Artist: Ocie Elliott
Hometown: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Latest Album: Bungalow (released October 24, 2025)
Personal Nicknames (or rejected band names): Jon and Ra
What has been the best advice you’ve received in your career so far?
Keep playing, keep writing. Don’t be precious with songs. There isn’t one right way, be yourself goddamnit!
What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?
Somewhat unexpectedly being invited to join Zach Bryan for his song “28” when we opened for him at Red Rocks this summer. We were handed wireless mics backstage and, not knowing when to sing or where to stand, were instructed to “just go for it!” – in front of thousands of people wrapped in towers of sandstone formations enveloping the sound. It felt like my sense of self dipped and pure elation took its place… like there was nothing I could do to stop my entire body from singing.
Another experience that comes to mind was one of our earlier shows, playing for 10 to 20 people in a secret locker room during a local festival in Victoria, BC. – Sierra
What other art forms – literature, film, dance, painting, etc. – influence your music?
For me, it’s mainly literature and films that influence my music and I suppose they do so more in a lyrical sense, by informing how I see the world and interact within it. I know for me, the times I feel most inspired in life is when I have been reading a great book or have just finished watching a really inspiring film. I love foreign films, especially, because they can often give such unique and also universal perspectives and open your frame of mind. – Jon
What musician has influenced you the most – and how?
Kurt Cobain. When I first heard and saw Kurt Cobain in the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video my life changed forever. I can still recall the weird feeling of hearing his voice and almost not understanding it, in a way, and being so pulled in that I was dumbfounded. Kurt Cobain and his songs and voice made me really fall in love with music in an intense way. The fact that sound could have such an effect and inspire such feelings of pleasure and energy was life-changing and life-affirming.
What is a genre, artist, song you adore that may surprise people?
I love hip-hop/rap music, not that that should really surprise anyone, since the vast majority of musicians listen to every style of music, I think. But there was definitely a long period of my life (four to five years, at least) where I mostly listened to hip-hop. A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang Clan, De La Soul, People Under the Stairs, and Outkast being my favorite artists overall.
Photo Credit: Jordie Hennigar
