Episode Details

Justin Ellis of Ravary stopped by Live & Local this week, ahead of the release of a compilation album called “Bargain Bin: The Studio Recordings, 2015-2025.”

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Justin Ellis has been a central figure in the Triangle’s music scene for more than a decade, as a member of numerous essential bands from Clockwork Kids to The Color Exchange to Slow Teeth. Ravary, however, is a solo project – sort of.

“I bring along a bunch of close friends to record some of the songs and play them live, because I love playing with other people,” Ellis says. “I’m a firm believer in the ‘two plus two equals five’ mentality, and the extra band mate you generate by having other people playing with you – for me, that’s magic …

“(But) my favorite thing about Ravary is that it was designed and created (as) a vehicle just for me.”

Ellis first created Ravary (also his middle name) a little over a decade ago and he’s been engaging with it off and on ever since, in between his many projects – a list that now includes coordinating the annual Carrboro Music Festival, among other things. Over the years he dropped a pair of acclaimed EPs, 2020’s “Hands to Feel” and 2025’s “Almanac,” but “Bargain Bin” – compiling the 12 songs from those two EPs into one new package – is Ravary’s first full-length album (and first physical, not-just-digital-only release).

“(It) doesn’t need to go anywhere to make me happy, it’s really just a vehicle for me to write songs and play – and because that creative itch was satisfied, it opened up a bunch of doors for me (to) play in other people’s bands,” Ellis says. “I joined (the band) Happy Abandon and we got to tour Europe and the West coast and had a record deal. I joined Easter Island (and) toured all over the country. I joined Amelia Riggs’ band, and we did a tour opening for the Mountain Goats. So I (got to do) all these cool things I always wanted to do as a musician – because (my) music didn’t need to go anywhere to make me happy, (so) other stuff could go somewhere…

“And similarly, if stuff wasn’t working for me or bands needed to break from each other, I always had (this) outlet,” he adds. “I kind of think about (Ravary) as like a playthrough of a video game that I can just pick up whenever I feel like it. Sometimes I don’t touch it for a year or two, and sometimes it’s all I do for a long time.”

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