Ethel

English

“There’s kind of a visceral relation to music running in my family,” Ethel admits. Hailing from a line of artists, where her great grandfather and grandfather and father are musicians in their own right, Ethel grew up in Paris, France surrounded by sounds and culture, spending weekends in studios and fantasising about performing: “I was a very extroverted character as a kid, singing and dancing all the time and fascinated by MTV… I wanted to be in the spotlight. But growing up, I became way more introverted.” Eventually, music became this private joy of hers, something she wanted to keep close and sacred. Raised on a strong diet of Stevie Wonder, Prince, Marvin Gaye and Big Star soundtracking long car rides with her family, it was when she broke out on her own journey of musical discovery that the likes of Lauryn Hill, D’Angelo, Erykah Badu and Solange paved the way and eventually led her to the next generation of artists such as James Blake, Noname, The Internet and Kendrick Lamar that she dubs her ‘breakthrough’. “It felt like they were using those same references I had growing up in such an interesting way that was groundbreaking to me.” Despite her upbringing, it wasn’t until Ethel spent time at university in London that she truly found her creative calling and a community that fuelled her love of music in a more active way. Writing songs, releasing them on platforms, throwing gigs at friends’ houses, she says, “I think it pushed me more into the musical direction than if I had stayed in France. Those are also the years where you develop your whole emotional system so just to be surrounded by so many creative souls was amazing and very new to me. We created this collective of musicians, which was very inspiring to me and pushed me more towards the direction I always wanted to take.”.