{"id":38740,"date":"2014-10-14T11:20:44","date_gmt":"2014-10-14T11:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wonderlandmagazine.com\/?p=38740"},"modified":"2017-03-01T12:40:19","modified_gmt":"2017-03-01T12:40:19","slug":"new-noise-elephant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wonderlandmagazine.com\/2014\/10\/14\/new-noise-elephant\/","title":{"rendered":"New Noise: Elephant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wonderland talk to the duo behind Elephant\u00a0<\/i>about the breakdown of a relationship and the birth of an album<\/p>\n

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\"Elephant\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a> Relationships are difficult at the best of times. But when Christian Pinchbeck and Amelia Rivas embarked on one back in 2010, at the same time as forming Elephant, they almost certainly weren’t expecting its spectacular demise three years down the line. Determined to make their musical careers work, they kept writing and recording throughout their break up. This led to an album filled with songs that take the listener on a journey from romance to anger and anguish.<\/p>\n

But perhaps this painful disintegration in their personal lives only adds to the brilliance of Elephant\u2019s record, Sky Swimming<\/i>. It undoubtedly provides an intimate insight into the pretty pair\u2019s relationship \u2013 the lyrics in the album\u2019s title song,<\/i> reveal a painful past: \u201cDo your eyes turn blue before you cry, I see the blue in you.\u201d Their debut is a collection of Amelia\u2019s dulcet tones accompanied by a mixture of Christian\u2019s slow beats and floaty guitar work, that leave you feeling slightly fuzzy inside.<\/p>\n

We talk to Christian to find out more about autobiographical songs, French influences and having your music producer as a relationship counsellor.<\/p>\n

Your band name is quite unusual. How did you come to it?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Do you want an honest answer or the one that Milly [Amelia] wants me to say? It was seven in the morning, and we were mashed up on drugs. I initially wanted to call ourselves \u201cTiger Tiger\u201d, but Milly told me that it was a really shit club in London. So I asked her: \u201cwhat\u2019s your favourite animal then?\u201d \u2013 which was an elephant. So that was that.<\/p>\n

\u00a0So it\u2019s got nothing to do with Hindu culture then, where the elephant is a symbol of dignity and reliability?<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s exactly that.<\/p>\n

How did you form your band? Where did you guys meet?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

She was working at bar and the band I was in before was playing a gig there. She was a friend of a friend, so I saw her again at a house party a couple of days later. We got wasted and started talking about music. I invited her over to do some recording and we just hit it off really well. We kind of energised each other \u00ad\u2013 the whole romance was very exciting. We\u2019d meet up around 7pm, get drunk and write until six in the morning and record some shit demos. We\u2019d then spend hours listening to the songs that we\u2019d just written. But it worked out well for us though.<\/p>\n