A Ripple Conversation With Elmar From ELOAĦ!

Name of your band: ELOAĦ

What have been your musical epiphany moments?

Hello, I am Elmar, the singer and main songwriter of ELOAĦ. Regarding musical epiphany moments, I must say that I feel truly blessed. Every time a new song "appears," it feels like a musical epiphany to me. Since I write more than 90% of our songs, you can imagine how often these epiphanies happen - more than ten times per album. This is something I can only be grateful for since I have no control over it.

Talk to us about the song-writing process for you. What comes first, the idea? A riff? The lyrics? How does it all fall into place?

As mentioned above, it is more like an epiphany. What always comes first, though, is an emotion that wants to be expressed. Not all emotions that I feel "require" that kind of expression, but I have the idea that emotions due to or stemming from something significant in my life tend to end up in songs. When that happens, everything unfolds simultaneously: I pick up my guitar, pen, and paper, and start writing lyrics while playing licks or riffs. There are special moments when this process is possible - if I miss it, it is gone, and will never come again. If I just play and sing without writing down lyrics (not chords or sheet music, as that is not necessary), the song might disappear, as I may forget it. Once I have written down lyrics, the song stays, and then I practice it until it no longer changes. Practicing in this special case is bliss, as during that exercise, I can still feel the song being born, which is an awesome, beautiful experience. After this process, I usually record a pilot track and then discuss with my fellow musicians how to develop and arrange it for the whole band. In the end, the arrangement might only contain a few parts (or none) of the original guitar/vocal arrangement, but it is almost always the starting point.

Who has influenced you the most?

To be honest, I don't know, and I can only talk about myself here - all other members certainly have different influences. Perhaps it makes sense to list the favorite bands of each of us here so that you can get a feel for the different styles and influences behind us. Here are some of our favorites: Savatage, Walela, Clannad, Winger, Frank Zappa, Etienne Mbappe, Deacon Blue, and TAFKAP (the artist formerly known as Prince).

Where do you look for continuing inspiration? New ideas, new motivation?

As I mentioned above, it is mostly intuitive and just "happens." Apart from that, we also like to derive ideas from improvisation (the three Mondstein albums are completely based on that), and for some tracks, our guitarist Orion Roos provided licks and riffs that I then arranged into songs. But also, that process only works if the time is right, if you know what I mean.

We're all a product of our environment. Tell us about the band's hometown and how that reflects in the music?

The band was originally founded in Graz, Austria, but from the original lineup, only Dominik, our saxophone and violin player, and I remain. Dominik now lives in Vienna, and the other musicians that make up ELOAĦ are from Groningen (Orion Roos), Tolbert (Peter Douwenga), Donkerbroek (Johan van der Meer) - and, interestingly, Graz again (Lila Herderberg). So, in essence, I don't think that we specifically reflect the flair of a single city with our music; and if we do, I would not know how to identify it.

Where'd the band name come from?

In 1995, while recording my first demo with friends Bernd and Dominik, we needed a name. Bernd suggested "Project Elmar," but I wanted a collaborative name. I proposed "eloah," inspired by the Old Testament's "Elohim," signifying "the ones coming from above." It resonated with how songs felt like they came to me. "eloah" was chosen as a temporary name, and during our first album's recording, we added a distinctive touch-replacing the 'h' with the reduced Planck constant symbol, "ħ," a choice made while studying physics (which is part of my day job, by the way). Surprisingly, my initial, preliminary choice became the permanent solution, adding an unmistakably Austrian twist to the story.

You have one chance, what movie are you going to write the soundtrack for?

That is a very difficult question to answer, especially because of the way we write music. What I would do in this case is not so much writing new music for a special topic (or movie) but choosing from our repertoire songs that fit a certain story. I have often imagined the title track of our last album, "Proud to Love You," being the soundtrack of a movie bearing the same name - but then again, somebody would have to write that movie.

You now write for a music publication (The Ripple Effect?). You're going to write a 1,000 word essay on one song. Which would it be and why?

The song I have written about the most is, by far, the song "Caterpillar" from our latest album "Proud to Love You," because the song has many different levels and a beautiful backstory. That being said, I guess I would rather choose another song now for The Ripple Effect. Which one? It would have to be one from the album we are currently working on, from "The Book of Pain." And I would probably choose "A Spark of Darkness," which will be the opening track on that album. The title is the title of an unfinished novel written by my late friend Michael, who died about a year ago from cancer. His last wish was that he would be able to finish his novel - and he died before he could do that. I have all the chapters he was able to write, but until now I could not look at it; even writing about it is painful for me. And I knew that I would not be able to finish the book for him - I am not a writer, and it is not up to me. But what I could do - and needed to do - is to write a song with that title about the whole tragedy, about the "spark of darkness" which killed him in the end - to honor his memory.

Come on, share with us a couple of your great, Spinal Tap, rock and roll moments?

I am so sorry; I would not know. It has been many years since I played live with the whole band, and my last few (piano solo) gigs did not yield any great, Spinal Tap, rock and roll moments. Perhaps there is one -depending on what you mean by your question -perhaps not Spinal Tap, but certainly rock and roll. In the early days of the band back in Austria, we were asked to play at a student festival. It was kind of spontaneous, close to where we rehearsed, so we thought, why not? We were practicing our set anyway for another gig, and we thought that this could be a nice "live rehearsal" for the "real" gig. That being said, this gig was one of the most memorable ones I ever played - perhaps because we all took it so lightly, we were all relaxed - I don't know. I do remember that the crowd was cheering at us when we entered the stage (although certainly nobody knew us), many were singing along with the choruses (after they had heard it once), and when I started a ballad, I saw dozens of little flames (yes, we used lighters back in those days instead of cell phone LEDs) waving slowly with the melody. The whole experience gave me an extreme rush of energy, of excitement, of awe. Wow, yes, this was energy, this was living, this was true excitement! Although we played other (bigger) gigs later, I never recaptured that feeling - and to me, this feeling was pure rock and roll.

Tell us about playing live and the live experience for you and for your fans?

We have not played live in the current formation; and the most exciting live experience I remember I just used to answer your previous question, so please, take a look above to enjoy it.

What makes a great song?

I don't know. It is certainly a matter of taste, of virtuosity, of sound, and for releasing the right track at the right time (if you measure greatness by popularity). For me, songs are great if they move me emotionally, regardless of the emotion (I do prefer the positive, energetic ones - but hey, crying because a song moves you to tears can be beautiful, too!).

Tell us about the first song you ever wrote?

I don't remember exactly which song that was. I do remember starting to compose (writing sheet music by hand, that is) when I was eight or nine years old, for the piano. I remember one was entitled "Sadness with Fire," so I guess even before I knew the metal and rock world (my education was purely classical), I was already leaning toward that direction.

What piece of your music are particularly proud of?

Our latest album, "Proud To Love You," I have listened to all songs a thousand times (literally), and I am still happy when my random playlist plays one of them while I drive.

Who today, writes great songs? Who just kicks your ass? Why?

Well, I guess that question can again be best answered - for the whole band - by listing our favourite bands: Savatage, Walela, Clannad, Winger, Frank Zappa, Etienne Mbappe, Deacon Blue, and TAFKAP (the artist formerly known as Prince).

Vinyl, CD, or digital? What's your format of choice?

CD - simply because it was the preferred medium when I grew up, and my dream as a teenager was "to record my own CD." Naturally, these days, all our releases are available digitally as well; and I have been toying with the idea of having a vinyl record pressed for some time now, just because vinyl sounds different, and I like the large cover images - but my format of choice remains CD.

Whiskey or beer? And defend your choice

Oh my, I like both - actually, I am a Whisky (the "e" is omitted by choice, since we are talking Scotch here, right?) collector - together with a couple of friends we used to have Whisky tasting evenings once a year with notes and everything. But as a drink, when I am thirsty, I prefer beer. I like beer. Beer is a good drink to have with your dinner in the evening. Even some of the alcohol-free ones (which I choose sometimes, e.g., when I drive) have become reasonably tasty. So as a taste experience, my choice is whisky. But as a drink, my choice is beer.

We, at the Ripple Effect, are constantly looking for new music. What's your home town, and when we get there, what's the best record store to lose ourselves in?

My hometown, for the past 15 years, has been the city of Leeuwarden, the capital of Friesland. And yes, we have a fantastic record store here: BigBadWolf Records ( https://www.bigbadwolfrecords.nl/). It is a beautiful, old-style record shop with a friendly, knowledgeable owner who has great taste in music - if you ever visit Leeuwarden, please pay him a visit!

What's next for the band?

We are currently working on guitar recordings for our upcoming album "The Book of Pain," and in parallel, I am busy preparing two other albums for drum recordings - one will mainly contain hymns and gospel songs, the other will be a collection of science-related and just weird music (one song will be about mowing the lawn...). So, we are always busy with new music. Stay tuned!

Any final comments or thoughts you'd like to share with our readers, the waveriders?

Thank you for taking your time to read this interview, it is highly appreciated! If we have managed to pique your interest, please visit us at http://eloah.at or https://facebook.com/eloahmusicsite !