École
When and how was your band created?
Elliot was created year 1997 in a small factory town (in the west coast of Finland) called Raahe. A group of friends just started to play for fun. There wasn’t much else to do in that town at that time so we just played and played. We borrowed guitars and stuff. Somehow we felt what we were doing was important straight from the beginning.
Where is the name of the band coming from?
I had a guitar amplifier called Trace Elliot. It never worked. I think the name stuck on us from that sad little machine.
What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
We all like so different kind of music that it isn’t easy to say. One reporter said that we are illegitimate child of U2 and Radiohead. Maybe there’s some truth in that.
What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
Finland is so small country that it isn’t too hard to stand out as a potential newcomer. Maybe that’s the most positive part in Finland’s music scene. On the other hand musicians are not as respected as they should be in here. It comes out in everything. But it seems that we are slowly learning the possibilities of music industry in global markets and I hope that will ease our work in local scenes too in near future.
How could you qualify your style of music?
We don’t. It’s not our job.
During the years how has your musical style evolved?
Of course you drift musically to new places as you play as a group for a couple of years. It keeps you going. We think that our best work is still in front of us. Not far but still. Maybe in a year or two we’ll see what we can and really want to do. We feel that our debut “The Sparkling Hour” sounds too clean. It doesn’t reflect our live sound as well as it could. So we know well what to do next.
How do explain these changes?
We have had some changes in our group during the last years. That of course always effects strongly in to the sound and the style. But we are still searching our selves from the music and I think we might soon find something.
What are stories/topics you tell/treat in your songs?
Hope and doubt… and universal love of course. 
Have you ever considered the possibility to change totally your style of music? If so, what style of music would you choose?
Our style comes out pretty naturally. We don’t much think that kind of things.
What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
It’s a new song called Let Your Wind Blow. We are just recording it and soon we’ll start the video shootings on it. It is really hopeful and energic song. One of those that just arrive without any complications or hard work.
Do you tour regularly? Do you prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
Yes we tour. We prefer performing live. It’s hard to capture all the sound in studio. It would be really nice to play in France. It’s one of our dreams.
During the process of making an album, what is the moment that you prefer?
I think we prefer the moment when it’s finished and we can play it out to the people.
What kind of music / What artists do you currently listen?
I personally like to listen about movie music. Big sound walls with out lyrics. So I’m able to figure out my own little stories on it.
A stupid question but… what is, among all the songs you’ve been listening in your life, the BEST song?
I can’t say. It depends of feelings. U2’s “One” is one of my favorites.
What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
People are stealing our money thru it! Seriously speaking I think the net is a good thing. We don’t do this for money. Of course the illegal sharing of music effects on music industry. At last we all suffer of it. Record companies are no longer able to produce interesting underground stuff because they are struggling of their lives. People should notice that.
What are your actual and future projects?
We are creating our second album hoping to finish it during this year. We also are making a DVD that includes three videos and all kind of stuff along our way. Those things will keep us busy until the end of this year.
