About Ela

You're probably expecting something like "Ela Destler has toured around X areas and made a name for herself on Y show where she caught the attention of Z label." As much of a dream as that is for the future, this is the place for sincerity.

Hi, I'm Ela, though you might know me as Miriam. I was born and raised in Midwestern college towns with world-class music schools, which gave me a grounding in the fundamentals of music-making and a beginner's training on three different instruments... before I decided that my favorite instrument was the one in my own throat. I launched myself headfirst into the world of classical singing and vocal performance degrees, but I always felt that there was so much more to singing and making music than those fun, flashy arias showing off high notes.

After moving to the Boston area for a Master's degree at Longy School of Music, I discovered the goldmine that is the Boston community of independent singers and songwriters, each with so much talent that it's a wonder the city can hold all of them. From busking on the streets to open mic nights to concerts in packed halls, this music scene and the people in it have inspired me to no end. I've been frequenting open mic nights all over the area, playing both original music and cover songs, singing on the streets accompanied by my own looped vocals, and using the academic approach to music that I got from school to gush about the hidden depths of popular music to anyone who will listen. But the best thing to come out of all of this was my brainchild of Cover to Cover, a concert series of Boston area singer-songwriters covering each other's music.

Naming my influences is practically impossible: Every single note of music I hear has an effect on me, which is the reason I cannot resist performing covers as well as original songs. Though my sound has gone between hard and soft, acoustic and electronic, and uplifting and depressing, I'd call myself a contemporary pop singer-songwriter ⁠— with a stronger-than-usual emphasis on melody.