In this blog post, I share the story behind how I discovered Elephant Gym and got the chance to interview them a few weeks later by email at the South by Southwest festival. The interview happened in March, so this interview is six months late in being shared, but better late than never.
Enjoy!
It was a sunny March afternoon, and I was sitting in my chair, bored from my documentation work. Next week, I would be attending the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival for the first time with two of my colleagues at From the Intercom.
From the Intercom champions Asian arts in entertainment, and part of my job at SXSW was to find artists I wanted to spotlight through the site and reach out to see if I could snag an interview.
As I scrolled through the site looking specifically for Asian artists, I came across an event called Taiwan Beats. This year, Taiwan Beats showcased six artists in Taiwan by filming their performances at six different cultural venues across the country. The goal? To invite listeners to “explore the past and future of Taiwan’s music scene.”
I read the artists’ unique biographies and opened up their Spotify profiles to listen to their discographies. All of them were pretty good, but one of them caught my eye — and ear — the most.
Of course, that group is Elephant Gym, a math rock band from Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
It took eight minutes from learning about them to loving them as a personal favorite band of all-time.
The two songs that made me fall in love with them were: Midway and Go Through The Night (in order). It’s hard to recall exactly what I felt listening to Midway six months after first listening to the song, but what I still do recall was the inimitable sense of groove that they channeled through their music and how it sounded like no other band I’d ever heard.
With the encouragement of FTI chief editor Li-Wei Chu, I decided to shoot an email to the trio inquiring whether I could interview them during the SXSW festival. I had to follow up, and I was scared I wouldn’t be able to interview them.
The magic email arrived in my inbox three days after my follow-up email. Tell Chang, the guitarist, said they would be happy to do the interview, but they were busy moving to a rehearsal on a train. He told me to send them any questions I had, and they would respond while moving.
I couldn’t contain my excitement when I read Elephant Gym’s email. Now, you’ll also have the chance to read my short encounter with the math rock trio!
Enjoy!
- Johan Qin: How did the three of you learn how to play math rock? For example, did you learn by transcribing rhythms, melodies and basslines from other math rock bands? Or did you create your own unique basslines and rhythms based on listening to other artists and feeling inspired by them?
Tell Chang: We learn all the math rock stuff from the internet! There is no active math rock band or any math rock musician in Taiwan.
When we studied in universities, we had a crush on “toe” from Japan on YouTube and we started to dig into their information and similar bands. “Math Rock” popped up and we realized the genre is called math rock. It is challenging and both interesting to create something we have never tried before. We worked hard to come up with a 5/4 riff and it is the beginning of our math rock journey.
In “Go Through the Night”, we asked toe if they could let us sample their song and they agreed!
2. Johan Qin: Your music and style evolves over many singles and albums. How long does it take you to come up with a new style? Do you consciously decide what style to pursue next, or does it just occur without thinking about it at all?
Tell Chang: We really like all kinds of music. Our drummer, Chia-Chin, likes Japanese indie. The bass player, KT, loves math rock and experimental music. The guitar player, Tell, listens to lots of pop and film music.
Recently we assigned a member to be the producer of a single. Therefore, the single will profoundly be influenced by the producer. That’s the reason why our music varied. We seldom chose a new style. Instead, we let the flow take us to the new place.
3. Johan Qin: Outside of math rock, what artists, styles and genres do you guys enjoy listening to?
Tell Chang: KT always loves Jacob Collier and saw his live show in Japan once. Chia-Chin likes cero, a Japanese band, and finds them inspiring. Tell likes a Japanese folk singer, Yeye. Her songs are company while driving.
It was a pleasure to have had the chance to bump elbows with Elephant Gym, even if it just through an email exchange. I love and admire their music, and their newest album, which came out just two months after their SXSW performance, is fantastic.
Listen to their newest album, “Dreams,” below.
