Pygmalion Local Focus: Interview with Elsinore

I sat down with Ryan Groff of Elsinore to talk about his Pygmalion set, his new album Push/Pull, and how the indie-band avoided implosion after their bassist and drummer walked off days before they were supposed to record it. How did Elsinore get started?The original lineup started in 2004, we met at Eastern Illinois. We did 2 full length albums and 4 EPs. Last year we were just finishing up the songs to our new album, Push/Pull. Our old bass and drum players weren't putting the effort into it, and they told Mark (the keyboardist) and I that they wanted out.Did that surprise you?Oh, it floored us. Things hadn't been going in the right direction, but we were so far in the process that I couldn't believe it. The songs were written and rehearsed, and our producer was going to fly from Portland the next day. It was ultimately for the best though -- we were like a pack of dysfunctional brothers. The divorce was amicable, it was just the realization that we were breaking up that hit me pretty hard.How did it affect the album?The transition was actually pretty smooth: I had a drummer and bass player already in my brain (James Treichler of The Dirty Feathers and Brad Threlkeld of Why I Like Robins). We talked to Beau, our producer, and he was barely phased by it. He'd seen it before and just wanted us to get back on track. James and Brad both came in really excited and ready to learn the songs. We ended up with a much better record than we would have with the old band.How would you characterize the new band?Well the problem used to be a lack of effort, now everyone gives the time, and we all have an identical vision about what we want. What we want to do, how we want things to sound live and how we want them to sound on the record. We didn't have to compromise things for the worst. It makes hanging out easier, talking, driving, performing -- all of it. The new record, Push/Pull is exactly what I wanted it to be. We also got really lucky with our producer, Beau (Sorenson).Why do you say that?Beau is extremely professional and proficient in what he does. He worked with Death Cab for Cutie on their last 3 albums, Bob Mould, Superchunk too -- he had a very organized studio perspective, from the recording phase to the final touches. He pushed us to make the best of the situation, and we were able to be in full creative mode. We took the time and pulled off everything we wanted to. We've had it done since late March, and there are no major regrets about the record: I still love it. Every part of every song feels like it's going the way it's supposed to go. I've never felt that before, no recording process has been as cut and dry. We did 14 hour days for 2 weeks and we came out with something very personal.Was that not true of your other work?I love Yes Yes Yes, and I'm proud of it, but there were parts that weren't characteristic as a whole, a little too focused somewhere it shouldn't be.How did you hook up with Beau?It was one of my proudest moments. He was working with a band in Chicago, the bass player is a friend of mine from music school. He was recording with Beau, and gave him a copy of Yes Yes Yes, 6 months later he texted me and said that Beau was done touring with Death Cab, had listened to our album and wanted to get in touch with me. It took him 6 months to hear it because he was that busy. He didn't know where we were creatively, but he wanted to make our next record.Was it the right time for you guys?It was the perfect situation for him to call. We were finding our creative stride in Push/Pull, the best momentum we had had at the time, but I definitely got worried that things were starting to crumble within the band. In the end that didn't matter that much. Thankfully it didn't freak out Beau, and the process only got pushed a couple of days.So how would you characterize Push/Pull?I write a lot about what the body does when it's in certain situations -- the heart, the head, how we react to an influx of adrenaline, good things, bad things, how we work through it. It's very visceral. On top of that I tried to tell some really good stories in each of the songs. I wanted to be lyrically concise; I didn't want to say anything I would groan about later. I didn't want a lower class line or chorus because I couldn't come up with anything else -- I took my time. I've always battled with lyrics in my songwriting -- if its not great you need to keep going -- which is hard when you have something that sounds good enough already.What's the Pygmalion set like?The set is totally brand new, except for one song. One song is from Yes Yes Yes. There are going to be a lot of people who haven't heard any of our songs, but we want to do a little bit of our old record for the fans.So it's mostly new songs?Yeah, the album is coming out soon, so we're pushing the new material over the old. We used to do a cover of Misty Mountain Hops by Led Zeppelin, but it draws attention away from our own music.I bet it was a pretty sick cover.Oh, it was.It sounds like the last year has been pretty tumultuous.(laughs) To say the least. We're on the other side of the tunnel though and I couldn't be happier with how the band is moving forward, especially considering that Mark and I have families now.How has that changed things?God, only for the better. My son has been really inspiring -- he's made me really happy, he's everything I could have hoped for. I didn't know it could be this good. Sometimes I play my music for him and I can see the look of recognition on his face.He can tell it's you?Oh yeah, he gets this big smile, and I can see him really enjoying it. He's pretty musical actually (laughs). Even at age 1 he's already starting to pick up on it all. It's definitely a new stage in my music and personal life, but my wife is ultra-supportive.A loving, supportive family for a musician? That's hardly the standard.I'm really very lucky.