Alt-rock newcomers The Elephant Trees have just released their first single, “90 Degrees”, along with a video. On March 2nd, they have a release party at the Wardrobe in Leeds to celebrate this major step on their journey to inevitable stardom. We prodded them several times until they gave up and singer Martha told us some more about the band…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Guiseley, Leeds.
How did you meet?
It was part of a school project; I wanted to form a band and Sam, Will and Tom had all played together before so it just seemed to make sense, then after the gig we had to play for the end of the project, we thought it might be fun to carry it on.
How long have you been playing as a band?
It’s coming up on two years since we played our first ever gig, which was in March 2015.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
There’s this copse of trees on top of a hill near where we all live, which look vaguely like an elephant, and they’re known (very) locally as the Elephant Trees, so we took it from that.
What are your influences?
Everything from Biffy Clyro to Laura Marling to Paramore.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Think singer-songwriter meets alt-rock, like if Muse were Ed Sheeran’s backing band.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
A lot of it is just written from personal experience, there’s a lot of songs that we play that I first wrote during my angsty teenage years, so they end up a little depressing at times, but our mums (who may as well be a part of the band at this point) pointed out that we needed more happy songs, so we took that as a challenge.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
I think we’ve played almost 80 shows at this point, and we like to think that we have quite a high-energy show. We like to run and dance about like maniacs and generally just enjoy what we’re doing, and audiences seem to enjoy it, so we must be doing something right.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Sam likes to play his guitar behind his head when he’s feeling a bit cocky…
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Martha: Faith Naked Venus electro-acoustic
Sam: Fender Strat, PRS SE 245
Will: Squier Vintage Modified Jazz Bass
Tom: Gretsch Catalina Club kit
What are your plans for 2017?
To release our debut single (and hopefully more later in the year), and then play as many shows in as many cities as possible.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
I think we’d want to open for someone like Sundara Karma, and we’d definitely have to bring along our friends Conflare, they’re so good, you’ve gotta check them out!
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