Ask any indie music fan about Taiwanese music, and Kaohsiung-based trio Elephant Gym is probably the first name that will come to mind. The band is well known for its intricate yet tuneful math rock sound that has earned them a global fanbase and garnered numerous awards, including Best Band at the 10th Golden Indie Music Awards 2019.
On the back of new single “Go Through the Night”, the trio—siblings KT Chang and Tell Chang, and drummer and Chia-Chin Tu—sat down with Othniel Ting, host of BFM’s Wavelength show, for a short interview.
On the topic of the sample of toe’s “Two Moons” in the new single, guitarist Tell explains that the original intention was to collaborate with toe in conjunction with a show that the two bands were supposed to play together. Covid-19 scuppered these plans, so Elephant Gym wove the classic acoustic riff from “Two Moons” into “Go Through the Night”.
“[toe] were a little bit worried [since] they hadn’t worked with foreign bands. But when the demos came out, they liked it a lot,” explains Tell. KT chimes in, revealing that toe watched Elephant Gym’s set during the live stream and approved of the new song. “Our manager said: ‘they say “ok”.”
Revealing a bit more about the song’s creation, Tell admits that despite initially playing the riff himself, the band decided to ask for the stems from toe to use in the track. “At the end, we asked them to give their original track because I can’t play their ‘taste’; it’s very unique.”
Continuing with studio and recording talk, host Othniel asks the trio about their recording methods, opining that “the instruments are all talking to each other [and] the melodies talk to each other as well.”
“We wish we could do it live, but normally we can’t,” Tell says. KT adds, “we usually record the song soon after we finish it, so we’re not really familiar with the song yet. So we record it separately; drums first, and bass, and guitar.”
“We spend so much time writing the songs,” KT says, laughing, “but after we finish it, we always forget the first part, or something, because it’s too difficult!”
While, as Othniel points out, the band has said that it practices almost every night together, the members of Elephant Gym reveal during the interview that they rarely “jam”, preferring to write music on their own.
“In these [past] three years, we seldom jam together. We spend a lot of time doing music ourselves and bringing the demos to the studio,” bassist KT explains. But she admits that “recently, we’ve actually [been] discussing that we should jam together again to write songs because it’s fun.”
That said, recording demos individually has its perks, too, as KT can attest to: “I can play so many annoying basslines, and they won’t say anything. I bring the song to our studio and say, ‘it’s done; I won’t change any notes.’ It’s better than jamming!”
The band also reveals that they’ve recently collaborated with a Kaohsiung-based brass orchestra for some material on the upcoming album during the interview. They’ve also collaborated with Hakka singer-songwriter Lin Sheng-Xiang, although drummer Chia-Chin teasingly says that it’s “still a secret”.
“Normally, there are no rules [for collaborations],” Tell says. “When we come up with someone, we just try and reach out. Sometimes we fail, but sometimes things happen.”
As a band that’s collaborated with numerous artists over its career, each member unsurprisingly has a particular favourite. Drummer Chia-Chin picks the 2013 song “Ocean in the Night”, a collaboration with Hong Shenhao, the vocalist/guitarist for Taipei-based band Touming Magazine.
KT, meanwhile, brings up Charlie Lim’s remix of the band’s “Gaze at Blue” because “it’s like another artist’s song.”
After a short break, the conversation turns to the band’s Elephant Gym Membership and the rationale behind it. Guitarist Tell admits to being “very shy” about sharing “personal stuff or little stories”. So, the membership was driven by a desire to interact with the band’s hardcore fanbase.
“And since we can’t play, we’re trying new stuff like streaming shows to share with the membership”, Tell explains. “On Facebook and Instagram, everyone will see your post”, KT adds. “And it’s a bit annoying, right? I love Charlie Lim a lot, but I don’t want to see his posts every day. But he has to post every day [for engagement]. So it’s really hard to [find a] balance.”
“If they join our membership, it means they’re willing to accept our message or stories”, Tell says.
Talk turns to full-length albums and the album’s continued relevance (or lack thereof) in a Spotify-dominated age. “It doesn’t bother me whether it’s an album or a single”, Tell explains. “But when it comes to Elephant Gym, I tend to release some songs as singles but collect them into an album.”
He continues, “when we release an album, we have a reason to tour again. So maybe it’s not because of music, but because I love touring”, he says with a smile in his voice. “Oh, but I love CDs!” KT adds. “I don’t use Spotify”, she says. “[Because] I don’t know where my money goes. But when I book ten albums from a record shop, I know I’m giving them a lot of money, and it makes me feel good.”
The interview ends with Othniel asking the band about their future plans. Guitarist Tell reveals that the band wants to bring its theatre collaborations overseas. “We’re really looking forward to [playing] a show with crossover content that we can play in not only in Taiwan but maybe in Malaysia or Singapore.” He continues, “that’s a very important feature of Elephant Gym that foreign fans haven’t seen.”
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Listen to the interview and check out older episodes of Wavelength here:
https://www.bfm.my/podcast/night-shift/wavelength/wavelength-ep248