"The idea of Less is More has really hit home lately. After we moved from Michigan to Texas, we realized how much extra stuff we have. So we had a garage sale. What we couldn't sell, we gave away. But somehow, we keep still keep finding stuff around the house that we don't really need - or have room for. But I guess that's how life is: you keep accumulating stuff, and you learn day by day to sort out what things are still important, and which things are worth tossing."
Elia's latest recording, Less is More certainly deals with similar themes, including appreciating a simpler life, looking for the extraordinary in the everyday, and celebrating the stuff that makes up real life.
Real life has always played an important role in Elia's songwriting. Born into a house where music was a way of life, it was only a matter of time before Elia picked up an instrument of his own. "Thanks to my parents, I started piano lessons when I was four. That really laid a great foundation for me, especially when it came to playing by ear. I think listening is really essential, not just to good music, but in living a good life as well. It's all about being sensitive to things, and adjusting accordingly...about finding a balance between the syncopated and the straight..."
Elia's music is just that: a unique blend of a variety of musical influences pulled together and put into a folk package.
Elia and his wife, Dena, were married in November 2004 in Berrien Springs, Michigan. When he's not playing music, Elia works for the office of Enrollment at Southwestern Adventist University, where he is working on his M. A. in Elementary Education.
hey Elia! yeah i totally am still making music! this is my band http://www.myspace.com/poemamyspace we're called Poema :) its just me and my sister. :P
