Ellie Sax the saxophone star on playing in Ibiza

Liz Nicholls chats to Ellie Meredith, AKA Ellie Sax who will headline Summertime Live Windsor with Ministry of Sound Ibiza Anthems on 16th August, and star at Henley Festival on Wednesday, 9^th July

Q. Hi Ellie! Mauritius, the Monaco Grand Prix… you play at some jaw-droppingly beautiful places! Do you have a favourite? 

“I’d pick Ibiza every time because the whole vibe of the whole place is amazing, especially at sunset. And we did a gig last week right on Heron Porth Beach down in Cornwall during sunset that was so special. And when we played a gig in New York in the PlayStation Theatre and when we’d finished and we just walked straight out to Times Square and I was like, I’d like this to be my life. This is cool.”

Q. I love your sparkly dopamine outfits! You and your husband Harry, AKA DJ Laser Boy Wonder, perform so much – do you go out a lot when you’re not working?

“No! I’m such a homebody. I’m literally the most boring human when I’m not working. I absolutely love my job, and travelling, but it’s definitely good to have breaks from it and then come back to it. It means you don’t burn out, you know, and you can appreciate both aspects of your life. When I’m not working, I’m mostly at home except for walking the dogs Mabel and Pippin.”

Where is started

Q. How did you get into the saxophone?

“I was really lucky. My parents both love music so used to listen to lots of music around the house and lots of different types. My earliest love, and it’s really really nerdy to say, was Pavarotti. I used to love listening to opera and still do! My dad used to also listen to Dave Brubeck and that’s what got me into the saxophone, along with Lisa Simpson, if I’m honest! When we moved my elder sister, younger sister and younger brother and I all started on piano, which I’m really bad at – I have no natural ability! And then my piano teacher noticed I could sing. So I did classical singing and then picked up sax when I was about 11 – they’re quite heavy so you have to be quite big.”

Q. And when did you start to get into electronic and dance music then? Was that while you were at the Royal Northern College?

“Yeah so while I was at music college I used to sneak off and do Tiger Tiger at the weekend – my sax teacher was not happy with me! I’m really glad I have the classical training because it’s a really good musical foundation. But when I started doing dance music, I was like, oh, this is a bit more me!”

Q. Do you just have the one saxophone?

“I have a few, but I only have one that I use for professional performing now. I’m a Yamaha artist, so I’ve got a Yamaha 82Z custom which is absolutely beautiful and I love it. I’ve also got another Yamaha that I’m currently rebuilding. That’s the one my parents got me as my second saxophone. So I’m giving it a bit of TLC and trying to learn how to rebuild a saxophone, which is interesting. I’ve got an old vintage one and I’m just about to get a new baritone saxophone from Yamaha, which is a big bass saxophone, which I’m very excited about.”

Where to see Ellie Sax this summer

Q. Are you excited about playing at Henley Festival?

“Yes. My husband Harry’s DJing for me, so we’re doing the after party on the Wednesday and Thursday. I think that’s after Diana Ross and McFly – I would love to meet Diana Ross, so I’ll be hanging around in my dressing room area just in case I can say hi, but I’m hoping I can catch their sets before we start ours, at least.”

Q. Tell us about the show you’re bringing to Windsor!

“The Ministry of Sound, Ibiza Anthems show, as the name suggests, is full of Ibiza anthems from the 1990s onwards, all those iconic tunes that you might know as like Ibiza classics, and then some you’ll be, you’ll kind of have forgotten existed… But when you re-hear them you’re like oh yeah, I love that tune!”

Q. You’ve worked with so many amazing artists. Who would be your dream collab?

“There are a few. So I would love to make a track with Fred again, because I think he’s so clever in his kind of music creation, and I think it could be something really creative. And then also I’m really, really into Sammy Virji at the moment, so I feel like a garage sax track would work well.”

Q. What’s on your rider?

“So I have water, fruit, and some cashew nuts sometimes to give me a bit of energy. Harry has Haribo, Manuka honey and ginger beer but I’ve told him he’s getting a bit big for his boots with that! In countries like Spain and Greece, ginger beer is really hard to get hold of so I try to tell them not to bother in case some poor person’s been searching the supermarkets all day in search of ginger beer.”

“The nerds are the ones who end up doing the really cool jobs!”

Q. What are your favourite classical pieces?

“I generally like big romantic choral works, like big Handel or a big Bach choral work. I love Vaughan Williams, Prokofiev, Romeo & Juliet. It also has a saxophone in the orchestra, so that’s probably why I’m a bit biased!”

Q. Who are your up-and-coming musicians to watch out for?

“We’ve been supporting this amazing DJ, Taylor Shipley who produces her own tracks and I definitely feel like she’s got a future in music. She’s a lovely person, her parents are lovely and she’s got her head screwed on. For a 16-year-old that’s pretty amazing so yeah I’m really excited to see how she does with her career because I’ll be watching it every step of the way.”

Q. What would you say to any young girl, perhaps at school right now, who wants to play an instrument?

“I think sometimes music turns into a sort of a privileged hobby. I was really lucky that my parents decided to prioritise it for me, and for my sisters as well. It can be a really expensive hobby: lessons and sometimes the instrument.

What I’d say is you can always hire instruments from a lot of the shops, like Dawkes music. You know, I started out on piano and if I’d have continued just doing piano, I wouldn’t have ended up doing music. So I think once you find your instrument, then my main tip would be to play the music that you love, because then you’ll learn in a way what you are passionate about it. And number two, it’s OK a bit uncool in the first stages of learning! So at school I was massive nerd, really not cool at all ’cause I was practising all the time. I was in lots of bands; my life was music.

I’m really lucky that my really core group of friends still are from school and they all loved that sort of thing… And they’re all nerds as well. And you know what? The nerds are the ones who end up doing the really cool jobs! So be authentic to you and what you enjoy, because that’s what will come round to be, to serve you best in life.”

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