like Ellie would have an idol- someone she aims to achieve just as well as. But she surprises us again “I kinda look up to James Arthur but I kinda’ go for my own thing. I don’t want people to be like ‘oh she sounds like blah blah blah’ I want people to listen and think ‘wow she has her own style- her own thing’”.
Ellie now works alongside Harrow Arts Centre where she helps set up for gigs there as well as perform her own stuff. “I had a friend at Stage Coach who works closely with Harrow Arts and just offered me a slot at one of their open nights to perform- I was in the newspaper for that too.”
Apart from her music life taking off, she still has her feet placed firmly on the ground. “In terms of the future, I’ve got everything planned out (chuckles) I’m very organised. I’ve just chosen my GCSE’s but I haven’t chosen music purely as I’m not good at sight reading At 6th form I want to do performing arts, keep up with my French and obviously do some other academic subjects.” Ellie’s even gone as far as University plans “I want to go to Liverpool as I’ve heard they’ve got really good performing arts courses and that’s always what I’ve wanted to do.”
I feel like this young teen has much more of her life planned out that many of the people my own age and that says a lot.
To check out the photo shoot head online to RONDO.COM/PHOTOSHOOTELLIEOSULLY
Finished layout
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