On The Rise

We're just three thirty-somethings sitting in a bedsit who enjoy different kinds of music. We've made an album and now we're out doing it live. It might get bigger, but if it starts going to our heads, we'll lose it."

Elevator Suite's Andy Childs is nothing if not modest about his outfit's achievements to date. Speaking just before they hit the stage at a packed Dingwall's in London he outlines their manifesto for the immediate future.
"We don't want to be the biggest band in the land or to change the world or any of that bollox," he says, "We've all been doing things we didn't want to be doing for long enough. Just to be able to get up in the morning and to know that this is what we do for a living is all that matters right now."
Elevator Suite are Devon-based former DJ's Childs and Paul Roberts and multi-instrumentalist Steve Grainger. Their debut long-player Barefoot And Shitfaced released on Infectious Records, is a cleverly crafted blend of dance-beats, sixties film soundtrack samples and psychedelic vocals all wrapped in a lounge-core suit. Their first single the mod-jazz fused 'Man In A Towel' caught the ears of DJ Zoe Ball who made it her Record of the Week while the follow-up 'Backaround' was BBC Radio One's Simon Mayo's Record of the Week.
Long-time friends Childs and Roberts cut their musical teeth on the dancefloors of South West England where they were behind legendary club nights like Kick it and Besotted. They also ran a night called Funky Junky which on occasions was held on a boat off Southampton. They then met up with Steve Grainger who was not only a fully trained musician with a degree in composition, but had the luxury of owing his own studio. Here the trio set about creating their distinctive fusion of easy listening and dance music.
"It was a perfectly natural progression for us," offers Childs. "If you're a proper DJ you'll eventually want to make your own music. Most DJ's are frustrated musicians I know I am. I still can't play a fucking thing, I'm useless. But I was able to make this album."
Elevator Suite have been compared to the successful Gallic duo Air, particularly for their approach, which mixes sampling with real instrumentation and vocals. (For their live shows the trio is augmented by four additional musicians).
"We use lots of samples but with this band on the road the samples have become a really small part of it," Childs offers. "It's completely different to how it was originally conceived and it's changing by the minute. If someone likens us to Air I would be quite chuffed. I don't think it's anything like Air but if I thought our album was up there on people's shelves beside Air I'd be happy."
"Sampling is far more advanced and sophisticated these days," chimes in Paul Roberts. "We played a gig in Brighton the other night which was full of mods. On 'Man In A Towel' we sampled Alan Hawkshawe's 'Beat Me 'Til I'm Blue' which was a big mod anthem back in the late sixties. We were worried about how they might react, but they loved it."
One of the highlights of the album and slated for future single release, is the gorgeous 'Zoe's Song' which samples Quincy Jones' soundtrack to the Michael Caine thriller The Italian Job.
"I bought the soundtrack not knowing it was Quincy Jones who'd done it," says Childs. "The song came about from the three of us just listening to the album in the van, singing along with it. Paul wrote the lyrics for his daughter and we had a song."
With a European tour lined up as guests of Morcheeba and visits to Japan, Australia and the States pencilled in Elevator Suite have enough to be going on with, for the immediate future at least
Roberts ponders. "Talking to people like you is all new to us. We haven't had a hit yet and we haven't sold a lot of records. We've made a really expensive video for MTV, which is a sign of the commitment the record company have in us. We're quite chuffed by it all really.

Elevator Suite give their Barefoot And Shitfaced album a live airing at Shelter@Vicar St. on December 10th.