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A string of acclaimed EP releases around the turn of the century led to Elbow’s Mercury and Brit awards nominated debut album ‘Asleep At The Back’ in 2001. Since then, they have gone on to become one of the UK’s biggest and best-loved bands, thanks to their innovative sound and frontman Guy Garvey’s voice and lyrical style.
Their fourth album, ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’, is out now. Drummer Richard Jupp answers our questions. |
Q1 How did you start out making music?
We started out making music around 4th year at comprehensive when myself Mark and Pete decided to form a band. I think the fact that Mark had a guitar, could play pretty well and had the attention of a few females persuaded both me and Pete to get involved! We then went through the usual covers apprenticeship and it was only when Guy and Craig joined during sixth form college that we began writing our own music.
Q2 What inspired your latest album?
The inspiration for our latest album was a culmination of 3 years of differing fortunes for all of us, touring, switching record companies, having babies and more babies and the death of a close friend, Bryan Glancy (to whom the album is dedicated). The record is a celebration, really, of triumph over adversity, whether it’s grief or just having the courage to see the silver lining and not let shit get to you. Also making music with your best mates is inspiration enough.
Q3 What process do you go through in creating an album?
As with most bands it’s different every time, but what we like to do is have a writing trip, a week where we just get together and bash out ideas. That didn't happen on this album as most of us have families and we get to see each other every day anyway! But what we did have instead was Blueprint Studios, which was a godsend as its only 10mins away and has 24hr access. Another process is to write and rewrite and rewrite until all 5 of us are happy with each track. This can be a bit daunting but it’s our own quality control as we chose not to work with a producer. Instead, we had Craig at the helm which has worked out better for us.
Q4 Which artists influence your work?
To be honest, because we all write the music it can range from the sublime to the ridiculous; there are five individuals with very similar but also very different tastes in music. I think our common ground lies with anything that has a bit of balls about it, anything that pushes the boundaries and moves you into a different mindset.
Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Be patient and listen.
Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album/single, and for the future?
To be doing this for as long as I'm able and (I can't lie) make loads of money...
published april 2008
