Grammy Nominated Elderbrook Will Be a One Man Band on Upcoming Winter Tour: Interview

Grammy Nominated Elderbrook Will Be a One Man Band on Upcoming Winter Tour
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Fiona Garden

Elderbrook may have crafted the vocals for the catchy af listen closely cause there’s something extra in the drink Ibiza song of the summer now nominated for a Grammy “Cola,” but it’s his sonic gift of an EP “Talking” that you should put on repeat right now.

The London based multi-instrumentalist found his way from indie bands to folk music into a world of electronic in which (at least when it comes to live performance), he plays all the parts. Ahead of a 2018 tour and an upcoming album (and did we mention Grammy nom?), Elderbrook talked about when it’s time to put a song away, and taking a no rules approach to his album.

What’s your writing process like? It can be different. Usually I try to focus on phonetics and to use my voice in a percussive way, and then I’ll try to get a sentence that makes sense that works around those phonetics and then adapt a song to that so it sort of writes itself.

Can you tell me about you musical background? I started in indie bands at 16/17, sort of like Arctic Monkeys or The Strokes. Then it evolved into just me and the guitar and I started recording that and it was more folk. During the recording process I discovered I could press a bunch of buttons and make cool new sounds and I didn’t need the guitar.

You are doing a lot in your live show. Is it more or relaxing being alone? The live set is something that is continually evolving and changing. Originally I started with a few more musicians. Now I only have myself to blame if something goes wrong. It’s always nice to write with other people. I’m more in a collaborative mood when I’m writing, then when I’m playing out live.

Your EP “Talking” is very well constructed. Can you talk about the project? I was just constantly writing for about a year. I had about sixty songs and ideas. The EP kind of focuses on themes of selfishness, narcissism, and self indulgence. From a musical point of view theres a lot of mixing of genres. “Feels Like Sunday” has a bit of gospel. There’s house vibes, then there are more hip-hop vibes on “Woman.” I wanted to combine a lot of different vibes that I’m interested in, rather than going down the one genre root.

What are you inspired by? I guess it could be anything. I’m inspired by the inherent need to create. I feel like songwriting /making music is a therapeutic process. If I’m not doing it, I get wound up. I guess it’s something that I need to do.

What’s the last book you read? Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Can you talk about your upcoming album? It is pretty early, but I want to combine all the different kinds of genres that I love with a more encompassing electronic direction. But there are no rules.

How do you know when to put a song that you’ve been working on away? It’s always a difficult one. The best way is to put it on my phone and go on a drive and see if it makes sense. If I kind of forget that it’s playing, then it’s done.

Any favorite spots in London? Just the general wandering around and finding new places. It’s such a big city, and there’s so much I haven’t seen.

Whats a track or artist you’re into at the moment? Beatenberg. They’re a band from South Africa, and they’re kind of indie, kind of Paul Simonesque. I’ve had them on repeat for the last couple of months.

And what about your upcoming tour? It’ll be me and my setup - my keys and my drum machine for an hour. I guess that’s another reason why I like performing by myself. Because if I want to go off on a little tangent there’s no one in the back going like, what’s going on?

Catch Elderbrook on Tour from February in the US & Canada.

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