Alexander Bland – Drums, Bongos
Roan “The Wrist” Clawson – Bass, Guitar
Ronan Lenane – Guitar, Bass, Vocals
Oisin Rice – Guitar, Saxophone, Vocals
James Smith – Trumpet, Synthesisers, Bebop, Egg Shaker
Kirsten Wright – Vocals, Projector, Media
On Saturday 8 February, student band Elliana Craig performed their third local gig at Edinburgh’s Mash House. Opening for the English “art-punk” band Shtëpi, Elliana Craig provided a 6-song set which transcended the body of a typical opener, standing instead as a complete show itself with a defined beginning, middle, and end. Many members have been seen before in a previous feature on Springhouse band last summer.
The band were backlit by projections throughout, which at times glinted off the venue’s back windows, drawing us curiously deep. The set began with the aptly atmospheric “Drone,” diverging from a typical ambient style with the addition of saxophone. Rice’s saxophone and Smith’s trumpet are integral elements of Elliana Craig’s distinctive style. Directly following “Drone” is “Kirsten’s song,” an impassioned, not-quite-spoken-word piece featuring Wright’s blunt, yet heartfelt, oration atop an orderly cacophony. All of which was supported by Bland’s notable percussion.
Lenane then stepped up, exclaiming, “We are Elliana Craig… and we have nothing to say.” As the band readied for their third song, Rice responded, “We are Elliana Craig, and we cannot accept that.” The band has an awkward sort of charm, even with their strong musical talent and confidence, that shines through at moments like this. Oftentimes, the band’s diction and words were overshadowed by their ravenous instrumentalism. Elliana Craig clearly understand lyricism, but they would be well served, I think, by a better balance.
Over the following four songs, the band proved how fully they fail to accept that they have “nothing to say” in a performance rife with a clear love for what they do. Notable moments included “Oisin’s song,” wherein Rice’s vocals reach a screaming, shredding, trumpet-ridden crescendo, an Adrienne Lenker-esque riff by Clawson in “Poets and Lawyers” out of place in a stunningly poetic way. The show ends with a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Lover Lover Lover,” wherein Shtëpi joined to accompany on tambourines and egg shakers in a celebratory transition of joy and musical camaraderie.
The Wednesday preceding the gig (5 February), I interviewed the band at Bennett’s Bar.
Eliana: You’ve had other past projects around the Edinburgh scene, what makes Elliana Craig different?
Oisin: The Shaker!
Ronan: The media, too. We’ve added crazy media.
Eliana: This new media, what inspires it?
Kirsten: Well, I have a block phone, so it’s just my camera roll. I also bought a camera and it came with a load of inherited pictures, but then that camera became too perverse, so I’ve gone back to the old camera that doesn’t work, but works just about enough.
Eliana: Could you speak a bit more toward the use of social media as an influence to your work? I’ve noticed in the past that you’ve taken a lot of inspiration from Instagram reels.
Ronan: I’ve actually had to reverse the position lately. I had an epiphany that short-form content is a mental health risk and a public health matter. We’re hard pivoting. We think it should be banned.
Eliana: Reels seemed to be a large part of previous projects, so when did this stance change?
James: We’re more serious now. Springhouse was sillier, we were more involved with reels. Nowadays, we think that is bad for the world. Look around… that’s all I have to say. Look at what reels is doing to the people!
Oisin: Let me interject. On Saturday, the first of February, I spent five hours on Instagram reels.
Eliana: Spoken word seems to be a new theme in this project.
Ronan: Spoken word is washed. Spoken word is in this particular song we do, in general, quite lazy I think.
James: We do it quite uniquely, I’d say. It’s all improvised. We don’t even do it to a rhythm. It just plows on through.
Eliana: Lots of people are asking about the name of your band. Do you care to speak at all toward Elliana Craig, the name’s origin story, potentially the person, if you wish to disclose anything about it?
Ronan: We made this person up. It was an AI generated name.
Kirsten: We did lots of research on reels.
Oisin: We locked ourselves in a room for three days to come up with a crazy prompt for ChatGPT for the name.
Eliana: Do you guys have any major musical inspirations?
James: The Sugababes are great. Their album Three, great. Incredible.
Ronan: Unbelievable production on some of their songs. They were sort of pioneers in the egg shaker movement, as well.
[An aside, though this was perhaps ironic, I would love to see Elliana Craig take inspiration from the work of the Sugababes going forward. I think it could make for an intriguing stylistic mashup.]
Eliana: How do you want people to feel when they hear your music?
Ronan: On edge.
Kirsten: Down in the dumps…
[They all seem to agree on these]
Eliana: Thank you so much! Any last remarks, I think we’ve about wrapped up.
Ronan: Elliana Craig believes Elvis is dead.
Kirsten: Do we believe Elvis is the King though? We’re not sure…
Though the band claim to be “more serious” now, I find this difficult to believe. Elliana Craig is a band constantly in contradiction with itself; aggressively emotional, yet assured and calm; constantly in cacophony, yet pleasant; angry and intense, yet ironic. Elliana Craig serve as an excellent example of what happens when talented people decide to just have fun. I can’t wait to see where the band choose to go moving forward.
Photos by Eliana Harrick