Up and coming Idie-Folk duo Percival Elliott comes from England and they are sure to make sure they catch your ears with their latest single Forever.
In case you didn’t know Percival Elliot is made up of two guys; Olly Hite and Samuel Carter-Brazier. I was lucky enough to be able to catch them and talk to them about their latest single Forever and their debut album Save Your Soul.
When did you form the duo and why?
Olly: I was working in a laboratory. I have a fascination with chemistry and biology, it’s only a little setup but one can create the most extraordinary creations. I ordered some ethylene as I had an idea of making a one-off piano completely out of Vinyl. This fella turned up to deliver said product and he just loved what I was up too. He was on his lunch break, so he hang out with me and we made polyvinyl Chloride together. The piano looked amazing, well… for a few months. I put it in the summer room, where I keep my canaries, what a fool. It warped! Damn sun. But Sam and I met which was the important thing. The rest is his story. We are currently working on tin trumpets made from bake bean tins, Sam keeps forgetting to empty the beans… It’s a rather messy affair!
Sam: One day I was in the park writing my memoirs, when to my astonishment the great-grandson of Mr. Percival Elliott appeared. “I do say sir, Good day” I called in my finest English accent, “Are you not the great Grandson of the late great inventor Percy Elliott”
Olly replied, “Why yes kind sir I am”.
I offered him one half of my Jam Sandwich and a refreshing glass of ginger ale and the rest is history.
What makes your music different from anything else on the charts?
Olly: Well our music is unscripted, we don’t follow a trend or a scene, we just write how we feel. Our influences are extremely varied. We are both influenced by a lot of old-school sounds and production techniques. Sam is a wizard in the studio and uses his wands as drum sticks! Creative soul.
Sam: Music can be extremely personal, we try to put a lot of our characters into our songs. It’s been an emotional process but one we hope the listener can cherish.
What is it like when you hear your music playing on the radio?
Olly: It’s like letting my canaries fly around my world war 2 bunker. It is a feeling of complete musical freedom.
Sam: It’s incredible, the radio is so much clearer than those old wax cylinders that we tracked our demos on.
With the release of your newest single Forever can you tell our readers what the song is about?
Olly: It’s that magical spark when you meet someone for the first time. The world slows down, your heart beat speeds up and you feel more alive than ever. Butterflies and locked eyes and that feeling (even if it’s just for a second) can last forever.
Sam: It’s the smallest flame that can spark the great fire of London, a feeling that changes things to come. A moment that rewrites the history books, the eternal warmth of love.
The music video for this single was just released what is the theme of the video and why did you want the music video to be that way?
Olly: We shot the video in Arundel, Sussex at a place called Swanbourne Lake. It’s a stunning location with a beautiful historic Castle. We wrote to the Duke of Norfolk in great detail about our plans and asked the man if he’d be so kind to let us shoot the video on the lake. He agreed to our joy and also supplied us with a team of talented swans. Rumour has it that I rocked up at the location straight from a night of sex, drugs and rock n roll….I really wouldn’t believe a word of it if I were you.
Sam: The song has a gentle swing to her, like a boat on a still lake. We wanted the viewer to gently rock back and forth with the 6/8 groove.
I’m sure you have other music either completed or in the works. What can you tell our readers about the new music and when can we expect to hear it?
Olly: We have a finished debut album called Save Your Soul that we will be out putting out later this year. We used so many different musicians with traditional and new pioneering recording techniques, with a shed load of pianos, guitars, old synthesisers, and time. I think that the most important ingredient was time, we took all the time in the world to make the best record we could ever make.
Sam: Although the album is complete and ready for release we’ve already started on the next releases. 3 singles in fact. Olly and I are always in the workshop crafting away.
Will you be doing any live shows to help promote the music?
Olly: We are playing Icebreaker Festival in a couple of weeks. It’s a real celebration of raw talent around old Portsmouth. We will be seeing lots of pirates … Loads of eccentric old pirates. Also word on the street is that there will be a few shows with the one and only Chesney Hawkes…
If so, where and when can our readers see the shows?
Olly: Please come join our social media sites, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. We will then keep you looped in with all things Percival.
Who would you like to work with in the future?
Olly: Russell Brand, Owen Jones, and musically Elton John would be my dream collaborator.
Sam: Sylvia Massy, she is a huge influence on me as a recording engineer. The crazy things she gets up to the studio blow my mind.
If you are able to I highly recommend seeing Percival Elliott at the Icebreaker Festival. This duo will be known very shortly. Also, take a look at the music video they talk about filming called Forever. You won’t be disappointed.
