9 December 2020
They’re not as famous as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones but ELEFANT is along
with those British combos a must-hear band. Why? Because they don’t want to
be as famous as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Why? Because their second LP,
titled BEJAHUNG is not really a pop nor rock record in the traditional sense.
What these loverboys do is balance between post-punk-sludge, a cappella chants, stillleben instrumentals, knockout crackers about walking a dog, and not sing-along conversations in a room. Accessible, but not in an Elvis Presley way, more in a Frank
Zappa way. A bit kooky, a bit eccentric, and with a lot of mothers of invention fun.
So Turn Up The Volume invited the ringleader of these sound-crusaders for a chat about the past twelve past months. Ladies and gents please welcome Wolfman, after this message of public benefit…
Hello Wolfman…
I listened about 100 times to the brilliant BEJAHUNG album.
And what about you?
“I must have listened 1000 times playing and mixing it,
but after that not so much. My favorite track is Stillleben.”
.
What’s the story behind the LP’s title?
“Bejahung means something like saying yes to life. Doing only what you
love and doing it with extra love. I still haven’t figured out if it is a longing
or an actual intent.”
In a normal world, ULTRA PLUS ULTRA would be a massive indie hit.
But I’m not sure what the ripper is about. Help me…
“Ultra Plus Ultra is about walking the dog basically. But with
the Bejahung mindset: if you walk the dog, do it with love and
with pride! I love stupid actions and transcend them to heroic
and useful/interesting acts.”
The album launch gig back in January was one of the best ELEFANT performances
I ever witnessed. New meds or an exceptional stream of adrenaline?
“Same meds, different year. 2020 promised to become something special
and indeed this year was something else, but not in our predicted way.”
The band stopped wearing those pretty cool, white Chernobyl outfits on stage. Why?
“It was old news, we wanted something else, maybe something less sketchy and caricatural. We wanted the audience to focus on the music and not so much on our
crazy stage antics.”
That nasty coronavirus stopped/canceled all live-action. How hard is/was that?
“Pretty hard to be honest, but true to my Bejahung beliefs, I try to make the best of it.
I wanted to rehearse a lot and work on new songs, but due to COVID regulations we
didn’t get to rehearse, so I started recording some solo stuff.”
A lot of musicians came up with a cover of another artist’s song during these
bizarre times. Which one would you pick to cover?
“I covered different Leonard Cohen songs this year, but I’ll pick “Everybody knows’ It doesn’t fit the Bejahung mold because it’s a dramatic pessimistic one. But alas, it’s still
a true vision on these times and mankind.”
Suppose you’re asked to rewrite the national Belgian hymn.
What would it be the outcome in sound and vision?
“I wouldn’t do it.”
What was the best track you heard in 2020?
Mr. Bungle’s ‘Bungle grind’ from the Easter Bunny album. It’s a blast
from the past, humorous and ingenious without pretentiousness.
Your favorite prick of the year?
“The idiot that ate the corona infected bat.”
Any tips to have fun this lockdown Xmas?
“Sit down and relax.”
Which song will be on your stereo on
31st December at midnight?
The Beatles ‘Good Day Sunshine.’
Good vibes!
Which promise for 2021 will you not keep?
“See next question.”
New ELEFANT music next year?
“Definitely.”
Cheers, Wolfman.
May the road rise with Elefant.
And I hope you’ll become as famous
as The Beatles and The Stones in 2021.
Ladies and gents, Turn Up The Volume is proud to announce
that his best album of this mad 2020 year is BEHAJUNG!
Stream/buy the winner here…
.
ELEFANT: Facebook
(photo on top via Wolfman / all other pictures by Turn Up The Volume!)