Elle Belle — born Christopher Pappas — is a Los Angelino who straddles the line between fantastic and uncomfortable with his latest single, “Knock on the Light.” It’s as smooth as a Marvin Gaye standard, yet with BØRNS keyboardist Misty Boyce on guest vocals, has just enough grit to put you on edge. Coupled with the video starring So You Think You Can Dance season 2 winner Benji Schwimmer self-flagellating in a mask, dancing his heart out, and you have an unforgettable track from Elle Belle’s debut Wako Gumbo, due out on November 11.
It’s a highlight of alienation from an album that Pappas says deals with a disconnectedness from everything, navigating Los Angeles and life at large.The multi-instrumentalist wrote and recorded almost everything in his 23-song debut, a genre-bending set that’s part psych-pop, garage rock, and prog. Pappas talks about the band Genesis’ influence on this album, how Los Angeles was an intrinsic part of his debut, and where the terms Elle Belle and Wako Gumbo came from.
Hometown: I was born and raised in Auburn, NH, a small town in southern part of the state.
Homebase: I live in Los Angeles.
Why call yourself Elle Belle?
When I first started this project I needed to adopt a character to get what I wanted out of the music. For whatever reason I felt creatively drained while being “myself.” Elle was someone else. He had swagger. Using that voice, I was able to to tap into something I felt really connected to. I started to enjoy writing music again. Then something just clicked and Elle and I became one in the same.
Is there a particular meaning behind your album name, Wako Gumbo?
"Wako Gumbo" was a phrase I saw spray painted on the side of the 110 in downtown Los Angeles. Something about the whole scene caught my eye, and I felt like it aptly described this double record. It is a crazy mix of a lot of different styles and elements. While recording I was very occupied with following inspiration and ideas all the way through, and that gave rise a lot of strange elements. There’s possibly a fair criticism to be made that it’s a bit too schizophrenic, I won’t discount that. However, it was really my intent to not worry or try to predict how it will be received and instead focus on pushing an idea as far as it could go.
How did you get So You Think You Can Dance season 2 winner Benji Schwimmer to perform in the video for “Knock on the Light”?
He was a friend of the director Casey Curry, who had directed my last two music videos. Casey sent him the tune and Benji ended up really connecting with it, so he agreed to do it.
Describe your music to people who haven't heard it before.
Drugs.
Did you always want to be a musician?
My father is a musician, and I remember sitting in his guitar case as his band practiced. I’ve always been writing songs as long as I can remember, even before I knew how to play an instrument. I always knew I wanted to be a musician, but one time in particular, when I was in 7th grade, my father let me play a few songs between his set at the local tavern. The crowd loved it, and I remember feeling really great about playing live (as it was my first time). The next day, I was out with my mom running errands when a man came up to us and said he recognized me from the night before. He told me he thought I was great and that I had made a new fan (my first). That left an impression on me and I remember feeling like “Ok. I found what I’m going to do with my life.”
Who are your musical heroes?
I find I’m most inspired by artists that seem to be able to give a sense of the moment through their songs. I can hear a slight crack in the voice, or a guitar is slightly out of tune in a part, whatever it may be — I want to feel as is they chose to capture a moment of inspiration, and held that sound to be the gold standard over trying to be as “accurate” as possible. Favorites that have been with me a while are groups like Guided by Voices, Daniel Johnston and Sonic Youth. Don’t get me wrong — I love the idea of “composing.” I’m not suggesting that the groups i mentioned didn’t struggle over the “craft” of a song. I’m speaking more to how the capture it on record, and in consideration of the writing of it, that they understand that being in the moment takes precedent over making the moment perfect.
What's your songwriting process?
I tend to get a phrase or a melody in my head. Less frequently I’ll be messing around on an instrument. It happens sometimes (for instance I wrote that opening guitar progression first on "Last Day"), but more often it starts with a melody. After that I try and find the feel/groove of the tune. Then I’m able to figure out the rest, and that’s usually always a bit different each time.
How did you end up in Los Angeles?
While living in Boston I became friends with Pierre de Reeder, a musician/engineer. He ended up signing me to his label and I decided that I should make the move. There were some other factors, as I had been playing with the idea of moving there for sometime, but that one seems to be the one I can point to as the push over the edge.
What’s on your bucket list for the rest of 2016?
The release has been a long time coming. It’s been hung up by some early major label drama, but that’s all done and Pierre swooped in to the rescue and is putting it out on his label Little Record Co.
Do you have an interesting story about being on Myspace as a musician?
One time an acquaintance of mine completely freaked out because I had taken her off of my band's “Top 10.” I actually had forgotten about that until now. Wow — how mad can someone be over something so trivial? I just searched my computer and I still have the chat transcript of her freaking out.
from Myspace - Editorial http://ift.tt/2eXKPV3
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