elsiane’s blog

“Jazz is such a different musical language, I’ve never really explored in depth. I like music that has jazz influences more then pure jazz. So when I discovered Portishead it was like entering into a new musical world for me. It was such a rich mixture, very jazzy but also bluesy, and orchestral. It was very melancholic, dark, dramatic and epic all at the same time. I love music that comes from a dark place. I also love Massive Attack, it’s funny how I’ve discovered other artists through them…like Led Zeppelin! Or, for instance, I discovered Portishead before I discovered Billy Holiday and only later realized that she had influenced them. The same is true of Herbie Hancock, who I discovered through Hooverphonic. In many ways I’ve come to get to know not only jazz but also rock bands like Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd through acid jazz .” – Elsieanne.

“As a drummer you have to look at jazz as a pretty incredible sort of music because there’s so much involved. We listen to jazz in so many other contexts than the traditional one, and a lot of the music I’ve listened to over the years comes from and is influenced by jazz – from rock to acid jazz. As a drummer I love listening to what Buddy Rich did. I love stuff like Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew, which is like the earliest acid jazz really. I like Coltrane too, but I was never really a jazz fanatic.

Especially in terms of rhythm, jazz was just so out there that we’re still catching up. For instance Squarepusher, so many people hear his beats and go on about how new and amazing it is but if you listen to it, to the beats and rhythms, and then listen to Buddy Rich… He was playing that super sped up drum & bass, that you’d think would be physically impossible to play, and he was doing it back before synthesizers and drum machines. You take a traditional jazz beat and speed it up and all of a sudden you’ve got drum & bass, I was so inspired by that whole movement when it came out.” – Stephane.

“We’re accidental jazz!” – Elsiane.

Elsiane are fans of Amon Tobin’s muscular depth and artful melancholy and highly recommend checking him out at this year’s Montreal Jazz Festival.

Don’t miss elsiane show on July 3rd @ Club Soda, 11pm. Visit www.montrealjazzfest.com for more details.

Sometimes I feel when I’m singing that I’m not myself…that it isn’t coming out of my body. I’m someone else. It’s like being possessed and suddenly it’s over. Where was I during that song? - Elsieanne

MTAF came up with the idea for the painting that is on the album cover, the painting of the contortionist, after hearing Elsieanne’s voice. They said it was as if a human being was contorting. I’ve been friends with Jason of MTAF since I was a kid. They did all the visuals for our show. There are a lot of animated drawings that are hand drawn, appropriated nature films, and a video of a contortionist doing a routine she choreographed for the song. There were no computer effects in the video; it was all done very organically. The whole aesthetic is very organic and shaped by human hands. Conceptually it all relates to our music very well, the notion of working with the organic, from painting to the sounds of strings. All these aspects have just naturally grown together, feeding off each other. - Stephane