Elation

What attracted you to performance?

Ever since I was little, I thought “if I could be anything in the world, I’d be a singer.” A steady diet of weekly Young Talent Time, Michael Jackson and my Dad’s Saturday morning vinyl spinning sparked a desire I can’t ignore. Recently I’ve loved the blend of beats, acid jazz and groove coming from the UK and want to bring a live version of those influences to Australia.

Where does your creativity come from?

Taking time out to do what I love…. having space for the mind to wander…. staring out at the ocean is a good one, as well as listening to music while driving and I’ve written lots of songs while washing up!
A group of like-minded people can create an amazing amount of creative energy together and spending time with the boys from Elation keeps me going as we give each other so many new ideas.

How do you ‘fuel’ that creativity?

I rarely feel creative when I’m tired, overworked or unhealthy, so looking after myself is pretty important. Sure, musicians are prolific when they’re lovesick or angsty, which I am too of course, but part of the reason why I moved back to Brisbane from Melbourne was so I could feel comfortable performing “happy music.” I love celebrating the good things in life and am a very social person and I really buzz off spending time with funny, quick-witted people.

What do you love about what you do?

I love that nothing else exists in my mind when I’m singing or writing music. Nothing compares to the feeling of when someone is moved by something that we have created. Anything in life can spark a “holy moment,” a change, a buzz, a move forward in consciousness and how awesome if people become inspired from what we have created. Life’s all about loving what you do.

What would you like to achieve through your performances?

A blend of beats-infected groove with the lyrical and musical elements being equally as strong as each other. A lot of our songs would be great just as instrumentals or you could play totally different music behind the vocal melodies I’ve written. But what we want to create is that real blend of raw groove with lyrics that on first glance create a nice catchy melody, but take it home into the lounge room and discover the layers which lie beneath.



Quote your favourite quote/words of wisdom or quote from one of your songs.

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”


Who is your favourite?

Author? Herman Hesse
Director? Jean-Pierre Jeunet (amelie)
Actor? George Clooney
Musician? Morcheeba
Performer? Stringman Sassy
Artist? My mum
Designer? Amplifire.com.au - Brad Jones
Comedian? Monty Python
If I can change filmmaker to recording studio - Airlock studios.

- MAP Magazine Dec 2003

How and when did Elation form?

Elation formed 2.5 years ago after I’d travelled to the UK and seen a lot of bands like Morcheeba, Moloko, Sia and Groove Armada play. I’d been writing a lot of songs and wanted to create a band that played a combination of chilled grooves and dancefloor electro sounds live. There wasn’t too many acts doing this with female vocalists in Australia and this inspired me to form the band on my return.

When creating new material, how does the creative dynamic within the group work?

We jam on new ideas and then battle out our ideas in the rehearsal room. We have 3 main songwriters in the band so our main focus is to strip back the layers of the song to make the beats and melodies support the lyrics, without losing the ambient elements that make the song groove.

There was a lot of support last year for Solar Playground. Were you happy with how the EP performed?

We were so happy with the response from punters and media alike. The great thing about the EP seems to be its accessibility. There are really melodic chill out tunes on there as well as dance remixes of tracks like Driving Away. The EP is quite eclectic, travelling through drum n bass, ambient chill out, live funk and electro pop so we were concerned how the mix would go down, but we’ve decided it’s better to put all your ideas out there to offer people a little bit more than the homogenous pop that’s the mainstream right now. We had people from tiny community radio stations contact us, to mainstream radio, so we were pleasantly surprised. Now with the official national release, anyone in the country can grab a copy.


Were you happy with the support shown by local radio stations? Do you think generally they support new local talent?

Sydney radio has been great to us from JJJ, FBi, 2Ser, Bondi FM, such great people! Brisbane musos are sometimes told it’s hard to bust into Sydney, but if you keep your promotion real and don’t dress mutton up as lamb, you’ll be okay!


You also made an appearance on Evolutionary Vibes 6. Did you approach them or did they approach you?

Creative Vibes is looking after the national distribution of Solar Playground, which I hooked up after meeting Heidi from C Vibes at a Brisbane music conference. They approached us to be on EV6 from hearing our EP. We had a special breaks remix done by the mix engineer of our EP and we thought it was kinda eighties sounding when we heard it, but it turns out that’s “so hot right now” so we went with it!




When playing live you play in a diverse range of styles, from lounge to festival. Which do you prefer playing?

Both are amazing, when playing lounge gigs, we get to play all our mellow, atmospheric jazzy chilled tunes and I wear my cocktail dresses…. Big festivals are all about sweating, dancing, keeping the vibe up and wishing I’d done some sit ups to get me through the physicality of it all.


You've toured the East Coast pretty extensively, any plans to take the act further afield?

I’m hoping to go to a UK music conference later this year to meet some agents and festival organisers. The sound which we are likened to was started in the UK with early bands like Portishead and lately with Moloko etc, so we’re very keen to get over there where the days are long in summer and cold in winter.


What was Woodford like for you?
Woodford was an absolute haze of dust, smoke, staying up all night. The best gig was our New Year’s show, we were one of the last live bands on, we had everyone dancing from the 50 years plus group who wanted to party, the drunkards, the young fashionistas and a travelling bush poet swagman guy in the front row.


Being a live act, how do you adapt to the confines of the studio/lack of audience etc?

We do a lot of programming and recording of ideas all the time, so a chance to get into the studio to put them down is always welcome. It gives us a chance to play with the tunes in a new way.

Is there is a new album on the way, is that correct? How is it going?
We’ll be recording our first full album in June with Magoo, who’s produced Regurgitator, Butterfingers, Powderfinger, so that’s going to be a huge learning curve.
We’re going to let him play with our sound and be that much needed outside pair of ears.

In what ways will it differ to the EP?
The songs for the album represent our evolution writing together as a band after 2 years. They are a lot more sassy, in your face, heaps more attitude. We’re using crazy sounds, song arrangements are a lot more simple and we’re going to play with a lot of drums sounds and vocal effects.

We should come and see Elation live because
We’ve driven all the way from Brisbane! The live show is heaps of fun, we’ll take it from sweet lyrics and head bopping grooves to belting it out, jumping around and shaking your jelly.


- 3D WORLD MAGAZINE (Sydney) April 2005

Sometimes the city can seem a world away form the coastline it sits on. But in the bustle of the working week, all that’s required to reconnect with paradise is to press play on Elation’s debut EP Solar Playground.

A blend of organic beats and sultry grooves topped off with Elysia Humphries’ creamy vocal, the sound of the Brisbane outfit has already shone light on audiences locally and in southern states. It’s also gained the group airplay on a number of radio stations around the country.

Sax and keys player Glen Brearley says the driving force behind the five-piece is their desire to push their own musical boundaries.

“We’re trying to make something new, and by new I mean new to all of us as a group. We can’t say that we’re doing something that’s never been done before. All pop music is careful regurgitation, but it’s a really good time picking out bits of things you know you love and making them into something awesome.”

Even with the view to fresh and creative sounds, Brearley says Elation never want to over-complicate their music.
“Our main focus is just to do stuff that’s a little bit more straight sown the line to what we’re maybe capable of writing. That may sound weird, but there’s a few pretty diverse backgrounds in the band and if we’re not careful it could get too tricky.

You can’t really focus on something if it’s not something you’ll remember, Brearley emphasizes.” Taking this philosophy to the next level, Elation have given one of their tracks, ‘Driving Away’ over to Good Buddha’s Glenn Humphries for an upcoming dance remix.

Brearley also cut a remix of the song for Solar Playground, but says the process was more difficult than he first anticipated.“
That sort of dance/electro vibe is part of something we’ve always wanted to do and that song is just such an awesome song that I thought it deserved a remix. The song just grabbed me, but it was a bit of a long and difficult process because I was so close to it. Playing it live every weekend and then trying to take it and make it into something else was hard and it just took a bit of time to find what I wanted to do with it.”
Though Elation have further explored electro beats and dance styles since recording the EP, Brearley says the band want to do more than just danceable tunes.

“We could go down that track because we’ve done it before in different bands – just have songs that are fully banging and up-tempo, songs that make people throw their hands in the air. And people remember that. But I want people to remember the songs as well and go home singing it in their head.” Elation play the Triple J Stage at Valley fiesta this Sunday July 11 at 3pm. - TIME OFF MAGAZINE July 2004

1) When did you decide that you wanted to be a musician and/or songwriter? How did you start going about it?

I was studying Naturopathy, cramming the Clinical Medicine textbook on Disease and kept staring into space and writing lyrics and melodies instead of studying. I had a sort of an epiphany at the Brisbane Winter Solstice Festival watching bands and all of a sudden a light went off in my head that reminded me that when I was little I’d always thought I’d be a singer when I grew up. I had a steady diet of listening to Seventies bands on vinyl with my Dad on weekends and too much Michael Jackson! He was the only kind of semi soul/ funk based music accessible to a little kid at the time via popular culture. I’d always been glued to the Saturday morning video hits shows, and when I was in high school started writing tortured teen poetry!! All the signs were there…


2) What’s the best advice you ever received about making music, and who was it from?

Second hand info this one, from Sparky, the Toothfaeries percussionist who was speaking to someone from Midnight Oil. He asked him for advice on being in a band and he said, “it’s not hard, all you’ve gotta do is never break up.” That really stuck in my mind, because I’ve seen so many great local bands rise to doing great things and then break up on the verge of success due to band conflicts or lack of dedication and staying power. Having said that, I don’t want to be singing in crappy bars when I’m 40, there’s definitely a line, but finding a good group of people and staying together is very important.

3) Who is an Australian musician you particularly admire? Can you tell us why?

Carl Panuzzo. He’s a Melbourne musician who’s done so many things. He’s an environmental activist, a poet, a lover, a clown. He sings, plays guitar, piano and drums. He was drumming in a soul blues band where he sang like Stevie Wonder, or he’ll get on stage with one guitar and sing the most heartfelt tragic song to make you cry. He songs make you feel something. He’s one of those passionate songwriters who really hush the room when they play. Check him out if you can find a cd online somehow. I moved to Melbourne when I was 19 to be in a band and went out all the time to watch musicians. I had no formal training, so watching people like Carl was how I learnt the ropes.

4) What would be your dream local line-up for a gig, and why:

Elation supporting an international band like Moloko, Morcheeba or Bjork.

Or, Brissie bands: Elation and My Ninja Lover. MNL are 2 ex Zephyr Timbre people and they’re kicking some musical butt around town at the moment.


5) Can you tell AMO a story behind your latest release?

Solar Playground is Elation’s first cd and I wrote half the songs before the band was put together. I’d moved from Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast to mend a broken heart and get some perspective. Lots of the songs were written after long walks along the beach singing to myself and soaking in the waves. They have a lot of sensual metaphors using the ocean, the air etc.

Waiting for Rain is a Portishead style track without the dark crunchy sounds which I wrote after living in a crazy share house full of extroverts and intruders a bit like Big Brother! It’s a song about needing some time alone and not wanting to go out to play. It’s definitely one to listen to with headphones to hear all the extra atmospheric noises we used.

We’re in the studio at the moment recording a new album with Magoo Producing it. We’re excited, as he’s worked with so many awesome bands like Butterfingers, Powderfinger, George etc and is really getting some amazing sounds. We’re using a lot of live instruments, but using different recording techniques to get crazy drum sounds and make it more electro sounding. We’ve got party tunes, chilled dark ditties and raucous ska meets rock out tunes!

6) What do you want people to get out of this record when listening to it? How would you choose to describe it someone who was unfamiliar with your work?

Solar Playground is a collection of songs you could play around a campfire that have been totally messed with! Each tune has the verse, chorus, song based layout, but it travels through chilled beats, frenetic grooves, drum n bass, dub and summery sing along tunes. Each song has a strong groove to it, you could just enjoy the music cause the boys are crazy musicians, but you could also sing along. It’s like a combination of UK influences from bands like Groove Armada, Morcheeba, Moloko, Faithless, with a real songwriting element to it.

7) What was the biggest challenge you faced when writing & recording this release?

Finding the right market for it. It’s not shiny enough to be pop, not dirty enough for your alternative stations. It really sits in that groove for people who did a good tune, but love their music a little left of centre, with funk, groove and electronic elements. We’ve found a good distributor in Creative V - AUSTRALIAN MUSIC ONLINE

Next up are local favourites and Press Club regulars Elation - their sound is similar at times to that of English dance-poppers Moloko. Diva-in-waiting Elysia works the crowd like a pro and the band's dubby, electro-tinged rock proves a big hit.
- RAVE MAGAZINE

‘Subtle n Fine could be a lost track by Moloko or Lamb….. Electro chill out grooves reminiscent of the Café Del Mar series.’

- Rave Magazine

‘Elation stand alone as a beacon of originality and sharp musicality. This diverse five-piece not only traverse musical genres with ease, they combine their multitude of backgrounds to create something unique.
Solar Playground melds everything sensuous: from chilled out house, to deep dub beats, to some funky drum and bass.’

- Brag Magazine 22/03/04

‘Let The Wind Blow’ is an airy acoustic guitar-led track underpinned with faint sampled loops and topped with Humphries’ vocals – which certainly recall Dido’s stylings and inflections. There’s some nice Hammond in there too and some clever beat programming towards the end – this is an extremely polished first offering from Elation, and it will be interesting to see what directions they take on their upcoming EP.’
- In The Mix.com.au