Ella Riot

4/4/11

Tyler Duncan of Ella Riot said that if he had to give a thesis to the project that is Ella Riot, it would be about "losing yourself in the music."



The Beginning

Ella Riot first got together at the University of Michigan as a bagpipe lead Drum and Bass group of seven. In the beginning, they tooled around with sounds, but even before they considered themselves in the context of a touring group, they still "rehearsed everything very thoroughly" said Duncan. Seven shrunk to five and My Dear Disco was created. The band added a vocalist Michelle Chamuel, Duncan said "we were blown away, and it changed everything."

In early March, 2011, My Dear Disco died.



And Ella Riot was born!


Dancethink

They call themselves a "musical Frankenstein." Their unique musical style, according to Duncan, is influenced by music all around the world such as Irish celtic music or tango. With such a diversity of sounds, Ella Riot employs a rhapsody of off the wall personality seamlessly laced into the music they play. Duncan said, "I don't know anybody who does what we do."

Playing at Lollapalooza and traveling around the country on their album release tour has added to the bands burgeoning movement that is described as "Dancethink."

The group coined the term Dancethink for the feeling you get when listening to this music, "the effect of the music is the focal point... that [utterly uplifting] feeling" Duncan said. The band relies not only on excellent production quality for their music, but it is in the live performances where the bands essence is purest since "it is more of a rock show, than a dance show," according to Duncan.

Perhaps the best example of Dancethink is shown in the bands newest music video, It Could Be, from the album "Love Child." The video shows a listless character catching the bug, apparently hearing the soundtrack to his life and most importantly living unbarred within the next 4 minutes and 30 seconds of his life. Disregarding previous biases, social norms and mores, this character shows how he is able to tear down the walls of his Superego and by allowing the music to take him away, he succumbs to every desire of his Id.



On Stage


Ella Riot is musically talented and a band at heart, not just dance music. The ability to play all of their music on stage, "using no tracks", adds a whole new dimension on the dance music party atmosphere. The suggestion that Ella Riot is more of a rock show in that sense, than a dance show begins to set them apart from the dance music that is generated to just make people jump. Duncan said his favorite track to play live is "Just One Way", a solid track with breakdowns, a catchy hook, and fierce vocals, that gets the crowd "poppin'". The fact that Just One Way isn't the albums single, yet Duncan says is his favorite to play, lends some credence to the assertion that they are a true musician's band and they do what they love, to give the fans a good time.

Speaking of live performances, as a part of their nation wide tour for the album, Love Child, Ella Riot will be playing in Atlanta on April 16, at the Highland Inn Ballroom.

On a personal note, I don't go to concerts and expect to sit around and have a blasé attitude. I go to concerts to let go. Dance. And get that feeling that no one is judging you, so I can let go of everything and everyone that is holding me back. I personally declare, this is a concert not to miss if you believe in this.

Music


On the Ella Riot Remix project, it's clear they take notice in other musically talented folks, big and small.

Ella Riot takes a smooth and very instrumental take on Kanye West's vocally poignant, "Love Lockdown" and adds a cool 127 bpm dance rhythm.







Love Lockdown (Ella Riot Remix) by Ella Riot

Another redux by Ella Riot is Mustaches by That 1 Guy. If you've never heard of That 1 Guy, he is another musician that takes his live performances seriously, so seriously in fact he crafted his own musical 'gizmo' that allows him to produce a unique sound that no one else can replicate (except with the help of a little remixing of course.) If you want to see what I am trying to describe, here is the remix and the original That 1 Guy song. Watch closely and you can see him play his one of a kind 'gizmo'.








Mustaches (Ella Riot Remix) by Ella Riot





From the album Love Child, Ella Riot has a some obvious and not so obvious influences. For example the song It Could Be has some Daft Punk-esque bass lines and trance like sounds.

One song that I think that stands out from the rest, though, is Clubbin. A purely instrumental song. The bagpipe is a big part of this song and gives it a triumphant feeling, the sort of feeling that is played as an anthem at the climax of a Pixar movie.







Clubbin by Ella Riot

The Future


As Ella Riot continues it's nation wide tour, they are still reeling over the fact that played Lollapalooza last year, said Duncan. So they are along for the ride. Duncan says to expect more music videos, cds, and 2012 will be a big year for Ella Riot as they try to release more CD's and music videos. Ella Riot is still gaining momentum, fan base, and what you should expect from Ella Riot is more touring, the key game Ella Riot is playing at this point in time.



That being said, if you catch a show, your in luck. Because it is not Ella Riot's M.O. currently to make huge magazine covers, nor headline the biggest shows out there, because they are still a growing band, and humble at that. It would be a stretch to say that they would make the cover of Rolling Stone tomorrow, but with the right fans and dedication to the music, I gotta feeling, Ella Riot has one way to go, and that's up.







I Gotta Feeling (Ella Riot Remix) by Ella Riot

(Ella Riot is: Michelle Chamuel on Vocals + Keys and studied Performance Art Technology//Bob Lester on Guitars + Vocals and studied Performance Art Technology//Tyler Duncan on Keys, Bagpipes + Vocals and studied Jazz Performance//Mike Shea on Percussion and studied Classical Percussion
)

-Josh Pate

1 comment:

foottrack79 said...

Nice post, Josh. Definitely make me wanna shake it.

Kevin

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