Their Own Little Community: An Interview With Elf Power

by Meghan Jones
10/26/2006

photo of Athens band Elf Power

The guys in Elf Power have been quite the rock stars lately, hitting up all the big, and some of the little, cities on the East Coast to bring this half of the country their brand of psychedelic, feel-good, danceable, so-many-people-they-take-up-the-whole-stage kind of music. They got back in town a few weeks ago after their last show in Columbia, and, lucky for me, I got to sit and chat with Andrew Rieger, the man behind the guitar and the microphone. I got a little nervous beforehand, being in the presence of such a big name from the Athens music scene and all, but he was oh-so-nice and even stopped to say hello to many of the passers-by from our table outside of Hot Corner. Here's what he had to say about touring, life in Athens and their new album.

AE: So, y'all just got back from doing 33 shows in 33 days! How was that?

AR: Well, it was a lot, but, you know, it was all on this side of the country. We didn't go out West, so the drives were pretty short. That made it doable. Last spring we did the whole country in three weeks, and we were doing nine hour drives every day.

AE: What are your favorite aspects of touring with the band that don't involve playing the show? I heard something about you really loving a zoo in Japan where you got to see monkeys run wild in their natural habitat, so you guys must get around when you're out there.

AR: Ha ha, where did you hear that? Well, of course, if you're in a really exotic place like Japan there's going to be lots of amazing things to do and see. When we're in Europe we try to do some sightseeing. We stay a few extra days to do something fun and not just drive around and do shows. Over here we've done it so many times, though. Still, when we're out West we'll go camping in national parks or hang out in the redwoods. There's a lot of sitting around waiting and sitting in hotel rooms watching bad TV. It's not all that exciting. That's why so many musicians are alcoholics, because there's free beer and free time; that's my theory on that.

AE: And what do you like to do around town now that you're back home again?

AR: Oh, I go out and see bands a lot. There's always great local bands here in Athens and I try to keep up with that. Even though I'm doing that pretty much all the time, I still love seeing live music and always have. And I started running again for the first time since high school. I'd started feeling out of shape. And I like to watch movies, drink beer with my friends, just hang out.

AE: Sounds good to me. How would you introduce Elf Power to someone who's never heard of you before? Maybe someone who isn't from Athens or is just starting to get into the local music about town?

AR: Hmm... it's rock music with lots of different influences. Folk and psychedelic rock and punk rock. We're all big fans of lots of different music, so as much as you try to be completely original all that stuff rubs off on you in some way and comes out in what you're making.

AE: So y'all's first show was in 1994, according to the website. But when did the band first get together?

AR: The band kind of started out as more of a recording project. I had bought a four-track cassette recorder and was playing around with it at home. Our first recording I did on my own that way, and we kind of formed a band around it later because people liked it. And then we started playing live. But we didn't really start touring and being a real band until 1998.

AE: I feel like Elf Power is one of those Athens bands where everyone is in eight other side projects and the people actually in the band are constantly rotating in and out. For instance, I know John [Fernandes, the violinist] couldn't tour with you this time because I actually talked to him about getting in touch with the rest of you guys. So who's considered an official band member, and how many people are in Elf Power now? Seven, I think?

AR: Yeah, yeah, it's seven. It's never really official; it's always a pretty loose kind of thing. Laura Carter has been with the band since the first album, and other than that the members have changed over the years. It's been kind of a revolving cast, but it seems like we have a pretty good group together these days. We have a talented bunch of players and everybody gets along. Yeah, John has done two or three tours with us, but he has three kids so he has to stay home. His wife puts her foot down, you know, understandably, so he plays with us locally and does some of the tours. He's just got a lot more responsibility than the rest of us.

AE: Speaking of kids, I read on the Elf Power website you had a performance on the kids' show, Pancake Mountain?

AR: Well, I had heard about Pancake Mountain; it's kind of a cool show that a lot of bands are playing on these days. Vic Chesnutt had played and Widespread Panic, so I was familiar with it. They're based in D.C., and the guy, Scott Stuckey, who does it is actually from Athens and I had met him years and years ago. We did some skits where I was dressed up as this weird character, Captain Perfect. It was kind of like a Sesame Street with a much lower production level, and we just did our stuff. Kids seem to like our stuff, it's pretty melodic.

AE: Well, I read an article a few months ago in Paste Magazine about lots of bands who have been coming out with albums that aren't necessarily children's albums, but they're more geared towards children. Singable and appropriate and everything.

AR: Yeah, there's been a lot of that lately where some of the bigger bands have gotten old enough to have their own kids. I think they probably write those songs to entertain their children and then wind up recording them.

AE: I had no idea Elf Power ran Orange Twin, both the label and the land. Tell me about your plan to make it a sustainable community. Is it going to be like a commune?

AR: It's about five miles outside of town on about 150 acres, 100 of which are going to be a nature preserve and the other 50 acres people are going to build on. Laura is living in a big group house out there now with a few other people. A lot of the people involved are actually lawyers and people from the community, so it's not a big hippie commune with a bunch of stoned musicians or anything. It's really cool, we've had some concerts out there with Olivia Tremor Control and Will Oldham and about 500 people came out to see that. We try to have a big concert out there once a year or so that people will get the chance to come out and check it out. Pancake Mountain was shot out there, too.

AE: Well, moving onto your new album, Back to the Web, it definitely sounds more Middle Eastern, worldly and folk-inspired. Did you use any really unique instruments we've never heard of before?

AR: We listened to lots of Middle Eastern and Gypsy music while we were writing. There weren't any instruments that were too strange, but there is lots of accordion, violin, cello and different string instruments. It's definitely a new sound. I did get a 12-string guitar which kind of has the sound of Middle Eastern music so I could ape the sound.

AE: Is this the direction the band is going in, or are y'all just going to continue to surprise us with a new style every album?

AR: Oh no, no new direction or anything. We try to keep ourselves interested by doing things differently each time.

AE: Do you have a favorite song on Back to the Web?

AR: I would probably say the second song, "[An] Old Familiar Scene," is my favorite. It's just kind of got this orchestral, ominous, threatening but still pretty feel to it, and I feel like we've never captured that before. I'm pretty proud of it.

AE: Some of the tracks really do seem pretty cryptic, like "The Spider and the Fly." Is there a particular message you're trying to send?

AR: That's just kind of the way it came out. We don't ever have a grand plan for an album, I just write a bunch of songs and record demos and give them to the band. Then everyone works on the arrangements together and things just come out naturally.

AE: The art for all of the albums is very, very different. How do you pick it out? Is it to fit the themes of the album or what?

AR: On some of the albums, like [A] Dream in Sound and [The] Winter is Coming, the artwork was just by people from around town we saw up in galleries and in restaurants. We liked it and asked if we could use it. For [Walking with the] Beggar Boys, it's actually kind of an homage â€“ well, actually it's a rip-off, but homage sounds nicer - of the Crosby Stills Nash and Young album, Déjà Vu, with them all dressed up and old-timey. I wasn't even a big fan of that album, I just liked the cover a lot. For the new one with the squares, it's just different people we've encountered; we looked back at our scrapbook and took pictures and drawings from it. It's referencing things of the past, you know, a bunch of different faces all with special meanings to them.

So that's that. Elf Power is a group of community-minded, musically talented and super nice guys that play awesome music. And if you like that sort of thing, you should go see them this Friday, October 27 at the Fabulous 40 Watt. Or you could check out their new album, Back to the Web. The choice is yours, but you'd be missing out if you didn't experience the Power in one way or another!

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