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Archived: Shmat's Features
The Shmat has decided to discontinue the Features section for Shmat Records. That is to say, there will be no NEW interviews or features. If you are a band that was featured here earlier, rest assured that your feature will be archived here for eternity (or somewhere near that).
Like Shmat's Reviews, any future Interviews and Features will appear on the Palebear site.
Please note that the Shmat and his Peoples take no responsibility for typos, inaccuracies or misinterpretations contained within these articles.
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June 28, 2004 :
Continuing with our infatuation for bands that start with the letter "E", this month's interview focuses on the eclectic band Elk City. Though All Music Guide lists them as a "New York art pop" band and there is a good dosage of quirkiness in their songs, there is not an ounce of the usual pretention or snobbiness present as in many other bands stuck with that label. And get all those thoughts of Oklahoma out of your head. Elk City's specialties are dramatic, slightly off-kilter, but memorable song structures. Sometimes classical rockish in approach but not nearly as bombastic, these are the kind of tunes that you figure you'd want introduce your kids to if indeed there was any chance in hell that they'd opt to listen to what you do. Well, their loss indeed! The Shmat spoke lately to Renee and Ray by email... and please do keep reading until the last page if you'd like to see a picture of Madonna with Britney Spears...
- interview by
 The first question I have is: when are you coming out to the West Coast so I can catch one of your shows...?!
Ray: We are quickly realizing the best way to play in CA is to fly out there and do a string of shows. We were under the impression that we had to tour our way out
there, but common wisdom is call jetBlue. We'll see you in the fall.
Are either of you originally from New York?
Ray: I'm from West Virginia. Renee is from New Jersey. We're both living in New
Jersey now.
I'm not too familiar with the genesis of Elk City, except I read that you were both in a band called The Melting Hopefuls. If you don't mind talking about the old days, was the style of music tremendously different with that group?
Renee: Yes. Big difference: Looking back to the days of Melting Hopefuls I can see now that we were a band that was mostly about sonics and textures.
Ray: There was a different aesthetic at work with that group. Melting Hopefuls was
comprised of 5 people. It was a much noisier, dense-sounding band. For better or
worse I guess we were part of the mid-90's, lo-fi pop movement. It was about layer
after layer of guitar. Elk City has always had it's sights on making records that
will hopefully stand the test of time. There is no effort being put into what might
be appropriate in the 'current' market.
I've been a huge fan of the "Status" album, but I only recently picked up the "Hold Tight The Ropes" CD which has been on my to-get list for a long time. That later CD (which is pretty amazing, by the way) seems to sound for lack of better terms, "louder" or more aggressive overall than "Status". Was this a conscious decision, or did it just happen that way?
 Renee: If you stay in a band long enough, you gain the experience of seeing it evolve over time. "Status" was the documented sound of our just having started out as a band.
Ray: "Status" was recorded before we had ever performed live. It was a studio concoction of sorts. "Hold Tight the Ropes" is more influenced by our live show and was recorded with the live versions in mind. There was an EP in-between that bridged the gap a bit called, "The Sea Is Fierce". By the time the recording sessions for "Hold Tight the Ropes" took place we'd already toured extensively in Europe and a bit in the US.
When you went to Europe, did you find any difference there as far as what the people were willing to listen to... among some of the indie bands we've asked, this seems to be true at times. More than one person has told me that they feel people in the states are musically "jaded", whereas overseas they are much more open to listening to different things...
Ray: As far as live performances go, there is much more of an effort by European venues to make the evening a special event for the band and the audience. Everyone has a better time. In the states there are usually too many bands on the bill and no effort put into making the musicians feel welcome. On a personal level, yes, I would say most Europeans we've met have a more open musical palette.
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Archived Shmat Features
February 2005
Anamude
November 2004
American Analog Set
October 2004
Pants Yell!
July 2004
Snoozer
June 2004
Elk City
May 2004
Popgun Recordings
April 2004
East River Pipe
February 2004
Elliott The Letter Ostrich
January 2004
Damon of the Swirlies
December 2003
The Ladybug Transistor
November 2003
Bill Ricchini
October 2003
Shiny Around The Edges
September 2003
Dave Klotz of Fonda
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