{"id":38762,"date":"2014-02-24T10:53:15","date_gmt":"2014-02-24T10:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bletherskite.net\/?p=5877"},"modified":"2014-02-24T10:53:15","modified_gmt":"2014-02-24T10:53:15","slug":"talking-folk-with-the-elephant-sessions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/project1-m9gb2xku8.live-website.com\/?p=38762","title":{"rendered":"Talking Folk with The Elephant Sessions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The Elephant Sessions performing at Northern Roots 2013. Photo by Roddy Mackenzie.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hailing from Inverness, The Elephant Sessions are an upcoming act set to make waves on the traditional Scottish music scene this summer. I caught them last year at a gig in Edinburgh, where they blasted through a set of the grooviest folk music I’ve ever heard. They’re currently recording their debut album off the back of a successful online fundraising campaign, so I recently caught up with guitarist Mark Bruce to find out more:<\/p>\n

Describe the members of the Elephant Sessions and the instruments you play:<\/strong>
\nThe Elephant Sessions are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Euan Smillie – Fiddle<\/li>\n
  • Greg Barry – Drums<\/li>\n
  • Alasdair Taylor – Mandolin<\/li>\n
  • Seth Tinsley – Double bass<\/li>\n
  • Mark Bruce – Guitars.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Where are you from and how did you guys meet?<\/strong>
    \nWe met through a mutual love of traditional music and the fact we have similar ideas of how the folk\/traditional genre can be pushed by adding influences from other genres. Four of us hail from the Highlands of Scotland, and Seth is from Northumberland.<\/p>\n

    You’re all excellent musicians \u2013 I was wondering how long you’ve been playing and how you got into this type of music?<\/strong>
    \nWe have all been playing traditional music for many years, we all got into it through things such as the Feisan movement and through traditional music groups in school. We are very lucky in the Highlands of Scotland that we are so immersed in traditional melodies and culture.<\/p>\n

    The thing that struck me the most about your band is the way you combine traditional folk music with contemporary genres such as funk \u2013 what makes your music so unique, and what kinds of things is the band influenced by?<\/strong>
    \nI think what may potentially make our music a bit different is the fact the we self write all our melodies and we aren\u2019t afraid to try and push the boundaries of where we can take it \u2013 I think not being afraid to fail is very important when you\u2019re trying to do something a bit unique. We take influences from a wide range of music, everything from Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.<\/p>\n