EllenShapiro.com | About This Site and FAQ

-Go Straight to the Frequently Asked Questions-

ABOUT THIS SITE
I had been meaning to design this site for quite some time. I even purchased the ellenshapiro.com URL in October 2000, but I hadn't gotten around to actually designing a site. This was mainly due to the fact that I'm currently in college, and school has taken over my life. The good side of that was that I made Dean's List fall quarter last year (click here to see the hilarious press release they sent me to let me know. I can't believe this is what my tuition is going to). The downside was that I've had pretty much no time for anything other than school and work since September 2000.

So for some reason, the Radio/Television/Film department decided that web design would be a useful thing to teach students (because New Media is really a big profit center now...), and in our big, yearlong sophomore year class, there's a web design lab. I decided that killing two birds with one required stone was better than inventing a second bird to kill with the required stone and then killing the first bird with the stone of free time.

If you can follow that metaphor.

Long story short, this site finally came into reality in Winter of 2001. It was initially designed mainly using Photoshop 6.0, Netscape Composer 4.7 and Dreamweaver 3.0, and the redesign (Spring 2002) was done in Photoshop 6.0 and Dreamweaver 4.0, in case any of you techies out there care about that kind of crap. As you can probably tell, my web design capabilities are somewhat minimal, so if you have any suggestions or complaints, please, email them to me.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

- Why is this site written in the first person?
- Who inspires your songs?
- Who are your musical heroes?
- Why are you so pissed off at the Orchard?
- Why did you change your email address?
- Why did you decide to redesign the site?
- Will you please stop cursing?
- Are you on drugs?
- So if you want to be a muscician, why the hell are you in film school?
- I want to ask you about something not on this list. How do I do that?

Why is this site written in the first person?
Mainly because this site is actually being written by Ellen Shapiro. I'm not rich or famous enough to hire someone else to do this for me, and besides, this is fun. I really hate writing in the third person because it makes me feel like Bob Dole, and frankly, that's not really a way I want to feel, so therefore everything is in the first person.

Who inspires your songs?
The inspirations for my songs come from many, many different sources. There really is no one person who inspires all of them. I also make a lot of stuff up and write through characters instead of through myself. Though sometimes the characters end up being a lot like me...If you want to learn more about the stories behind my songs, go to the Sounds section. back to faq

Who are your musical heroes?
My big three, who haven't changed in a few years, are Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, and Liz Phair. I would really consider the three of them my musical heroes because they are incredible writers, musicians, and singers. They write songs that make me want to be a better writer. I'm into '60's and '70's rock, with the Beatles, Stones, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Who, Neil Young, the Mamas and the Papas, and Bob Dylan among the many people I dig. I also grew up on the Oldies station, and my Motown 1954-1970 box set is one of my more prized posessions. My more contemporary faves are Susan Tedeschi, Ani DiFranco, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Alanis Morissette, Wilco, the Old 97's, Dave Matthews Band, Sleater-Kinney, Luscious Jackson, Lucinda Williams, Melissa Ferrick, Fountains of Wayne, and R.E.M, just to name a few.

Why are you so pissed off at the Orchard?
Let me give a word of advice to people considering signing up with theorchard.com for distribution: Don't. I asked to be removed in April 2001, and as of mid-February 2002, they still haven't paid me or returned my merchandise. I decided to drop them because they changed the payment requirements without informing their artists that they were doing so. They've cut a lot of staff recently so that the few people who are still there are so deluged by cranky artists wondering why they haven't been paid that they really don't have time to deal with you, and unless you're moving a lot of product, they don't care. Go with CDBaby. Even if you're not selling a lot of albums they still care and help you out. They're geared towards smaller, independent artists, and they actually WANT to help. Bottom line: Help me, I like you, and I help promote your company. Treat me like shit, I get pissed off and tell everyone what a bunch of assholes you are. back to faq

Why did you change your primary email address?

I changed the address for quite a number of reasons, but mostly to consolidate some of my email. I'm starting to get tired of having to check like eight different addresses to get all my mail, and I wanted to try and filter it all into one. It's kind of counterproductive at first because some people send stuff to both to make sure you get it, but after a while, they realize it's getting through. Plus, AOL automatically shuts down your account if you bcc: over a certain number of people, and the list was getting very close to that number, so I would have had to move it anyway.

Why did you decide to redesign the site?
Mostly because I really thought the old one was kind of ugly. The background kept giving people eye strain (especially me, since I had to stare at the background for a long time when updating the site). I know the white-on-black thing is supposed to be taboo in web design, but fuck that, I think it looks better. And it reads fine if the font is big enough. back to faq

Will you please stop cursing?

Not when I talk, sorry. Well, type, in this case. I'm trying to get it out of my songs a bit, but to be honest, I really like the word "fuck" too much to simply throw it out the window (see George Carlin's classic bit on how the word has something for everyone on Classic Gold). Plus, other than from relatives, I really haven't recieved a whole lot of complaints about it.

Are you on drugs?
Not any that have not been prescribed by a physician. All my music is born simply of my own insanity. Anything I write while drunk in the future will be duly noted, but so far I haven't written anything drunk. back to faq

So if you want to be a musician, why the hell are you in film school?
Because certain persons who are paying for my education, room, board, life, etc. have kindly requested that I study something other than music so I have something to fall back on should music not work out as a career option. As I do not have the money to pay for school myself, I have honored their request. Plus, being a Radio/TV/Film major is a hell of a lot more fun than being, say, an Econ major.

I want to ask you about something not on this list. How do I do that?
Email me! There's a link, an address, or both at least ten or fifteen times in this site, including here. I'm always looking for an excuse to procrastinate, so please feel free to drop me a line. back to faq