ELEPHANTINE are a Rock N' Roll band from Edinburgh who have been about since July of 2005, comprising of Ally Leitch on vocals, Kieran Gallagher on guitar, Johnny Steele on bass and Rikki J. Smith on drums.
The band formed in July of 2005 when Gallagher hooked up with Smith, Leitch and original bassist, Ross Martin, who had been playing together since the start of the year. Three weeks later, the band played their first gig at Bannerman's in Edinburgh, which was to become their regular stomping ground as they established themselves on the Edinburgh scene.
This was a process which did not take very long. The band were, by the end of 2005, not only headlining regularly at venues accross Edinburgh but had also managed to secure for themselves a slot playing at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow, a cult venue and band milestone by any standards.
This was not the only fruition that the band were beginning to see by the end of 2005. On December 12th, it was announced that the band had secured a spot on stonerrock.com (the internet's largest source of stoner rock)'s sixth compilation album which showcases the best unsigned stoner rock acts from around the globe. The song included on said album was 'Black Stalk Motherfucker' from the band's first demo CD 'The Super Bad Ass Sweet Daddy Jones Experience', which recieved rave reviews from such industry moguls as the folks at Virgin Music (see elsewhere on the page); all this with an average age of just over 17 years.
The rapid escalation of the band's fortunes from their first six months together was halted in 2006. Continuing on their routine schedule of heavy gigging, the band started writing new material in preparation for going into the studio. The band had been being followed by a record label from England called MatchBox Records who wanted to distribute Elephantine's releases and this independent recording (under the working title of 'Magnesium') was the result of the recordings undertaking for this purpose. The recording was somewhat of a poisoned chalice, however, as the distribution deal never materialised due to money matters and the quality of the recording was severely impaired due to some erratic recreation behaviour on the part of lead vocalist Leitch and the acrimonious firing of bassist Ross Martin.
Between the recording of 'Magnesium' and the need to find a replacement bassist for Ross, the band went on a live hiatus which lasted from May until October 2006. The band's woes were furthered by the tragic loss of a dear friend that precipitated new bassist, Larry Miller, taking a sabbatical abroad for two months. Upon his return in October, the band resumed their shedule of intensive gigging, seeing their live repuation take on a new form between highs they had never reached previously and alcohol-induced lows that tested the band's fragile egos severely.
This, however, was not to last long. In February 2007 the band's rehearsal room in seminal Dalkeith watering hole, The Old Meal Market Inn, was destroyed in a fire. This, of course, meant that all of the band's equipment was torched and lost along with it; with only Kieran's guitar surviving the blaze due to its being in a fireproof hard-case. As a result, the band went on an indefinite leave of absence, culminating in Larry leaving in January 2008.
As of late February 2008, the band have started to rehearse again with new bass acquisition, Johnny Steele, hoping to take the band to new levels of bass-playing, live performance and fan reaction (in addition to guitar-playing; drumming; singing and lyric writing, naturally).
The band's sound typically consists of traditional hard rock n roll, with a low tuned, stoner-rock edge to it that gives it a major boost of low end and power when playing live. The band's peformances and power lies heavily in their dynamics as the band don't neccessarily write their songs to contain what be equated to a 'linear narrative'. Influences range from stoner rock bands such as Kyuss and Goatsnake to seventies rock bands like Deep Purple in terms of riffs and Rory Gallagher to Metallica in terms of lead guitar. Other notable influences include The Stooges, Fu Manchu and other miscellaneous influences from the annals of rock.
In short, Elephantine are about heavy as fuck riffs; fat, beefy basslines that are just essentially Steele going insane, loud drums that follow every strum of guitar and sleazy, dirty sickening lyrics that are cover worthwhile subject mtter without ever sounding like it.
The band have a self released demo which is available for free to download here or to be handed to for free on request. The demo was recorded at 'Split Level Studios'. The demo is entitled -
"The Super Bad Ass Sweet Daddy Jones Experience"
Demo Review By Steve Belling From Virgin.net
Only 2 tracks here, but there's plenty of earth moving de-tuned metal on display. It's hard-edged but accessible, and they deliver with a confidence that will do them no harm at all. Some of the riffs evoke classic era proto-HM given the way guitar, bass and drums evolve between shades of dark, and it would be interesting to hear these themes developed further.
Ally supplies the vocal broadside with enough gritty character on tap to deliver at times, expletive-laden lyrics. Profane by nature, they might not be to everyone's taste, but there free to express their art, and it does stick a 'V' sign up the arse of the fake culture oozing from most music channel orifices. An enema for the music industry? Just stand well back.
Our song "Black Stalk Motherfucker" was also featured on the 'Stoner Rock Compilation Volume VI' CD
The band usually have a gig every two weeks or so at some venue in Edinburgh the exact dates and locations of which are obtainable at the band's website and on here.
We also had the honour of playing at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow with, eh, The Tommys(!).
Here is a list of the songs we are currently playing live
Alcohol & Ugly Chicks
The Ballad Of Jack Daniel
Jesus Christ Was A Rock n' Roll Legend
Your On Your Knees But You Ain't Prayin Baby
Junky Sister
Black Stalk Motherfucker
Damn Straight
Sex, Lies & Richard III
The Devil Lives In Texas
I Was In Nam
Sick Medicine
Miss Karri
