Elio Mei

Born in 2002 and raised between Queen Creek and San Tan Valley on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona, Elio Mei began writing songs in elementary school and quickly performed in local cafés before building an online audience on TikTok and YouTube. After a few self‑produced demos, the American singer‑songwriter—initially active under the name Madilyn Mei—shifted toward an indie‑folk and indie‑pop sound where acoustic guitars, spare arrangements and a bedroom‑pop‑adjacent production support a fantasy‑tinged imagination. The EP Where No One Knows My Name (2022) marked a first step, followed that year by an appearance at the ZONA Music Festival in Phoenix. Elio Mei then released the album To Exist With You in 2023, which includes the duet “Sleeping in the Kitchen” with Addison Grace and paved the way for his first headlining dates. He followed with the horror‑inspired EP Promise You Won’t Scream (2023), then the concept EP The Bard (2024) and a costumed Side Quest Tour. In 2025, the record A Thousand Songs About It All: Act 1 continued this songwriting approach—mixing quest narratives, role‑playing references and intimate introspection—while Elio Mei opened several dates on AJR’s U.S. tour and expanded collaborations, notably with Scrawny and cloudkissed. Using the pronouns he/they, Elio Mei also addresses questions of gender and self‑formation in his lyrics.