Profile: Ellia Bisker, Sweet Soubrette

Sweet Soubrette are my favourite band. Unlike the myriad of guitar-toting, new wave influenced boys we've seen from the city recently, Sweet Soubrette owe some of their style to the performance art and burlesque scenes that permeate New York's landscape, a lineage which allows them to look amazing and wax intelligent while conquering the music scene.

The band is fronted by non-cooler front woman, Ellia Bisker, who started taking on the world with just dark humour, clever wordplay, and her ukelele for company, before recruiting a backing band.

Bisker is known for her razor sharp and humorous lyrics, and for never, ever looking bad. Here she talks about music and style, before giving us the inside scoop on where to visit on a trip to New York.

Check out their website http://www.sweetsoubrette.com/ for more pictures and info.

Tell us about Sweet Soubrette, and a little bit about yourself.

Sweet Soubrette started in 2006, when I wanted a name for my ukulele singer/songwriter act (originally solo, now a band). A soubrette is a stock character from comic opera—it’s usually described as the flirtatious chambermaid—and on the vaudeville stage young women who played and sang were also often called soubrettes. It seemed in keeping with my act. Sweet Soubrette started with a theme of “doomed romance,” which is a great source of inspiration. But I've toned down the melodrama a bit since I started, and a lot of the material is more nuanced now. I describe the music as Regina Spektor meets the Magnetic Fields—folk-influenced indie pop with witty lyrics and some electronic production.

As for the woman behind the false eyelashes, I was an English literature major, have worked in a circus, in book publishing and in the nonprofit arts, and currently have a day job in the legal department of a music publisher.

You live in Brooklyn at the moment . Did you always live in New York? When did you develop an interest in music? Was it supported where you grew up?

I've lived in Brooklyn for about six years now and I love it here. I'm a rare New York native—I grew in Manhattan and then in New Rochelle, a nearby suburb. I have friends living nearby from practically every era of my life. My interest in music started basically at birth—my parents are not musicians themselves but are lifelong music lovers, so I grew up on a cocktail of Bob Dylan, the Beatles, folk songs, and show tunes from South Pacific to Andrew Lloyd Webber. I highly recommend this combination to parents wishing to raise songwriter children, incidentally. My dad collected old stereo equipment at garage sales, and by the time I was in high school you could play music in almost every room of the house. I took piano lessons and sang in the school chorus, even went to music camp one summer. So I was always steeped in music, but I didn't start making it myself until more recently.

Why the Ukulele? It seemed quite an unlikely instrument but then a couple of years ago a whole group of hip, sexy people picked them up all at once.

Why, thank you! I like to think I'm a hip, sexy ukulele player. But it is weird—the uke has become wildly popular over the past few years and I couldn't really say why. These things seem to go in waves. In my case I got it as a gift from someone I had recently met, practically a stranger. It arrived in the mail—it was really out of the blue. But I started teaching myself to play, using online chord charts to figure out how to cover Magnetic Fields songs and then writing my own. I found the bright tone was a nice accompaniment to my voice, and the uke really lends itself to writing—it’s portable, the chords are simple, it doesn't take long to become reasonably skilled, it's fun to play, plus it looks so adorable. It gave me something a little different as a singer/songwriter (I mean really, who needs another guitarist?), and it opened doors to some very cool uke-specific opportunities—I got to play in the Paris Uke Fest last year, for instance! Plus, when you carry it around, people talk to you. It's good for making friends.

Is there a Ukulele scene? Or do ukulele players, particularly girls with ukes, just fit in to the whole NY scene, which is full of musicians and performance artists?

Yes to both! Definitely you can play the uke in the context of the general NY scene, and I know a bunch of performers who play uke in their acts but who I never see at uke-specific events. Playing the uke is still unusual enough that you stand out, mainly in a good way, though many people don't seem to understand it's a real instrument, not just a toy. But there's also a lively community of ukulele players in NY--so much so that during the 2008 NY Uke Fest there was a competing weekend-long ukulele event with completely different performers, and both were well attended. The monthly Ukulele Cabaret, hosted by the duo Sonic Uke, has been at the center of the scene for a long time. You see a huge range of material and styles, including some crazy performers doing ridiculous acts in costume, and it's tremendously fun. You can see some of those shows archived at http://www.ukuleledisco.com/.

How does having an alter ego in the form of Sweet Soubrette affect you? Is it like being a super-hero; you can do more when you’re in costume?




In my Sweet Soubrette persona,
I am a glamorous and mysterious creature, seductive and sophisticated



It's a great comfort in my ordinary life to remember that I have this other existence where I'm a femme fatale spotlighted against red velvet—as opposed to my usual activities of, say, buying groceries, spilling coffee on my new skirt, or carrying heavy bags up the subway stairs. As Sweet Soubrette I am larger than life, I command the audience and I flirt shamelessly from the stage. The alter ego also sets me apart and creates a little respectful distance in men who might otherwise get too familar. I'm working on my new record right now, “Days and Nights,” which also recalls that split personality, day and night. For the album artwork I’m thinking of using two photographs, on the front all glammed out as Sweet Soubrette, and on the back in my street clothes somewhere really mundane, like the laundromat.

Where can our readers catch a Sweet Soubrette show soon?

I'm organizing a "Paris Uke Fest in Brooklyn" on October 8 at my favorite venue in Brooklyn, the Jalopy Theatre (http://www.jalopy.biz/). It's going to feature Brooklyn uke players who have performed in the Paris Uke Fest, the Paris Uke Fest organizer himself, and some other local uke players, and will include everything from fun novelty songs to experimental music to doomed love songs to 1920s French jazz. Some of my favorite uke players are in it and I invite everyone in town to come check it out! Readers can also sign up for my mailing list at http://www.sweetsoubrette.com/, and please don’t hesitate to befriend me out on facebook (www.facebook.com/elliabisker) or myspace (www.myspace.com/elliabisker).

Does music influence your look? In what ways?

When I'm offstage, music doesn't influence my look all that much. I really do seem stick to the double life/alter ago thing. I think mostly I reserve my style energy for the stage and keep it pretty simple otherwise.

How important is presentation when you’re on-stage? Is there a certain way you want to look when you perform?

Presentation is a very close second to the music, in my opinion—the function of being onstage is that everyone is looking at you, so you should give them something to look at!

My experience working with the circus really influenced my feelings about this—razzle-dazzle is a big part of the package, it's what makes it a show.

So I tell my band what to wear, generally suits for the gents and something dressy for the ladies. My violinist doesn't like to dress up at all but she humors me wonderfully. As for me I've toned it down some over the past couple of years—when I started performing there was a lot more costume going on, and sometimes I still do that, flowers and feathers, sequins and fishnets—but I'm trying to set a tone that's more rock star than cabaret now, so I'm keeping the retro stuff to a minimum. But I never perform without my sparkly false eyelashes. I get the kind with rhinestones built in for maximum glamour.

Do you buy special clothes to perform in? Where do they come from?

I do in theory have special show clothes, but I usually like them so much that I end up wearing them offstage as much as I can get away with. I have a collection of great dresses that come from a variety of places—thrift shops, local designers, grandma's attic, hand-me-downs...I'm always looking for a good dress. I need some more sparkly glamorous things. I have a good friend, Kelli Rae Powell (http://www.kelliraepowell.com/) who is also a local ukulele chanteuse and we have a date to go dress shopping together sometime soon. The Brooklyn vintage stores won’t know what hit them.

Have New York and Brooklyn influenced you, in terms of your personal interests and look?


Video for Greenpoint, the song that won Ellia the Mizz Greenpoint Pageant in 2008

As a native, it's hard to separate out my personal preferences from the local culture. But I wear a lot of black, I like to accentuate the fact that I'm long and lanky, I love a hot pair of boots...so I suspect that when transplanted to other places I'm pretty easy to peg as a New Yorker. I don't think of myself as particularly fashion-conscious but there's definitely an unconscious attention to my look that I don't realize I have until I go to other places that aren't as style-obsessed.

Who and what would you say are your main style influences?

My boyfriend would tell you Pippi Longstocking, but he's wrong, wrong, wrong! I'd prefer to think of the movie stars of the 30s and 40s as an influence—I like to look like your sexy grandma in knee-length skirts and low heels, hair up in bobby pins. Just a little retro, though, not like I'm in a period piece. I also like a sort of pared-down gothy thing—dark tight jeans and a little black sweater, smoky eye makeup. But I'll admit to a certain circus-influenced tendency to mix and match patterns, stripes with polka dots with leopard print. That might be where the Pippi Longstocking thing comes from.

Give our readers some style advice. What should no wardrobe and make-up bag be without?

False eyelashes: instant glamour! No, seriously, my make-up bag short list is a good quality eyeliner and lipstick, adequate mascara and eye shadow, and loose powder and liquid foundation for complexion emergencies. A pencil sharpener and nail clipper/file are essential—bobby pins, too. And make sure you always have a compact mirror because you never know where you're going to have to get ready to look good (i.e. bar bathroom). As for the wardrobe, you need jeans that make you look hot and a good pair of boots. Splurge on the boots and then get them re-heeled and soled every year and they'll last forever.

And what should they definitely be without.

Steer clear of disposable clothes—anything you won't be caught dead wearing next season. Go classic instead, so you can mix and match with the same pieces for ages. And for heaven's sake stay away from things that don't flatter your shape, no matter how trendy they are! For instance I don't know a single person who looks good in those terrible high-waisted shorts I saw all the hipster college girls wearing in Williamsburg all summer. If you pick things that complement your own build, you will always look good.

Do you think that living in New York, which is incredibly diverse, helps foster creativity?

[In New York] it's the sheer density of creative people—you can't throw a rock without hitting someone who's working on a cool project.

Absolutely. It's the sheer density of creative people—you can't throw a rock without hitting someone who's working on a cool project. I've gotten involved in so many artistic endeavors simply through meeting someone randomly, or knowing them in some completely unrelated way. There's no need to advertise, you just go about your business—go to parties, hang out with your colleagues, talk to people in coffee shops, go see your friends perform. You get invited to participate in things, and you have a huge pool of people who could be amazing resources. I don't know how I'd get anything done anywhere else.

Who, apart from you, should we be listening to right now?

I recently discovered Melody Gardot and she's amazing. Erin Regan and Chris Garneau are two local songwriters I think are incredibly talented. I love quirky little Joanna Newsom with a passion. PJ Harvey is always doing something new and interesting. I've been listening lately to a lot of my favorites from 10 years ago though. Liz Phair's records (before she sold out) never get old.

Apart from work and music, what do you like to do? How do you spend your time?

I spend most of my free time with my boyfriend, who also happens to be my producer, so our free time tends to be a mix of work and play. But I'm pretty domestic—I like to cook and bake and crochet, and I love not having to get on the subway to do things. My ideal weekend might involve going to the neighborhood farmer’s market, a potluck brunch at someone's house, dress shopping, and getting drinks at a local bar before going to see a friend perform in their own show. Oh, and I just recently started taking dance lessons! The class is called “Absolute Beginner Hip Hop,” and I'm terrible but it's really fun.

Where, ideally, do you see yourself in ten years time?

Basically I want to have it all: a happy home life and adventure, fame and intimacy, art and quality of life, love and a successful creative life and a career I feel passionate about. I think about having kids too (I think this is a function of having just turned 30). So if I had my way, in ten years I'd be married or living with someone I love, with a kid or two and a cat or a dog, living in a nice apartment in Brooklyn with friends nearby, earning enough from my music to live on without a day job, and making music I love and that the fans love. I'd like to be touring too, but not all the time. And I want to be able to pay my band enough to tour with me instead of taking other gigs, including flying out my violinist for shows when she finally gives into her true nature and moves out west and out of the big city. Also, by then I plan to be an amazing dancer.

Finally, recommend a few places (shops, bars, etc) that people shouldn’t miss when they’re in the city.

Greenpoint's Alter (http://www.alterbrooklyn.blogspot.com/) and Dalaga (www.myspace.com/dalaganyc) for clothes by up and coming young local designers.

Williamsburg's Dumont and Diner for amazing food.
http://www.dumontrestaurant.com/
http://www.dinernyc.com/

Pete's Candy Store is a great Williamsburg bar with lovely backyard seating, great music and fun events like spelling bees and trivia nights.
http://www.petescandystore.com/

I already mentioned Jalopy in Red Hook but it deserves another plug.
http://www.jalopy.biz/

Kashkaval and Locanda Verdefor amazing food in Manhattan.
http://www.kashkavalfoods.com/
http://www.thegreenwichhotel.com/restaurant

Habana Outpost in Fort Greene to experience multicultural Brooklyn at its finest. www.myspace.com/habanaoutpost

Ricky's is a very fun cosmetics chain that caters to drag queens and has the most fun hair and makeup products ever.
http://www.rickys-nyc.com/

For the health conscious, Yoga to the People offers pay-what-you-want yoga classes in a few locations around the city.
http://www.yogatothepeople.com/

And if you're feeling adventurous and aren't shy about hanging out naked with your girlfriends, you must check out NY Spa Castle , a gigantic Korean bathhouse complex in the farthest reaches of Flushing, Queens. Enjoy!
http://www.nyspacastle.com/