Real Blood on Fake Trees

Let me preface this by saying that the gentlemen that comprise Ela are among my favorite people on the planet Earth, so I may be a bit biased when I say that Real Blood on Fake Trees is the best thing since Stapled to Air. Once the boys sent me my copy, I decided to privately upload it and share it with my like-minded blog checkers. You'll have to ante up to take it with you; Real Blood on Fake Trees is available through Afternoon Records and can be found in your portable iTunes brand kiosk.

Track se7en is my personal favorite right the eff now; mostly due to the soaring vocals. Billy C's comedic verbalized concerns at the jump of the next track don't hurt the cause.
Bottom line? Support independent music.

Ela (ee-lah) is a container, a place to put the music of a group of people (respectively from Heiruspecs and Askeleton, but you may also recognize their efforts as Big Trouble and Bromance) in a specific time and place. Forming in 2003 in Minneapolis, Ela is comprised of members Bill Caperton (vocals, guitar), Sean McPherson (bass), Peter Leggett (drums) and Knol Tate (guitar, keyboards).

Ela's first record, Stapled to Air, was released in 2004 on New York's Third Earth Music label. The first rock release on 3EM, the band found itself in the company of underground hip-hop groups like Jean Grae, Oddjobs, and Mr. Len (Company Flow). Stapled to Air immediately entered full rotation at Minneapolis radio stations KUOM and KFAI, and received national play, eventually reaching 120 on the CMJ charts. Local and National press picked up on the band too; in Devil in the Woods issue 19, the record garnered a perfect review with 6 out of 6 pitchforks.

Worry, Worry (off of Stapled to Air) directed by Eli Ljung


Following this record, Ela played in the company of other up and coming bands including Stars, Carissas Weird (now Band of Horses), Tapes N Tapes, the Fever, Pilot to Gunner, Xiu Xiu, and Jeff Hanson. Notable larger scale shows at the same time included playing sold out venues with Travis Morrison in Minneapolis and The Wrens in Chicago. In April 2006, Ela received a call to go out on a 28-day tour with Los Angeles based indie-pop rising stars Say Anything (J Records). Playing sold out shows from Detroit to LA and back with only 2 days off propelled Ela's live act to a new level.

In the meantime Tate began running a studio in an old dry-ice factory in St. Paul. Building off the momentum of the Say Anything tour, the band got to work writing and recording a new demo. Straying from the blistering confessional work of the first album into a world more subtly haunting, Ela is ready for a rebirth.

Ela will be touring with Minus the Bear and Subtle in the fall, so catch a show broseph.




yanked in part from the band's MySpace
photos by Ellen Fitzgerlad