A young English musician makes the journey from the sierra to the stage

At the age of 24, Malaga-based singer Ella Ray has just released her first single. Happy Place is "doing really well" on platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music and has already been listened to as far afield as Canada and Australia.

Ella explains that Happy Place was written in the pandemic and while she is very aware of the fact that "a lot of people had a really hard time" and the name is "a bit controversial", like so many other artists the lockdown allowed her time out to "make art and write songs".

During the early days of the pandemic, the only time of day Ella would get outside was to walk the dogs. "Feeling the sunshine" on her face in the Malaga mountains inspired the lyrics to her debut single. "Lots of my song writing has come from living in the mountains." Ella says.

Recording the song in a studio in spring this year came about quite by chance Ella says. She was there to record something completely different for another project. "It was really random, it wasn't planned," the singer recalls, adding that it is "too easy to put things off for another day". However, she decided "to take the leap" that day and is "very grateful" to the people who allowed it to happen and who have supported her on her "journey" so far.

The single was released on 11 October and, speaking to SUR in English just five days after, she said that the reaction had been "pretty cool". She'd been eagerly following the statistics and said there was "always someone listening to it" somewhere in the world.

Although Ella was born in Malaga and grew up in the Axarquía before moving to the outskirts of Malaga city, her parents are both British. "On a day-to-day basis I'm definitely more Spanish, but when it comes to a cup of tea I'm definitely British," she laughs.

All of her Dad's side of the family are still in the UK and growing up she says the family would go back every year. "Christmas is still very English" in the household, she says.

Ella has been performing music since she was a child. "I have grown up in a very artistic environment. My grandpa is a musician, Mum is a dancer, we are a performing family," she explains, adding, "I wasn't a shy kid."

When Ella was nine her dad started having bass guitar lessons, although it soon became clear that Ella was just as interested in learning how to play the guitar. Inspired by "an old Spanish guitar" the family had at home, Ella also started to learn.

Just a year later she was in Comares performing with her grandpa, dad and other friends who had a band and had taught her how to play. "I would do a song in the middle of their gigs," Ella reveals. She gave her first solo performance aged 12 at a festival in Granada and has gone on to perform either on her own or with her grandpa.

Earlier this year the musician secured a weekly residency at the Hard Rock Café in Marbella where she sings cover versions and her own songs.

Although growing up she says she was listening to the rock and punk music that her parents played at home, "I realised when I listened to folk music, in particular Neil Young and Ben Howard, they do something that gets me into a writing space," she says.

Ella also admits that despite growing up in Spain and having Spanish friends, she never really got into Spanish music and her influences are definitely English-language artists.

When she's not making music, Ella is working as a tattoo artist with her partner at their studio, Alesittoo Ruido tattoo, in Alhaurín el Grande.

It's another passion that she developed at a young age and says it was inspired by "watching music videos of rock stars who all had tattoos" and then coming up with her own designs.

As for the next steps, Ella is hoping to release her second single, The Safest Bet, in November this year and would like to get another single out early in 2025 before releasing an album by summer next year.