"Are we having the time of our lives"??? indeed we were as eat Junk was out and about in London on Monday night, Elbow were on at the O2.. i cant tell you how good it was, i hate enormo domes like the O2 as well but guy garvey and the band made it feel intimate and warm
“We’re getting away with murder, having the time of our lives.”
Richard Jupp, drummer for British quintet Elbow sounds as euphoric as his band’s fans were the previous night in Newcastle. Elbow has just set out on their first arena tour and played Newcastle’s Metro Radio Arena a few hours ago. But even though its 9:30 in the morning Jupp sounds like he’s bursting with enthusiasm. “We had a pretty mad year after winning the Mercury Prize for The Seldom Seen Kid,” explains Jupp. “We got a raft of awards and it was just madness, utter madness, we didn’t expect anything like that.
That madness has continued with the release ofBuild A Rocket Boys!, Elbow’s fifth album. The magnitude of the accompanying tour has left Jupp’s head spinning.“There’s like 70-odd people on the tour. There’s six trucks, four buses, there’s catering and stuff. From our point of view, it’s strange for us to see all this stuff happening for five scruffy lads from Manchester. But playing in front of a larger crowd is amazing.”
Fortunately, the band is up to the challenge of filling huge arenas with their emotionally charged, bittersweet songs. Singer Guy Garvey has been getting kudos for his ability to bring a surprising amount of intimacy to these huge venues.
“Guy is blessed with being an exceptional front man, a very natural entertainer, for want of a better word. He’s really working the crowds. We’ve got a little B stage set up, a ramp that goes out about 15 feet into the arena. We try to keep it as loose as possible to give Guy room to do his front man bit.”
Elbow wasted little time getting back into the studio to follow up their Mercury Prize-winning album. As they have done in the past, they retreated to Mull, a remote Scottish island, and began writing the wistfully nostalgic songs that would comprise Build A Rocket Boys!.
“That’s where we wrote ‘Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl’ which hasn’t actually changed. That’s the demo version that’s on the album and it really made us think about stripping everything down. Whereas The Seldom Seen Kid was quite ornate, there was lots of instrumentation on it, we said this time we’ll strip it down and keep it simple.”
Although Guy Garvey is credited with writing the lyrics, the entire band became part of the creative process.
“I think he is one of the only lyricists who is totally open with us, with the band. We are his harshest critics. He was printing out all his notes in his journals and actually putting them up on the wall and asking us to leaf through them to see if anything hits. There were heaps of brain storming sessions as well. All five of us were in with a set of lyrics and we’d tinker with it, mould it to the music.”
Now, 20 years after they first began playing together, the band is at the peak of their creativity and popularity. How did they manage to stay together through all those lean years?
“It has been a struggle at times. There’s that basic respect and trust and appreciation of each other’s musical abilities, but I think that can only last so long. I think our secret is that we find each other hilarious. When we’re all hung over and we’re on the bus and we’ve got to travel, that’s when we find each other most funny – it’s that gang mentality. We make each other laugh. It does sound a bit cheesy but we have a right old scream.”
Richard Jupp, drummer for British quintet Elbow sounds as euphoric as his band’s fans were the previous night in Newcastle. Elbow has just set out on their first arena tour and played Newcastle’s Metro Radio Arena a few hours ago. But even though its 9:30 in the morning Jupp sounds like he’s bursting with enthusiasm. “We had a pretty mad year after winning the Mercury Prize for The Seldom Seen Kid,” explains Jupp. “We got a raft of awards and it was just madness, utter madness, we didn’t expect anything like that.
That madness has continued with the release ofBuild A Rocket Boys!, Elbow’s fifth album. The magnitude of the accompanying tour has left Jupp’s head spinning.“There’s like 70-odd people on the tour. There’s six trucks, four buses, there’s catering and stuff. From our point of view, it’s strange for us to see all this stuff happening for five scruffy lads from Manchester. But playing in front of a larger crowd is amazing.”
Fortunately, the band is up to the challenge of filling huge arenas with their emotionally charged, bittersweet songs. Singer Guy Garvey has been getting kudos for his ability to bring a surprising amount of intimacy to these huge venues.
“Guy is blessed with being an exceptional front man, a very natural entertainer, for want of a better word. He’s really working the crowds. We’ve got a little B stage set up, a ramp that goes out about 15 feet into the arena. We try to keep it as loose as possible to give Guy room to do his front man bit.”
Elbow wasted little time getting back into the studio to follow up their Mercury Prize-winning album. As they have done in the past, they retreated to Mull, a remote Scottish island, and began writing the wistfully nostalgic songs that would comprise Build A Rocket Boys!.
“That’s where we wrote ‘Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl’ which hasn’t actually changed. That’s the demo version that’s on the album and it really made us think about stripping everything down. Whereas The Seldom Seen Kid was quite ornate, there was lots of instrumentation on it, we said this time we’ll strip it down and keep it simple.”
Although Guy Garvey is credited with writing the lyrics, the entire band became part of the creative process.
“I think he is one of the only lyricists who is totally open with us, with the band. We are his harshest critics. He was printing out all his notes in his journals and actually putting them up on the wall and asking us to leaf through them to see if anything hits. There were heaps of brain storming sessions as well. All five of us were in with a set of lyrics and we’d tinker with it, mould it to the music.”
Now, 20 years after they first began playing together, the band is at the peak of their creativity and popularity. How did they manage to stay together through all those lean years?
“It has been a struggle at times. There’s that basic respect and trust and appreciation of each other’s musical abilities, but I think that can only last so long. I think our secret is that we find each other hilarious. When we’re all hung over and we’re on the bus and we’ve got to travel, that’s when we find each other most funny – it’s that gang mentality. We make each other laugh. It does sound a bit cheesy but we have a right old scream.”
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