We sat down with up and coming musician Elderbrook to talk about his recent EP, what he’s been up to this summer, fashion and much more. Here’s what he had to say…<\/p>\n
How did you first get into music?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n I first got into playing music when I was about 15. My friends all had guitars so I thought I\u2019d give it a go. When I learnt enough chords I started writing songs and playing guitar and singing in indie bands. That eventually morphed back into me playing acoustic music alone and then into a more electronically driven project that brings me to where I am now!<\/p>\n Who inspires you musically?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n There are so many artists that inspire me all in different ways; from a melodic point of view there is older stuff like Sam Cooke and Etta James that I love. Then from a lyrical perspective bands like The National and Strokes for their simplicity and bluntness. Musically, though, artists like Jamie xx, Mura Massa or Nicolas Jarr always inspire me. Though they\u2019re all just a few names on a long list!<\/p>\n Name three artists you had on your playlist growing up\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Kings of Leon, The Black Eyes Peas and Jack Johnson.<\/p>\n Where was your first ever gig and how did it go?<\/strong><\/p>\n First show ever would have been when I was much younger, about 16, playing in a pub with my friends I was in a band with. There was no one there. No one.\u00a0My first ever show as Elderbrook was\u2026 okay. It was in Bristol at a hiphop night. I was singing with a few rappers that I had produced songs for. I was still definitely trying to work out exactly what \u201cElderbrook\u201d did live and it\u2019s definitely changed a LOT since then!<\/p>\n You\u2019ve just released your 7 track EP, Talking, can you give us some insight behind the creation of it.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n I was writing for about a year – gathering material to whittle down to the 7 it ended up at. The EP focuses on a running theme of narcissism and selfishness from a few different perspectives. Its not necessarily all written from personal experience but a mixture of that and stories. Talking has a lot of variety in styles and influences; hip hop flavours in \u201cWoman\u201d and \u201cIOU\u201d, houseyness with \u201cTalking\u201d and \u201cLet Go\u201d, a bit of trap\/reggae sparks in \u201cPut It Down\u201d and some gospel in \u201cFeels Like a\u00a0Sunday\u201d.<\/p>\n What difficulties did you face creating your EP?<\/strong><\/p>\n Before I had finalised which demos I was going to use and how, there must have been close to 100 songs and ideas! It was difficult whittling them down to Just 7. I wanted the EP to flow and for each of the songs to make sense with one another. Yet, I also wanted each of the songs to stand out in their own right. It took a while, but, by combining aspects of some with others and leaving some behind I eventually ended up with 7 that I couldn\u2019t be happier with.<\/p>\n You\u2019re heading on a UK tour this month, what excites you most about touring?<\/strong><\/p>\n Obviously to play London is exciting for me cause that’s where I\u2019m from and means a lot to me to be playing somewhere like like Oval Space, a venue I\u2019ve been and watched bands I love before. I just love playing shows. This is my first UK headline tour so I think that’s definitely the most exciting aspect of this run!<\/p>\n