Where did the name come from?
When we first got together we were sitting around trying to come up with band names and Jon's sister, Ellen, was there. We had a bunch of really bad ideas and she said no to all of them. Finally, as a joke, we said "how about Ellen Says No?". We all laughed but a few weeks later we released our first demo cd and we didn't have anything better. The rest is history...
Where can I get a CD?
www.ellensaysno.com
Where do you guys usually play?
We play all over Washington State and did a nationwide tour a couple years ago. If you have a favorite venue that you like see live music, please let us know and we will try to get a show there as soon as possible. In the meantime you can always check our MySpace site or ellensaysno.com for a list of our upcoming shows.
Can I add one of your songs to my site
That's one of the great things about MySpce. Have at it!
Do you guys really read every email you get or do you pay someone to promote for you?
I wish! We're musicians, we can't afford our rent much less a marketing team. No, seriously I (Ryan) am on all the time. I love this band and I love talking to fans. If you send me an email it's me you're talking too, me that reads it and me that replies.
What are your musical influences? What bands do you guys like?
We are all so different in our tastes. Here is a sample of what we have listened to, but we are musicians so we are always talking about some new band or song we have heard. We all love getting exposed to new stuff. It helps keep us creative.
Mitch (the drummer) is the latest in a long line of drummers. He has always been into more hard rock. Led Zepplin, Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots and Metallica are just a few of his influences.
Hatch (bassist) Loves emo punk. Hot Rod Circut, Seaweed, Sunny Day Real Estate, Radiohead and also funny rap music. He loves this thing he found online that has Stephen Hawkings rapping.
Jon (the singer) has pretty eclectic tastes. His all time favorite? Top Gun Soundtrack. He plays it every summer at Seafair when the Blue Angels fly over his parents house. He listened to a lot of Smashing Pumpkins, Bush, and Metallica when he first started playing but as he got older he got more into rhythmic singer/songwritters. Big Dave Matthews fan and he's also into hip hop and R&B. I should mention Sara Mcglaughlin also, he is in awe of her vocal ability (as well he should be).
Ryan (guitar) I was a huge Metallica fan when I started playing. I was also really into Def Leppard. When I went through my "teen angst" phase I listened to a lot of Pink Floyd and The Cure. As my tastes eveloved I started listening to more classic rock. Nowadays I'll listen to anything with guitar in it. Country, rap, metal whatever as long as they throw a cool guitar line in there I'm all about it.