A Chat with Elk City (20.08.23)
Certain bands have a striped-sunlight sound, but US-based Elk City is a “moon reflecting on the water” band. An eclectic fusion of indie-folk, indie-rock and dream-pop with a psychedelic swoosh, Elk City is charismatic in its off-kilter obscurity. We speak with vocalist Renee LoBue and drummer/producer Ray Ketchem about their single ‘Strong (You’re Not Alone)’, the official music video, future plans and more.
OSR: What can you tell us about the single ‘Strong (You’re Not Alone)’?
LoBue: ‘Strong (You’re Not Alone)’ is a song about the innate strength we all possess. It’s about standing still, standing within yourself, long enough to realize you – exactly as you are – are enough. You – exactly as you are – are the answer. Being wild on this Earth, much like a wild animal. Because you are wild, and you are an animal.
Ketchem: The song was written in two distinct parts. Part one (‘Strong’) was written by Renee at home and developed with the band. Part two (‘You’re Not Alone’) came from one of our improvisation sessions. Richard Baluyut (bassist) hatched the idea to combine the parts into one creation.
OSR: This song previews your forthcoming album Undertow. Can you tell us about this record?
LoBue: I’m proud of the work we’ve done on Undertow, which is a continuation of our 2022 LP, Above the Water. Undertow finds us in a similar space as Above the Water, yet more submerged in adventurous creativity.
Ketchem: Undertow is the most neo-psychedelic album we’ve ever recorded. Numerous songs are sprawling with twists and turns that take the listener on a trip. Of course, there are a few pop songs too.
OSR: You recorded a music video for ‘Strong (You’re Not Alone)’. Can you tell us about that experience?
LoBue: The video for ‘Strong (You’re Not Alone)’ wasn’t planned out, however, we did want the video to be about a cult living in the woods of Northern New Jersey. The filming was improvised. Ray Ketchem’s editing tells the story of cult members being found out (perhaps by the FBI) and how they must scramble further into the woods for safety. We’re lucky that there’s an amazing castle (and former monastery) Kip’s Castle close by. That’s where we got the most compelling footage. Fun Fact: The Rajneeshees – the cult the documentary Wild Wild Country was about – lived in Kip’s Castle temporarily in the 80s while their town in Oregon was being built!
Ketchem: I had a few ideas for how to film the video, using overexposures so I could layer images atop each other. I implemented blur to emulate footage from cult documentaries such as The Source Family.
OSR: What challenges did you face when recording the music video?
LoBue: The light was exceptionally beautiful the day we filmed. The challenge was to get as much footage as we could while the light was dreamlike.
Ketchem: Video making is something we enjoy, but we always try to think of ways to keep the project as achievable as possible. We’re music makers, not filmmakers, but we enjoy the challenge of making videos to serve as vehicles for the music.
OSR: What is your creative process when it comes to writing and recording music and videos?
LoBue: Everything is improvised. Everything is a jam. As Ray Ketchem recently (and so memorably) said, “My life is a jam.” … And I thought, whoa … Pure Wisdom.
Ketchem: We gather and start playing our instruments off the top of our heads while recording the results. Afterwards, we sort through those sketches and develop the ideas further. With filming videos, we’re always trying to get a video done that works with the music.
OSR: I read that you, as a band, love documentaries. If the life of Elk City were a documentary, what would the title be?
LoBue: Elk City: How a hedonistic cult disguised as a band fooled the world.
Ketchem: Ha! Ha!
OSR: What do you think makes you unique as artists?
LoBue: We’re self-contained, in that every aspect of our band is built by us. We write, record, engineer, and produce our music, create the artwork for our albums and release our music on our record label (Magic Door).
Ketchem: We sail the ship and love to take people along for the ride.
OSR: What do you hope people take from your music?
LoBue: Self-discovery.
Ketchem: A feeling that they are joining us in an adventure.
VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED
OSR: What are your future plans as Elk City?
LoBue: We want to play more shows and make more records. We want to expand our creative process. In doing so, we want to release records that sound like they’re not of this Earth.
Ketchem: To continue creating art in as many forms as possible.
OSR: Is there anything you would like to share with our readers?
LoBue: Thank you for reading this. Thank you for listening. Also: You’re Not Alone.
Ketchem: Never be afraid to follow your creative passions. You never know what you’ll discover.
Many thanks to Renee LoBue and Ray Ketchem for speaking with us! For more from Elk City, check out their Twitter, Instagram, Bandcamp and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
