Ellise: People still look down on you if you
don't go to college straight out of high school.
But I was just like, "This is what I need to do forever." So, I moved here.
[child singing] ♪ Twinkle, twinkle, little star...♪
We always knew Ellise can sing. But the first time we actually watched her singing
in front of like two hundred people
it was at her elementary school.
Elisse: My music teacher wanted me to sing at the Back to School Night for my school.
I was really nervous 'cause I'd never like performed anything solo before.
And people were just outside hanging out. And as soon as Ellise opened her mouth...
[Elisse singing]
...they rush into the theatre.
[audience applause]
And at the end people were actually
taking photos and autographs. 'Cause I'm like, you know what?
One day you're gonna make it so I need to keep this.
It was really like a breaking moment in my life where I was like 'This is what
I wanna do. And this is what I love.'
Hi.
Hey, Ellise. How ya doin'?
I'm good. How are you?
My name's Chris Seefried. I'm a songwriter, record producer.
Ellise: Oh, wow. Hi. Nice to meet you.
Likewise. Do you know that your friend Talia had submitted you
for a show called 'Uncharted'?
No, I didn't know that.
Chris: It's a...it's a music show. So they submitted your music. And Honda had gotten
in touch with me. And we talked about it and we thought it would be a great idea if we
got together with you and recorded a single.
Oh my gosh!
Did that really happen?
Chris: Yeah. That really happened, that really just happened.
Ellise: Oh my gosh, that's amazing!
What?!
We were hoping maybe we could start tomorrow.
Ellise: I freaked out. I've always wanted
to go to LA and sing in a studio. And just all those things that you grow up dreaming about.
Chris is just such an established producer. And I wanna hold myself to the same standard
as the artists he's worked with before me.
So I just gotta really bring my 'A game' and hopefully cut a great song.
♪ All, I could do, all I could do was cry ♪
♪ All I could do was cry ♪
♪ I was losing the man that I loved ♪
♪ and all I could do was cry ♪
That's awesome.
I love that song. Yeah. I love...I love your huge voice.
Thank you. Wow.
She's well beyond her years as a singer.
She's got a great voice. She's a great singer. I was excited about that.
I was like, wow, this is gonna be great.
I think she's super brave. To leave home at sixteen
years old and say, 'Man, I wanna be a singer' or 'I wanna go make it', yeah, she's brave
to do that. And you need to be.
Luna: On this table, we were all having dinner,
Ellise dropped the bomb saying, "Guys, I wanna move to LA. I want to pursue my music career.
And I'm graduating high school early." Ellise: I could've stayed and had my four
years. And then I was planning on going to college after that. But I just didn't wanna
wait another two years of high school and then four years of college. And then try to
go after my goal. I really wanted it to be my decision and not cloud my mind with what
other people had to say about it.
I do have concerns but I can't be a
hypocrite. I was in this country by myself at fifteen and had a job at sixteen and was
on my own, too. Ellise: A big part of the reason my mom supports
me so much is because she moved from Iraq to America and kinda paved her way. So I think
she's basically letting me do what her parents let her do.
We don't have to do things the way everybody knows. Sometimes people are out of the box.
And Ellise is out of the box.
Chris: Let's see how we feel about this.
[singing] ♪ All this I couldn't do if not for you...♪
Chris: I think 'if not', do jump for instance 'if not for', you know.
Oh yeah.
So the idea is we'll talk to your choral teacher. Have him write -
Oh, my choir?
Yeah.
From Monte Vista? And like go to Monte Vista and like...
You know, after we've got the tune set.
Oh my god.
Send him the stems and have him record on the track.
Oh now I'm so happy. And then you come in with...[music starts]
Ellise: I'm definitely nervous to go to
The Village because it's crazy how talented they all are.
Like I just don't wanna seem like the weak link.
So cool - Looks like the place where like the
pilot sits in the airplane. [laughter]
Oh, I'm gonna try to be up to your standard. But I'm definitely nervous.
Musician: Something like that right into the verse.
Chris: And I think that's where
Johnny'll probably come in. Yeah, straight into verse.
But then dynamic comes down, right?
Yeah.
A lot can go wrong. It's like every step has to go to the right person and
go the right way.
Yeah. We’ll just listen.
We'll roll it. You just use your instincts and then we'll start to work on it.
Okay. I'm gonna switch snares out then.
Should I just start? Or...
Let's do it.
♪ Don't you break down over, ♪
♪ over again ♪
Ellise, just remember like, with the
demo, come in soft. And ramp up as the tune does.
Okay. Chris: Okay. Here we go.
♪ Break down over again. Don't you...♪
♪...break down over...♪ [music stops]
Ellise: Oh I went kinda flat. Can I try that
last one over again?
Ba, da, ba, da, ba, ba...
...It's like a B chorus: Down, da down. Different melody here.
♪ Don't you stay up waiting through the night. Everything is gonna be alright ♪
You know at the end it...it's gonna be like a choir with you. And I think you
should just be like rejoicing, even though we're saying 'break down'.
Okay. Cool. Got this.
Bridge one more time.
♪ Don't you stay up waiting through the night. Everything is gonna be alright ♪
♪ First you loved me, then you saved me, then you gave me your heart...
♪ And as the rain falls, it's your strength I recall, so don't you break down over again... ♪
♪...over again ♪
Did you hear that?
Luna: Ellise didn't say much about working with Chris or the song that they're working
on together. You know we couldn’t just take this
lyric that she presented to us. It needed some kind of point of view that was more than
just dream big.
It's basically about me leaving home
and growing up. But, at the same time, it's directed toward my mom.
So there's definitely
some sadness to it. But I'm leaving home to live my dream and do what I love. And it's
me telling her how thankful I am for her, not only supporting me, like, helping me thrive.
I didn't let you ever hear the song, even though you bugged me about it a lot.
[laughter] Because it's dedicated to you, and it's about you.
[Elisse & choir singing] ♪ Don't you break down over ♪
♪ over again. Don’t you break down over again ♪
♪ Don’t you break down over ♪
♪ over again. Don't you break down over again ♪
Ellise: This has, honestly, been such a cool experience
and I'm really excited to get the single recorded and out there. I think
it's gonna be amazing. And this has definitely been a dream come true.
♪ Don't you break down over again ♪
I can't believe I made you cry. Luna: I love you, baby. [crying] I love you.
It's such a beautiful song. Awww... [kiss]
Announcer: Do you know an uncharted musician
whose music deserves to be shared with the world?
Email artists@whoisuncharted.com