elusive

elusive - 'until it hurts' teaser trailer

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The process of healing is over. Now, the time has come to vent until it hurts.
ELUSIVE has returned. Stronger than before in character, musicianship, and songwriting, they’ve come back from the depths of their own personal hell with ‘UNTIL IT HURTS,’ their sophomore album that can only be described as darkly hopeful and the blood and tear-stained masterpiece of ELUSIVE’s short three-year career. Says frontman Rob Perez, “We definitely wanted to create something that was both equally beautiful and broken. Lyrically, I definitely wanted to get away from the whole broken hearted deal. Not to say that didn’t happen over the course of the writing sessions, but there were so many more avenues, so many more events that have happened to us that we could touch on and explore and put to paper that wouldn’t end up turning this record into ‘The Process 2: Electric Boogaloo.’”
‘Events’ would be putting it lightly.
ELUSIVE originally started in early 2004 with Perez and drummer Mike Ritchie looking for something more in a local music scene that was on life-support. Enter guitarists Chris Aldrich and Jason Adams to help fulfill this notion. With no one around to fill in the bass spot, Adams took it upon himself, albeit reluctantly at first, to step up to the plate. During 2005 and 2006, their debut, ‘the process of healing…’, triumphed amongst the faithful and skeptics alike and their blistering live show left an imprint on everyone it touched. However, internally, ELUSIVE was dying at a rapid rate. Death, divorce, depression – these were just a few of the many hurtles that ELUSIVE has had to overcome during the year and a half since the release of their first album.
And then, ultimately, in early 2007, due to personal and professional reasons, both Ritchie and Adams parted ways with ELUSIVE. “I didn’t really look at it as a set-back as it was more of a leap forward; a chance to take ourselves to another level,” says Aldrich.
Perez and Aldrich knew just who to call for that proverbial ‘leap.’ With rival band ONUS now defunct, the remains of ELUSIVE looked to guitarist Jason ‘Slick’ Sleichter and bassist Will McLoone for support and new musical guidance, to which they both said the same resounding statement – “Fuck yes!” Says Sleichter, “I’ve known Rob since the SW (Sonic Worship – Perez’s, Ritchie’s and Sleicther’s previous band) days and I’ve always just hung out with the band whenever I got the chance…seeing them evolve from the early days into the here and now, I definitely saw the potential to make something great and a chance to work with some of my best friends.”
McLoone also concurs, stating, “We didn’t want to just come in and fill Mike and Jay’s shoes. They had laid the groundwork of what ELUSIVE is and we’re extremely mindful of that, but we’re taking that framework and running with it and giving it our own flavor, which, in turn, hopefully, makes the music better.”
The drummer puzzle piece, however, was still missing. After trying numerous percussionists, getting nowhere, and with time-constraining gigs coming up, the search almost was deemed hopeless. Their final audition, coincidence or no, was the perfect match for ELUSIVE’s well-planned grooves – Nate Davis. With his uncanny ability to keep up with the other members during auditions (with no true previous knowledge of the music), Davis was deemed the new drummer.
And ELUSIVE is born again with their haunting new album, ‘UNTIL IT HURTS’ in tow. From the plummeling guitars and lyrical attack of the lead-off single “Way of the Gun” to the soft, romantic ballad “I Drown” to the harrowing tale of domestic abuse which lies within the title track, ELUSIVE has evolved and truly shown themselves as musical story-tellers. “You’re definitely gonna hear things that you may not have heard before out of us, but there’s still gonna be that slight familiar feeling to it…you’ll know that it’s the same band, if you compared records,” McLoone says.
But, ELUSIVE knows that getting new band members and releasing a new album doesn’t mean too much without the support of their fanbase: an obsessed faction and almost cult-like group known only as the ELUSIVE ARMY. Comments Perez, “These fans are the most important people in the world….this is our family, really. We love being able to talk to them, hear their stories of how the music has affected them and changed their lives…or to just kick back, have a couple of drinks with them and really talk about nothing. We’ve never put ourselves on a pedestal above the ARMY because we were there once and we still are there whenever we see a band that affects us and has changed our lives...they’re along for this journey just like we are.”
The journey has been indeed long, complicated, and strange, but it is far from over.
UNTIL IT HURTS – AVAILABLE NOW AT ELUSIVE SHOWS AND ON SNOCAP.
More to come, as always.
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