Music has always been a part of OPRF senior Ellie DePooter’s life. When she was younger, the DePooter family would take road trips. Miles of road ahead of them and nothing but idle chatter to fill it. That is, until her dad would turn on the car stereo. With the music blasting, DePooter and her dad would perform duets to their favorite songs – “Just Give Me a Reason” by P!NK and “My Wish” by The Rascal Flats. These happy memories tied to music have helped bring DePooter to where she is today.

Her path started when, around the age of seven, DePooter was encouraged to try out for a musical at a local theater. After making it in, she took an interest in performance theater and even joined the school choir. This was when she first fell in love with music. The theater director, who DePooter called JoJo, would give her private piano and voice lessons, which gave her the vocal technique that would put her on the road to starting her music career.

DePooter’s dad, who sings and plays guitar, has also been her musical inspiration from a young age. Like her dad, DePooter sings and plays guitar and piano. “My family used to get so mad because I would never stop singing … I took piano when I was a kid, and it just stuck with me,” she said. Her newest song, “What It Looks Like”, features samples of her guitar skills. “I started (playing guitar) during quarantine, and I just taught myself,” DePooter said.

Although she has been singing and playing piano since she was a child, DePooter’s official artistic journey as the rising indie-pop artist known as L.E.D. began later on. “I started writing my own music in middle school,” she said. “When I started, I just came up with scenarios in my head. As I practiced more, my writing got better and I was able to start writing about my own life and tell a story… it has helped me grow tremendously as a person.”

The time came for DePooter’s reach to grow. “I finally had a decent song that I put out on Soundcloud, and a producer contacted me. He asked me if I wanted to record, and I said yes,” DePooter said. Ever since then, DePooter’s music has expanded to major platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, and iTunes.

For DePooter, music is a creative outlet for connecting with others. “I think it’s just a way for me to express my feelings, and it’s really nice to put in all that hard work and hear the outcome of it,” she said. “It has helped me become more in touch with myself and has introduced me to so many incredible people.”

Senior Rory Cronin, a fan and friend of DePooter’s, is one of those people. “I first came across Ellie’s (musical talent) and her gifted voice when we were in middle school,” Cronin said. “It wasn’t until freshman year of high school that I knew she wrote some songs of her own … my first impression of Ellie’s songs was that every lyric comes from the heart and soul. Whether it’s a fun song or a sad one, you can really tell how much every word means.”

DePooter hopes that other people can relate to her experiences through her music. “When I listen to other people’s music, it either puts me in a better mood or it can even resonate with my more sad feelings… I think you can feel understood by someone else by listening to music,” she said. “Even though I do write about my own experiences and feelings, it’s nice to hear other people going through similar things. It helps me feel like I’m not alone.” As not only a musician but an avid listener, DePooter also draws a lot of inspiration from hearing the varied styles and techniques of other artists.

“One of my most recent songs, ‘What it looks like,’ is very personal to me and it was hard to put it out there. My first two songs were more upbeat and exciting but the newest one is definitely about a hard time in my life. Those are the kinds of songs I love to write because they make me feel so much better,” she said. “I have more of those more personal songs coming out soon.”