Considering busking
One of East Cork's newest and youngest rock bands, Crowded Elevator, take a break from rehearsing to talk about starting out and their debut CD.
In the run up to a Battle of the Bands competition earlier this year, Rob McKeone, Bass, Simon Irwin, Guitar and vocals, and Dave O'Riordan, Guitar formed an acoustic band to compete in this competition. They felt the combination of the trio "worked well", however they were "lacking without a drummer"; this led to Michael O'Sullivan joining the band on drums.
The name Crowded Elevator had been a controversial point within the band. The name is taken from a b-side from the rock band Incubus. The decision on the name of the band was a quick one, as they needed a title for the competition the following day.
The members of Crowded Elevator are determined not to be just another teeny band who break up as soon as the novelty wears off, proof of this is the production of a self- titled debut album. "One of the reasons we did the CD was to keep us together and we are determined to stay in this for the long haul."
The band is currently taking it slowly, as Rob and Simon are due to sit the Leaving Cert at the end of the year. However, they feel this won't hamper the development of the band despite plans to go on to university. The band-members say there is "great chemistry" within the band and, as Simon declares, "You're either in this band or you're not, and I don't want to play with another band".
Moving onto the album, Rob explained how it all came together. "It started by practicing and trying out different sounds and then we just added lyrics to each song." Dave adds, "It all came pretty natural and easy." No one member was in charge of the writing of the lyrics, but four of the songs were penned by Simon and the other was penned by Dave. All members helped with the writing, "each adding their own contribution".
Each member contributed to the raising of the money that helped finance the production of the CD. The band feels the album's production, which was done in Tony Hunter's Freedom Recording Studio in Midleton, was very good. They are very quick to praise Tony's performance working on the album, which took two days to complete. They feel the album came out quite well for a "first attempt".
The CD has received quite varied feedback, with people making their own comparisons between Crowded Elevator and more famous bands. "Each song on the CD is different and that entitles people to make a lot of different comparisons. I wouldn't really tie us down to any one band".
They admit they're still learning a lot as musicians and are grateful to all who have supported them so far, like Dave Keane who supplied them with a bass and local promoter, Dennis Desmond.
"Practice makes perfect" shines through in this band as they practice once a week, though they admit living so far apart from each other is a big obstacle. The band is currently looking for gigs and hope to perform during the school midterm later this year. They're even considering busking.
by PJ Ahern
|