| Behold the Leader of the Undie Rock Revolution! Surprisingly, he’s from Baltimore, Maryland. His real name is Gavin Elder, yet the meaning behind the rather grandiose title bestowed upon him is not what you may think.”Undie Rock equals undependent, which we most certainly are,” says Elder. “We’re gonna do what we’re gonna do, regardless of who is listening to it or funding it.”
“Oh, that and we sometimes play in our underoos.” If we go beneath those ‘underoos,’ we discover that Gavin Elder’s fixation with complex and imaginative lyrics began developing at a very young age. “The first song I remember hearing is the Bee Gees ‘Stayin’ Alive.’ I had a cheap record player that had a crappy built-in speaker that ran 45s at about 65rpms, so through the shortcomings of eighties Chinese technology I thought the words of the chorus were Speed-a-lash. It was a major disappointment to discover the true lyrics, and I vowed to never write a song that made any rational sense.” This is an affirmation Elder has most certainly held onto. Throughout the randomness of his songs one common thread can be found; the words evoke a somewhat strange and vivid imagery. An example of this can be found in the opening line of his track entitled, ‘My Big Head’ when Elder belts out in a deep and soothing voice, “I thought so much I stretched my brain, now we can all take cover in the pouring rain, under my big head.” The lyrics conjure up an almost Salvador Dali-type image in one’s brain. That track is just one of the 11 illustrative songs on Elder’s album Rock and/or Roll, a title he and his bandmates stumbled upon and immediately realized was a perfect fit. “Being humans with senses of humor, we all love the Simpsons and would philosophize, pontificate, and quote it every moment of every day, “says Elder. “We were also passively searching for words to describe the sound of the recording. Along came the Rev. Lovejoys line ‘Wait a minute, this sounds like rock and/or roll!’ We knew we had to go with it, risking litigation from the shifty Simpsons lawyers. I probably shouldn’t mention how the writers stole an episode from a friend of mine,” Elder jokes. With his sense of humor and playful nature it would seem that recording an album with Elder could be a lot of fun. And that may have been the case, but with a hectic schedule, recording Rock and/or Roll was also a lot of work. “I made the record in 11 days and had a gruelingly wonderful time doing it,” says Elder. Of course most wouldn’t mind being locked in a studio with the likes of Ken Coomer, famed drummer of the indie rock band Wilco. Coomer produced Elder’s album at a very quick pace, along with producer Charlie Brocco. “We had very long days because my budget was so limited, but we basically did a song per day,” says Elder. “We would start out in the morning with a click track, then I would record scratch guitar and vocal tracks to get the structure of the song down. Then we would spend the rest of the day adding things until it became a song,” Elder explains. The production skills of Coomer and Brocco are indeed valiant contributors to the synergy of the album, but Elder himself supplies the textured, rich sound that is its driving force. On the album Elder supplies not only his voice, but also the guitar, bass, keyboards, organs, synthesizers, pianos, samplers, and maracas, just to name a few. It would be rather tough for Gavin Elder to play all of these instruments simultaneously on tour. However if there was anyone that could pull it off, it would have to be him. Easing Elder’s one-man-band blues on tour is K. Adventure Boggs on bass, Dr. Uncle on guitar and trumpet, Mark Ultra on keyboards and Eddie Manoeuvre on drums. However, Elder does not run the group like a dictatorship, as much as he may like to. “Despite my natural proclivities to be a control freak, I try to give them free reign to throw out ideas and interpret their parts in their own styles. They have definitely helped arrange the newest songs that I’ve brought to the table,” Elder explains. Indeed there are new songs in the works, but no plans for a full-length album just yet. “We are playing a show in Nashville on July 28th at the 12th and Porter, and we plan on staying in town for a couple days to cut two new songs with the band,” says Elder. “Probably ‘Another Body’ and ‘If Only You Weren’t Human.’ So, the first Gavin Elder and OFM 45 will be out later this year, and I can only hope that some kid misinterprets the lyrics on a crummy little record player.” Check out Gavin Elder’s tunes right here on BTR. - Emily Smith |