Emily Wells
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Emily Wells
| image = 2015 Emily Wells-Main Stage-Treefort-Credit-Rase Littlefield (16806947590).jpg
| caption = Wells performing at Treefort Music Fest 2015
| image_size = 240px
| birth_name =
| alias =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1981|11|20}}
| birth_place = Amarillo, Texas, United States
| death_date =
| origin =
| instrument = Violin, piano, cello, viola, guitar, drum programming, synthesizer, etc.
| genre = Alternative, experimental, classical
| occupation = Musician, composer, arranger, producer
| years_active = 1999–present
| label = Partisan Records, Creative Control Records, Thesis + Instinct Records, Lefse Records
| associated_acts = Clint Mansell, Terry Riley, Questlove, etc.
| website = [http://www.emilywellsmusic.com/ EmilyWellsMusic.com]
}}
Emily Wells (born November 20, 1981) is an American multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, arranger, and producer whose genres encompass alternative, experimental, hip-hop and classical. In addition to playing instruments such as violin and analog synthesizers, she uses loops, sample pads, and acoustic drums to achieve a layered effect.
Early life
Emily Wells was born in Amarillo, Texas, United States. Her father was a music minister, and Wells began playing the violin at age four. In 1990 she moved with her family to Indianapolis, Indiana, where she lived until she began traveling in 2000. While traveling she made her residence primarily in New York, where she would later move after an 8-year stay in Los Angeles.
Music career
=Early solo albums (2000-2010)=
At age thirteen she began issuing her own recordings on cassette, starting with an unofficial release with 100 copies. After several unofficial tapes, in 2000 she "took up" with Epic Records but did not actually sign with them. Beautiful Sleepyhead & the Laughing Yaks was her official full-length debut in 2006, with all the tracks written, performed, produced, and mixed by Wells. Her sophomore album The Symphonies featured bassist Joey Reina and drummer Sam Halterman alongside Wells.
Wells was interviewed and performed "Symphony 1 in the Barrel of a Gun" on episode four of Last Call with Carson Daly, which aired through NBC on September 18, 2009. In September 2010, after recently moving from Los Angeles to New York, Wells was joined onstage by vocalist and harmonium player Shilpa Ray. The performance was positively reviewed by The New Yorker.
{{cite news
| title =Emily Wells and Shilpa Ray @ City Winery 9.10
| first =
| last =
| url =http://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/night-life/emily-wells-and-shilpa-ray-city-winery-9-10
| newspaper =The New Yorker
| publisher =
| date =September 22, 2010
| accessdate = 2015-10-14
}}
=''Mama'' and Partisan Records (2012)=
File:EmilyWellsTunesDrumsAtNeurolux.JPG 2013 at the Neurolux in Boise, Idaho]]
{{ external media
| float =right
| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGOcxhsl-S8 Emily Wells - "Mama's Gonna Give You Love" Music Video] (July 2012)
| video2 =
}}
In 2012, she released her full-length album Mama through Partisan Records.
The lead single, "Mama's Gonna give You Love," was featured in The New Yorker on April 10, 2012. She also released a free remixed version of Mama on Partisan, with remixers such as Jeremiah Jae, Kid Koala, Baths, and Deerhoof. As of 2012 she was collaborating on material with Clint Mansell, a scorewriter and former frontman of Pop Will Eat Itself. That April 2012 she created a featured mixtape for Magnet Magazine, and Wells has periodically performed live sessions for recording studios, websites, and radio stations, including Daytrotter in April 2012, WYNC's Soundcheck in May 2013, Laundro Matinee in October 2014, and KCRW in June 2013.
=Tour diaries and soundtracks (2013)=
Wells has written tour diaries and articles for such publications as American Songwriter, Impose Magazine, and The Huffington Post, and she has appeared live multiple times on NPR, with an interview on All Songs Considered on April 4, 2013, and a live performance on KCRW on July 11, 2013. In 2013 she composed a song for director Park Chan-Wook's movie Stoker and toured South Korea promoting the film. A single titled "Passenger" for a then upcoming acoustic version of Mama was released in 2013. The Guardian named her New Band of the Week No. 1,503 on April 30, 2013.
An acoustic version of Mama was released in on June 11, 2013, in the United States and United Kingdom through Partisan Records. It had been recorded with a Tascam 388, with no digital effects added to the basic instrumentation. Her songwriting methods were featured in a July 2013 edition of Performer Magazine. Among other shows, Wells performed at Le Guess Who? festival in The Netherlands in November 2013, and also that year she collaborated live with Questlove at Electronium in 2013. She performed with The Roots and Aloe Blacc at the Rock the Clinton Global Initiative event that year as well.
=Recent projects and tours (2014-2015)=
"Mama's Gonna Give You Love" was used in the January 2015 trailer for season 3 of the TV series Bates Motel. On March 27, 2015, Wells gave a well-received keynote at Hackfort2 at the fourth annual Treefort Music Fest in Boise, Idaho wherein she presented her methods of composition at the intersection of art and technology and the growth of her sensibility as a musician. Performing with a reduced kit sans drums, she played earlier and later versions of her song "So, Sunday." She headlined on the main stage on the final day of the Treefort in 2015 and participated in the festival's Yogafort as well.
Wells was also broadcast on air by WQXR in March 2015, when she performed at Ecstatic Music Festival for the 80th birthday party of Terry Riley, along with other musicians such as Marco Benevento, Nancy Whang, and Face the Music. Since 2016 she has released three full-length albums on the imprint Thesis and Instinct.
Style and influences
| class="toccolours" style="float:right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0; font-size:85%; background:offwhite; color:black; width:20em; max-width:40%;" cellspacing="5"
|style="text-align: left;"|"Wells [is a] virtuoso musician, and she dabbles in electronica, shades of folk and jazz, even classical and hip-hop, creating interesting tableaux and textures that are by turns airy and luminous, and spare and haunting." |
| style="text-align: left;"|— iTunes editors, 2008 |
In 2015, Wells stated that amongst her influences are the music theorist John Cage, the minimalist composer Philip Glass, and the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan.
Discography
| class="wikitable"
|+Solo releases by Emily Wells{{cite news | title = Emily Wells | first = Andrew | last = Leahey | url = https://music.apple.com/us/artist/emily-wells/253050407 | publisher = iTunes | date = | access-date = 2015-07-06 | title = Emily Wells | url = http://www.discogs.com/artist/1285668-Emily-Wells | publisher = Discogs | date = | accessdate = 2015-07-06 }} !Year !Name !Label !Release details |
| 1999
| Midori Sour | Self-released |
| 2002
| Shadow Box | Self-released |
| 2004
| Music for Geek Love |Self-released |
| 2005
| Making Static |Self-released |
| 2007
| Beautiful Sleepyhead & the Laughing Yaks | Edub Productions |
| 2008
| The Symphonies: Dreams, Memories & Parties | Creative Control Records | Jul 08, 2008 |
| 2012
| Mama |
| |2013
| Mama (Acoustic Recordings) |
| 2016
| Promise | Thesis and Instinct | Jan 29, 2016 |
| 2017
| In the Hot | Thesis and Instinct |
| 2019
|This World Is Too _____ for You | Thesis and Instinct | Mar 22, 2019 |
| 2022
|Regards to the End | Thesis and Instinct | Feb 25, 2022 |
=EPs=
| class="wikitable"
|+Solo EPs by Emily Wells !Year !Name !Release details |
| 2009
| Dirty | Creative Control Records (2009) |
=Singles=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Incomplete list of songs by Emily Wells ! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;"| Year ! scope="col"| Title ! scope="col"| Album ! scope="col"| Release details | |
| |2008
!scope="row"|"O Holy Night" | Single only | align=left|Creative Control (Oct 10, 2008) |
| |2012
!scope="row"|"Becomes the Color" | Single only | align=left|Milan Entertainment (Oct 30, 2012) |
= Collaborations =
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Year !Name !Label !Release details |
| |2013
| Pillowfight (Emily Wells with Dan the Automator) |Bulk Recordings/EMI |2013 |
=Guest appearances=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:left;"
|+ Selected songs featuring Emily Wells ! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;"| Year ! scope="col"| Single name ! scope="col"| Primary artist(s) ! scope="col"| Album ! scope="col"| Release details | ||
|
|rowspan="2"|2008 !scope="row"|"Symphony 3: The Story" (with Emily Wells) | The Symphonies | align=left| Creative Control (2008) |
| scope="row"| "Gee Whiz" (with Emily Wells)
| Buck 65 || Dirtbike 1/3 ||align=left| (Aug 2008) | ||
|---|---|---|
| rowspan="3"|2013
!scope="row"|"Becomes the Color" (ft. Emily Wells) | Various | rowspan="2"| Stoker soundtrack | align=left| Scott Free Productions (Jan 20, 2013) |
| scope="row"|"If I Ever Had a Heart" (ft. Emily Wells)
| Various ||align=left| Scott Free Productions (Jan 20, 2013) | ||
| scope="row"|"My Only Love" (ft. Emily Wells)
|Deltron 3030 || Event 2 ||align=left| Bulk Recordings (Sept 30, 2013) |
Personal life
See also
{{Portal|Classical music}}
References
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97608448|title=Violinist's Style As Much Hip-Hop As Haydn|date=November 29, 2008|work=All Things Considered|publisher=NPR|accessdate=May 23, 2009}}
| title =The Symphonies: Dreams, Memories and Parties
| first =Emily
| last =Wells
| url =https://emilywells.bandcamp.com/album/the-symphonies-dreams-memories-and-parties
| newspaper =
| publisher =Bandcamp
| date =2008
| accessdate = 2015-09-25
}}
{{cite news
| title =On Touring with Your Dog: A Cowboy Romance
| first =Emily
| last =Wells
| url =http://www.imposemagazine.com/bytes/new-music/mothers-mixes
| newspaper =Impose Magazine
| publisher =
| date =June 29, 2012
| accessdate = 2015-11-03
}}
{{cite news
|title=Emily Wells on Re-Evaluating Creative Choices & Stripping Songwriting To Its Core
|first=Benjamin
|last=Ricci
|url=http://performermag.com/emily-wells-on-re-evaluating-creative-choices-stripping-songwriting-to-its-core/
|newspaper=Performer Magazine
|date=July 9, 2013
|accessdate=2015-11-03
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906203036/http://performermag.com/emily-wells-on-re-evaluating-creative-choices-stripping-songwriting-to-its-core/
|archivedate=September 6, 2015
|df=mdy
}}
{{cite news
| title =Tour Diary: The Adventures of Emily Wells
| url =http://www.americansongwriter.com/author/emily-wells/
| newspaper =American Songwriter
| date =
| accessdate = 2015-11-03
}}
{{cite news
| title =Emily Wells (No 1,503)
| first =Paul
| last =Lester
| url =https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/apr/30/emily-wells
| newspaper =The Guardian
| publisher =
| date =April 30, 2013
| accessdate = 2015-11-03
}}
{{cite news
| title =Premiere: Emily Wells Mixtape (Le Guess Who? Edition) : November 28-December 1 in Utrecht, Holland
| first =Laura
| last =Studarus
| url =http://www.undertheradarmag.com/news/premiere_emily_wells_mixtape_le_guess_who_edition/
| newspaper =Under the Radar
| publisher =
| date =Nov 13, 2013
| accessdate = 2015-11-03
}}
{{cite news
| title =Emily Wells Makes MAGNET A Mix Tape
| url =http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2012/04/16/emily-wells-makes-magnet-a-mix-tape/
| newspaper =Magnet Magazine
| date =April 16, 2012
| accessdate = 2015-11-03
}}
{{cite news
| title =Emily Wells articles
| url =https://www.npr.org/artists/97609686/emily-wells
| publisher =NPR.org
| date =
| accessdate = 2015-11-03
}}
{{cite news
| title =Emily Wells - Mama Acoustic version
| first =Steve
| last =Horowitz
| url =http://www.popmatters.com/review/172036-emily-wells-mama-acoustic-recordings/
| newspaper =
| publisher =PopMatters
| date =June 11, 2013
| accessdate = 2015-10-05
}}
{{cite news
| title =Emily Wells – Mama
| first =John
| last =Murphy
| url =http://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/emily-wells-mama
| publisher =Music OMH
| date =June 5, 2013
| accessdate = 2015-10-05
}}
{{Cite news | title=Breaking Out | magazine=Spin | date=June 2009 | page=44 }}
{{cite news
| title =Emily Wells - Apr 6, 2012 - Studio Paradiso, San Francisco, CA
| first =
| last =
| url =http://www.daytrotter.com/#!/concert/emily-wells/20055614-37382834
| newspaper =
| publisher =Daytrotter.com
| date =Apr 6, 2012
| accessdate = 2015-11-03
}}
{{cite news
| title =Emily Wells: Layering Folk With Electronics, In The Studio
| first =
| last =
| url =http://soundcheck.wnyc.org/story/294445-emily-wells-in-studio/
| newspaper =
| publisher =Soundcheck
| date =May 24, 2013
| accessdate = 2015-11-03
}}
{{cite news
| title =Listening Booth: The Alabama Shakes and More
| first =John
| last =Donohue
| url =http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/listening-booth-the-alabama-shakes-and-more
| newspaper =The New Yorker
| publisher =
| date =April 10, 2012
| accessdate = 2015-11-03
}}
{{cite news
|title=Emily Wells announces free release of Mama remixed, featuring lemonade, The Blow, Jeremiah Jae, Dan the Automator, Teen Daze and more
|url=https://terrorbird.com/blog/emily-wells-announces-free-release-mama-remixed-featuring-lemonade-blow-jeremiah-jae-dan#.ViwZjWSrRL8
|publisher=terrorbird.com
|accessdate=2015-11-03
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326202209/http://terrorbird.com/blog/emily-wells-announces-free-release-mama-remixed-featuring-lemonade-blow-jeremiah-jae-dan
|archivedate=March 26, 2015
|df=mdy
}}
{{cite news
| title =Electronium: The Future Was Then
| first =
| last =
| url =http://www.bam.org/music/2013/electronium-the-future-was-then
| newspaper =
| publisher =bam.org
| date =2013
| accessdate = 2015-11-03
}}
{{cite news
| title =OKP TV: Aloe Blacc & The Roots Rock The Clinton Global Initiative
| first =
| last =
| url =
| newspaper =
| publisher =OkayPlayer
| date =2014
}}
{{cite news| title =Video Sessions: Emily Wells| url =http://www.laundromatinee.com/sessions/video_session_emily_wells| publisher =LaundroMatinee.com| accessdate =2015-11-03| url-status =dead| archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20151027003038/http://www.laundromatinee.com/sessions/video_session_emily_wells| archivedate =October 27, 2015| df =mdy-all}}
{{cite news
| title =Emily Wells - Morning Becomes Eclectic
| first =
| last =
| url = http://www.kcrw.com/music/shows/morning-becomes-eclectic/emily-wells-1
| publisher =KCRW
| date =June 12, 2013
| accessdate = 2015-11-03
}}
{{cite news
| title =Listen: All-Star 80th Birthday Celebration for Terry Riley
| first =
| last =
| url =http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/listen-live-terry-riley-80th-birthday-concert/
| newspaper =
| publisher =WQXR
| date =March 18, 2015
| accessdate = 2015-11-03
}}
{{cite news
| title =Watch: 'Bates Motel' Season 3 Trailer Elevated By Visual Flair
| first =Ana
| last =Souza
| url =http://www.indiewire.com/article/watch-bates-motel-season-3-trailer-elevated-by-visual-flair-20150115
| newspaper =
| publisher =IndieWire
| date =January 15, 2015
| accessdate = 2015-11-03
}}
| title =My South Korean Adventure
| first =Emily
| last =Wells
| url =http://www.huffingtonpost.com/emily-wells/my-south-korean-adventure_b_3007252.html
| newspaper =Huffington Post
| publisher =
| date =2013
| accessdate = 2015-10-05
}}
{{cite web|url=http://tomtommag.com/2011/02/the-evolution-of-emily-wells-new-york-phase/|title=The Evolution of Emily Wells, New York Phase|date=February 3, 2011|publisher=Tom Tom Magazine|accessdate=February 14, 2011}}
| title =Emily Weels discuses purposeless pay at Hackfort
| first =
| last =
| url =http://www.boiseweekly.com/Cobweb/archives/2015/03/29/treefort-2015-emily-wells-discusses-purposeless-play-at-hackfort
| newspaper =Boise Weekly
| publisher =
| date =March 29, 2015
| accessdate = 2015-10-05
}}
|title = Artists at Yogafort
|url = http://www.treefortmusicfest.com/yogafort/artists/9
|publisher = Treefort Music Fest
|accessdate = 2015-10-05
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305023604/http://www.treefortmusicfest.com/yogafort/artists/9
|archivedate = March 5, 2016
|df = mdy-all
}}
| title = Frank Caliendo; Casey Currie. Also: violinist Emily Wells performs.
| url = http://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/last-call-with-carson-daly/s09/e04/
| publisher = Rotten Tomatoes
| date = September 18, 2009
| accessdate = 2015-07-06
}}
}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [http://www.emilywellsmusic.com/ Official website]
- [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtMNKOMwMrV1Ft-I4_c-JPQ Emily Wells] on YouTube
- {{Discogs artist|1285668}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Emily}}
Category:American women violinists
Category:21st-century American violinists