| Bio |
[30 Oct 2009|10:47pm] |
Elle Gibson grew up in San Diego just a few short minutes by skateboard to some of the best surfing in California. Her early life was happy and filled with love, though at times crowded. Her family home always had relatives of some kind either visiting or moving in for some reason or another. Her grandparents Stella and Edwin moved in soon after Elle was born to help Deliah, a children's book author, and River, a surf board maker, raise her, her parents philosophy being that it takes a village. Throughout her childhood aunts and uncles, cousins and the like would circulate through, depending on who needed a bed at the time. Elle loved it, only escaping when the waves called to her. Her favorite family visitor was her Aunt Mabel, a tattoo artist from San Francisco and her girlfriend Devon. The couple would take Elle on road trips and to museums and at night they would teach her to play the guitar and banjo on the beach under the stars. Elle fell in love with music and made it her goal to study it in every way she could. During high school, she would lend her skills to the music department when needed, otherwise her weeknights would be spent playing open mics at coffee shops. When she entered UCLA she studied musical theory, eventually falling into studying music from a more anthropological view. It was during her second year of college that she was discovered and offered a record deal. Excited, she took it, but under the agreement that she could stay in school. She toured during the summer, mainly sticking close to home, playing in a lot of the same places as Zeke Stevens. She released another album during school right before her and Zeke split. Throughout 2009 she worked on her new album and finally decided it was time to move back to San Diego after spending the last few years living in San Francisco.
Elle and Zeke
When she was 7 the family started going on vacations, meeting up with the Stevens. Her grandmother and grandmother Stevens had known each other for years, and as they had grandchildren around the same age they saw it as a perfect opportunity to bring the two families together and continue the friendship over generations. Elle and Zeke, being the same age, immediately took to each other, becoming fast friends. And for years their friendship lived on in summer, not really changing until Elle hit the age of fifteen. That summer Elle saw Zeke for the first time as a boy and not just her friend, and she fell instantly for him. She did her best to act normal, and convinced herself that she did. When she returned home after the trip she immediately emailed his sister, begging for Zeke's email, having been too afraid to ask for it at the time. She occasionally emailed him, and during the next summer the pair started a flirtation that resulted in them dating. Though they didn't live near each other, the pair found ways to meet up during their remaining years in high school. Both families, especially their grandmothers, encouraged the two. Elle found herself falling hard for him, loving him the only way she knew how, openly and honestly, though she only slightly noticed that he didn't necessarily reciprocate in the same way. During their senior year they planned on going to the same college so, for once, they could be close to one another. They both got into UCLA and Elle was excited for a new chapter in her life to begin. It only lasted a year, as Zeke dropped out after one year, a decision she supported, to concentrate on his music. She was happy, although at times things felt off between the two of them. Elle could never really put her finger on it and chalked it up to the fact that they were both busy. When he started touring things started to deteriorate. They saw less and less of each other, until they were barely dating at all, just occasionally hooking up. She didn't understand what she had done wrong, or how she could fix it. Before he left for his European tour, she tried to talk to him, but everything exploded. They fought for hours and she finally left, running to the beach where they met for the first time and spending the night there, watching the water and trying to figure out what to do. But the longer she sat there, the angrier she got, until Elle went back to her apartment and sent him an email breaking it off with him. She wanted him, she loved him, but there was always a piece of him that he would never give to her. She vented her feelings in the email, letting everything out that she didn't say to him during their fight. The email was supposed to be for him and him alone, but she heard that it became public as he read her email in concert and dedicated every hurtful song to her. Her heart was broken and not knowing what else to do, she concentrated on school, missing for the first time ever the summer trip. A few months later she was offered the opportunity to study music in Africa and she took it, needing to get as far away as she could from everyone around her. For the first time in her entire life she was avoiding her family, afraid they would blame her for the failed relationship. She hated Zeke for wedging himself into her life and then ripping it apart. While in Africa she studied the musical culture of different countries, learning the instruments and stories and finding herself again. She briefly dated a grad student, but left him when things started getting serious, afraid she would get hurt again. When the year was over she moved back, reconnecting to her family. The first time she saw Zeke was at a family gathering, she stayed as far away as she could from him. Elle hadn't anticipated on the pain that seemed to punch her in the gut. It took a while before the two could speak, more so as she heard songs that were obviously about her playing on the radio. Eventually she built up a wall, so every time she heard their breakup play out on the radio she wouldn't hurt. She concentrated on her music and surfing. And when Zeke married Dylan it didn't hurt as much as she had anticipated, though she had been too loaded to truly notice. Somewhere along the line she realized that what they shared was not the love that she always dreamed of, but what still hurts is the way he treated her and having lost her best friend.
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