WHO: Ellen and the Escapades (Ellen Smith, Chris Quick, Jeff Schneider, James Warrender, Andy Calder)
WHAT: The group, which resides in West Yorkshire, is known for their heart-felt and beautifully haunting music and lyrics.  Free of bravado and letting the music speak for itself, the band has attracted a strong following and a lot of well earned praise.
STAND OUT: Songs such as "Without You" (a single released in '09) and the near smoky quality of the vocals in every track help bring this band into a higher caliber and we're eagerly awaiting the new material.

Photo by James Rhodes

Ellen: Yeah, it should be out late May- we’re doing an EP.

RAPT: What can people expect to hear or find with this one?

Ellen: I think it’s a more mature record this time around, better song writing, more instrumentation. It’s us growing in to our skin a little bit I guess.

James: [It's] a great four track ep building on our musical knowledge and ideas that have changed slightly since our last single.

RAPT: Any obstacles or particularly rewarding moments during the studio process for this newest EP?

Ellen: There have been a few moments! We basically lived in the studio and were kind of nocturnal for a while. For me, it’s always the finishing touches to the recordings, when I hear everything coming together and finding its own place within [the] song that’s the most rewarding part- the final pieces of the puzzle.

James: We were using a very old analogue desk which essentially operated differently every time it was used, so that made for an entertaining and slightly annoying recording process. It was a great feeling when we finally found a superior fish and chip shop as well as a supermarket to the ones we had been using before.

RAPT: Your music is often described, even by yourselves, as throw-back folk among other things - a fan threw out a reference once that Ellen has a very Fleetwood Mac essence. What would you say has or have been the biggest influence(s) on your music?

Ellen: Well a lot of us grew up listening to music from the 60s and 70s, so there are influences from the likes of Dylan, The Beatles, Neil Young etc. But for me, I think when I heard the voices of Carole King and Stevie Nicks, it kind of made me realize that it was ok for me give it a go- it gave me the confidence in a way.

James: I think we all manage to take inspiration from different artists and pour it into the mixing pot when creating parts for songs. Influence comes from all genres of music due to our different musical backgrounds, I think we are all agreed that Fleetwood Mac are a great band to look up to and can provide you with a lot of ideas in regards to creating atmosphere and arranging instruments in a track so that they are all serving the purpose of the music.

RAPT: How do you like to collaborate on music?  How would you describe the process of working together?

James: It’s normally a relaxed yet excitable environment. We gradually work all of our instruments into the arrangement until we have something we can begin to really mold into a finished Ellen and the Escapades track.

Ellen: Usually I’ll put down the bare bones of the song- some chords, a melody, some lyrics and then I’ll show it to the guys and they’ll put their own stamp on it. It’s a really endearing process for me because I get to see the songs from 4 other points of view….. Sometimes I don’t expect it, but often it just works. I guess that’s the beauty of working with them.

RAPT: Just for fun, what's a good 'day in the lives of Ellen and the Escapades' look like?

Ellen: Haha, we do like to have little outings from time to time. Going to local gigs, or having a drink somewhere…. Probably eating something we shouldn’t have too much of- Pretty regular things, but we just enjoy relaxing really.

James: I think a good example would have been when we were on tour in Switzerland. We had a couple of days off involving hiring pedal boats on Lake Geneva and going for a dip, followed by tasty ice cream and a beer. A beautiful place where its easy to enjoy doing very little.

Photo by James Rhodes

Ellen: Hopefully in the near future, we’d all love to come over….. but it’s just having the money. Once we do though, Austin will be in the diary and we’ll let you know!

James: All of us would love to get our bums over to America, particularly our guitarist who is from California. Hopefully when we have some cash in our bank accounts we will be able to make a trip across the pond and do some shows for you folks.

RAPT: How did each of you get your start in music?

James: Most of us got into music at similar times in our life through enjoying listening to it.

Ellen: It’s kind of a strange one for me, because I have no idea where my musical ability came from. Nobody in my family is musical, but I took to it from being quite young and never looked back.

RAPT: Apart from music, does anyone in the band have any odd hobbies they care to discuss?

Ellen: I am prone to a spot of trampolining now and then……….

James: As for ‘odd hobbies’ I think we need more of these in our lives- perhaps we will have a weekend where we pick some and commit, maybe taxidermy would be a good place to start.

RAPT: When did you decide that the business of creating music would be a long-term endeavor?

Ellen: Probably when people decided to take a fair bit of notice of us and seemed to like what we do. We like to have a lot of fun, but we take our music seriously and we’re really motivated because we enjoy it…… that and I’m not particularly good at an awful lot else!

James: We have all studied music so I think we all liked the idea of making it our careers. We only started taking it seriously as a business when we found a lot of people were enjoying our band.

RAPT: You came together in 2008 - what have you learned about yourselves or your sound in these past 2 years?

Ellen: We’ve probably learned a lot more about each other as people rather than musicians. We’ve realized we’re not always going to agree on everything, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s how you learn and move forward from it, and I think you come out of it stronger. It forces you to think outside of the box, and when you’re working with creative people that can be a great thing.

RAPT: What's the focus of your work as a band going to be this year?

James: We want to hit as many festivals as possible and get our music to as many people who haven’t yet heard as possible.

Ellen: I think we want to try and play some more gigs outside the comfort of our home town. We had a great time away on tour in Switzerland last year, so another tour at some point would be great. I guess we’re just hoping good things will come of the new record that’ll allow us to continue to write better music…….

Listen to Ellen and the Escapades here and get info on upcoming shows

By V. Gonzalez