Coming off their recent release “Get Back,” ELEVNS stopped by to chat about how the track came about and where they get their soulful influences from!
Popping in a track by ELEVNS is like a cool breeze on a hot summer day. Their tracks are refreshing and instantly put your mind at ease from the moment you press play. Already being featured on several Spotify playlists such as Soultronic, New Music Friday UK, and many more this soulful duo are setting themselves up for a prosperous year!
In a short few years, ELEVNS has been hard at work to cultivate their sound. Pairing lush vocalists along with catchy synths and bass lines has been the recipe for success for them. As a result, tracks like “Love You Like I Do,” “Summer Vibe,” and their most recent hit “Get Back” have put them on the map as an artist you should most definitely check out.
Even in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, ELEVNS is setting themselves up for their best year yet. We caught up with them about the process behind crafting “Get Back” with Mr. J. Medeiros, their process in creating tracks, and how they incorporate live instruments into their shows. Check out our chat with them below and grab your copy of the track now!
Stream ELEVNS – Get Back (feat. Mr. J. Medeiros) on Spotify:
Hey ELEVNS, thanks for chatting with us today! Let’s talk about your most recent release, “Get Back”, that’s out now. What was the process behind making this track with vocalist Mr. J Medeiros?
Aurelian: The story of this track is interesting because it was part of our first-ever productions. We’ve had it since early 2018 and it was originally a remix of Dua Lipa’s ‘New Rules’ but we never released it as we were scared of having it taken down or having legal problems (laughs)! We played it only once at our New York show in June 2018 and people reacted very well to it, so we decided to work on it more and remove Dua Lipa’s vocals.
As the track is energetic and fast-paced, we wanted to have a rapper on it so before collaborating with Mr. J. Medeiros on it, we would play it live with our friend TStarnay rapping on it. As big fans of Alltta, Mr. J. Medeiros’ project with producer 20Syl, we always dreamt of having a collaboration with Mr. J. Medeiros.
The story behind the collaboration is quite funny because Gramm once commented on one of Mr. J. Medeiros’ Instagram posts, but the comment wouldn’t go through, so Gramm tried a few times to post it but it ended up with him having the same comment posted like 10 times! [Laughs] So, Gramm sent him a DM apologising about it and sneakily asked him if he would be down for a collab.
Mr. J. Medeiros gave us his email address and so we sent him this beat which became ‘Get Back’. Mr. J. Medeiros started working on the song but at some point, we had to record the vocals. It was hard in terms of schedule for Mr. J. Medeiros and one day he said: “I’m free in two days to record.” So, the next day Gramm took a bus overnight down to Paris, met him did the recording after a member of our team Jean-Marc booked a studio. Then after the recording, Gramm flew back to LDN, a crazy day!
You guys have new songs releasing consistently. What is the process you both follow in creating so many tracks? How do you deal with bouts of writer’s block?
The process is aimed at building a large catalogue of ideas such as beats by composing constantly. For instance, during this period of COVID-19, we’ve been doing “writing camps” for ourselves where we would do two to three beats a day each for five days and then pick up what’s best.
We’d do listening sessions, listening to what each of us did and then choose our favourites. Then obviously finding the singers or rappers for these songs is done by reaching out to them via social media or personal networks. Sending the beats to these artists and getting recorded vocals has been the main process lately.
Gramm, you’re a guitarist and Aurelian you’re a drummer. In your live shows, you bring both of these instruments together seamlessly. How did your previous training in these instruments come together so well?
Aurelian: I used to play the drums every day for hours after school. I’d study my idols such as Travis Barker, Thomas Pridgen, and Chris Dave to name a few and several gospel drummers. I’d learn on Youtube and then practice what I watched for hours. In our hometown Lausanne, there were jam sessions every Tuesday night and I’d go there to jam and meet new people. Playing in jam sessions taught me a lot, it taught me to listen to other musicians and finding where my place was as a drummer: Keeping the beat and the house together (house as in the band!). [Laughs]
Gramm: I started playing the guitar in a band when I was 14 years old and haven’t stopped since. I became a session guitarist until we created ELEVNS. So, I slowly got more and more experience playing live and with different people. It’s almost effortless and only fun now.
Your songs are best described as “soulful electronic music,” which artists or styles do you feel helped influence this sound?
We take inspiration from everywhere, we’re like sponges that absorb anything that could be inspiring. We both listen to a variety of musical styles but in general, it gravitates around Hip-Hop/Soul with artists like Chance the Rapper, Aminé, Brasstracks, Anderson .Paak and Mac Miller, pop with Ariana Grande and Justin Timberlake and electronic with Snakehips, Kaytranada, and 20Syl / Alltta.
On your Instagram, you guys have tons of videos using drum pads. Any specific preference towards these types of producing tools versus others?
It is all about the workflow. Some products have a specific workflow that helps use being more effective and faster for creating ideas. Especially products that integrate well with Ableton Live as it is our main tool to create music. The cool thing is that we can still use these controllers (or drum pads as you say) in a live scenario which is great!
We typically use Maschine by Native Instruments to program drums and some loops and then use Push 2 by Ableton & Akai within Ableton Live 10. We also use Roland SPD-SX on stage where Aurelian launches backing tracks and plays the drums.
What has been the biggest struggle that you both have faced so far in your career, and how did you overcome it?
We think it is definitely finding our sound. In 2019 we had been releasing a lot of music but there wasn’t a constant continuity in the sound, but towards the end of the year, we started noticing patterns in our new and unreleased music that got our attention and which gradually became the sound that we like. The way to overcome that issue with finding a sound was just to create a lot of material, to be honest, and finetune the pattern mentioned above.
In light of all this coronavirus (COVID-19) news and show cancellations, how has this changed the course of the next few months for you and your team?
It has changed the way we work a little bit in terms of being together for certain things like mixing or finishing off a track but otherwise, we are still working on our music like before. We’re doing our meetings via Google hangouts with everyone in the team so it’s really different.
Having shows cancelled and not being able to go to sessions forced us to define some goals and target our energy and focus on just making music and releasing. It’s also helped us to think of a new live set.
If you could offer up an inspiring message to your fans during this uncertain time, what would it be?
Stay strong and take care of yourselves. The situation you are in currently isn’t where you are going to end up if you keep believing in what you love to do.
Finally, are there any big 2020 goals that you guys have set for yourself?
We want to release as much music as possible with new artists and also come back after the summer with a new set for our live performance!
Connect with ELEVNS on Social Media:
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