Cute is not what they aim for...
These former choristers may have buffed up nicely but if all you see is traditional boy band fare then clearly you haven’t sampled Elliot Minor. Music News met the young men from York during their recent headline UK tour to find the genius among the eye candy.
Ask the band who’s their mouthpiece and reluctantly frontman Alex Davies peaks out from his cap and accepts the first question. Alex isn’t shy but he’s quiet. He's been described as having disorder on the outside but absolute sense on the inside. And that sense is the musical ability to play anything and everything.
Fascinated with the organ from a very early age Alex mastered both piano and violin through his innate discipline and started to obsessively compose music. Much to his mother’s delight the classical training continued to early teen years and he was on track to become a concert violinist perhaps until, that is, Japan-born school friend Ed Minton introduced him to "the coolest thing ever", rock music.
"He hadn’t heard of Green Day or Blink 182," chimes in Ed. "I was amazed!"The two boys initially formed acoustic duo The Academy but later named themselves after Alex's piano Elliot and signed up keyboardist Ali Paul, drummer Dan Hetherton and his older brother Teddy - full-time bassist but officially a student at Edinburgh University.
In fact all the well-spoken boys boast classical music pedigrees and choose to incorporate such epic, orchestral and choral sensibilities into their work hoping it will not only validate their capabilities but provide a unique selling point as well. "I don’t think we’re trying to sound like anyone else," says Ed. However inevitable comparisons have thrown up everything from Panic! At The Disco to Dragonforce to Nightwish playing Blink 182.
Essentially, with a definite rock album in the pipeline, the band are looking for a nod from this fraternity despite snapping up the opportunity to open for pop group McFly last year. "It wasn’t a key audience," says Dan, "but the fact we were playing to 10-15,000 people." Teddy ponders: "There is no sort of denying some of the harmonies and tunes are easy to listen to. But then on the other hand we are a rock band.
"We’ve got some decent guitar riffs going on so that’s the direction we’re heading in."And so far so good. Produced by Jim Wirt (Incubus, Something Corporate), debut single 'Parallel Worlds' has been playlisted on XFM’s Rock Show despite greatly dividing opinion - "What do they hate about it?" asks Alex. "Is it the fact it’s still quite poppy?" But with Kerrang!’s digital channel continuously showing the video and kudos from Metal Hammer magazine Elliot Minor have made the shortlist of new rock acts to watch this year and received a "phenomenal response" already to just the one song. And admittedly it’s not even the band’s first choice, though undeniably a blatant introduction to a group possibly on the brink of something as colossal as their sound.
'Parallel Worlds' is indeed a juggernaut of a composition, uniquely addressing the supposed paranormal activity in the attic of Alex and Ed’s flat, a place where someone had apparently gassed themselves to death. "Alex has got a very big imagination!" scoffs Ali, while his mate reels off examples of the spooky happenings.
It's a wonder whether Alex's creativity knows any boundaries. Dubbed "stupidly prolific" and "too good to be true" by those navigating the prodigy's career, it is said he responds to pressure simply by making something more brilliant. He's only 20 years old and, with an extremely strong band around him, this is clearly just the beginning.
'Parallel Worlds' is out now on Repossession Records
Available on x2 7", CD and download.
www.elliotminor.co.uk
