Elbow: An interview with keyboardist/producer, Craig Potter.

They say good things happen to those who wait – this couldn’t be more accurate for indie-rock band Elbow as their story is one of the most extraordinary in contemporary music. More than 27 years on after they formed in 1990 at college, their cabinet proudly contains two Ivor Novellos, a Mercury Music prize and a BRIT award for best British band.

 “Elbow is a rubbish name really isn’t it, but we were running out of ideas,” Craig Potter, the keyboardist and producer for the band jokes. From Mr. Soft, to just Soft, eventually an official band name was decided – the reason behind it being quite comical. The band were a fan of a play named Singing Detective by Dennis Potter, where a character was asked what the best sounding word was in the English language, to which they replied, elbow. “When people say Elbow they don’t really think about what it is anymore which is nice that we’ve got to that stage,” and so the random yet distinctive band name stuck.

However, despite the success, the past year introduced many changes for Craig, Guy, Mark and Pete. Little did they know that their 2014 album title The Take Off and Landing of Everything would become prophetic as their long-time drummer Richard Jupp announced he was leaving the band. “It was a bit of a shock and sort of expected in some ways. It was the beginning of last year and he just didn’t turn up so we sort of just started writing without him,” Potter tells me with a sense of disappointment. The departure of Judd, who had been in the band since the beginning meant that there was a completely different dynamic in the run up to producing their latest album Little Fictions.

Potter had to use his own creativity and musical ear to produce drum loops with the help of drummer Alex Reeves – who was heavily involved with front man Guy Garvey’s solo album. With such a big change for the band, it meant there was a shift in style – being a four-piece band wasn’t the only contribution to this, but producing an album which had a completely different sound to it did too. “In some ways it was easier. The dynamic really changed and it was quite fresh for us really. We enjoyed having people around who were really enthusiastic about music,” Potter explained. The intros to most of the songs on Little Fictions are up-beat and rhythmic which portrays the band’s good percussive ear. Song’s such as Gentle Storm, which features well-known British actor, Benedict Cumberbatch in the music video, and Firebrand & Angel are great examples.

Losing their drummer wasn’t the only reason why Potter introduced such a different style of sound to the album. Listening to and being a fan of hip-hop inspired him to produce something which brought more energy. “Ironically, there’s a lot of percussion on the album considering we just lost our drummer. I suppose that came from me getting stuck into it a bit more,” Potter admits that of course, after piano, drums are his favourite instrument – he’s even considered having lessons to get a better feel for it as he currently only uses programmes.

All of this isn’t to say that the whole album consists of upbeat songs and energy. Guy Garvey, the lead singer of the band, has took a similar approach to the new album by bringing a new element to it – Elbow aren’t strangers to the theme of romance in their music, and with Garvey’s current relationship on a high, there was no holding back or trying to be too cool, and his writing clearly, judging by the openly romantic statements in the lyrics, has been influenced by his current happiness. “If it comes from the heart then it’s strong stuff, that was the deal this time round.” Craig expresses on Garvey’s behalf. Head For Supplies is one of the more subtle songs included on the album. With a soft sound to it, the lyrics reflect Garvey’s romantic feelings, “now I’m here at your side, we try to rhyme our stride” sounds as though he’s in sync with someone.

With things looking up and having a record label to back them in such a competitive industry, Island Records sold out to major label Universal. The band were dropped and unfortunately the album was not released. Elbow continued to thrive with an independent label and eventually, after six years of gigs and writing, they released their first album, Asleep In The Back. The album was so good in fact, that it bagged them a BRIT award for best new British band.

They went on to travel around the world doing gigs and tours as well as performing at hundreds of festivals. Their statement single One Day Like This, from their third album, was used during the entrance of the London Olympics opening ceremony – in addition to being one of the few artists to perform at the closing ceremony which increased their sales by 1000%. Komfovent filtrai rekuperatoriams https://cleanfilter.eu/lt/product-category/komfovent-lt/

It took six albums for Elbow to take the number one spot on the UK charts – any musicians dream, and they wasted no time in writing their seventh album. “Little Fictions actually came the easiest and was probably our favourite album to make. We finished it pretty quickly too to stop us over analysing things!” Potter joked.

 It may seem as though the band would have everything ticked off their bucket list by now, especially as it took a long time for them to get to the stage they’re currently at as they’re headlining gigs and doing well in the charts. Having said that they’re taking on new adventures such as visiting new countries such as Mexico. “apparently we do really well there and the fans have been asking for us to go for a long time,” Potter says in shock.

Personally for the keyboardist, he is trying to find the time to work on artist Steve Mason’s album, although it’s just talk at the moment it’s something he’d really enjoy doing having produced his last album. Being a producer also means he’s keen to work on other projects.

But for now, after 27 years as a band, they’re still as fresh as ever and are continuing to create a legendary name for themselves in the music industry. “The future is bright. Who knows what lies ahead for us.” Potter says in a curious manor. The best way to describe Elbow’s current reputation, as well as their future based on the way things are going for them, would be with their opening track title, Magnificent.