More on: Elle Milano

Elle Milano have just released their debut album 'Acres Of Dead Space Cadets'.

The Brighton trio are currently on tour, and we caught up with singer and guitarist Adam, drummer James and bassist Chloe before their opening London date for a chat about why they produced the album themselves.

You came together at university - what were your first impressions of each other?
James: I think the first time I met Adam we were just jamming 'Lady Madonna' over the piano, and he started singing.
Adam: Me and James actually met at sixth form college.
Chloe: I don't quite know how I met you!
Adam: Chloe was one of the only girls on our course at university, studying music technology, and looked the most interesting! She also played bass, which was handy!
James: A degree in music doesn't actually help you have a career in music.
Adam: It's always a little insurance to have a degree though. We were always interested in the band side of it, rather than the technical side. The band we were in before uni came to an end, so going to university was a free ticket out of home really.

Your album was self produced and self recorded in your own studio - why did you decide to go ahead and make an album without backing?
James: We tried a few times, working in a studio, but it never seemed to work. We worked with a couple of producers, but we never really hit it off. All our earlier demos were recorded in a bedroom, so we wanted to keep that vibe, so we did it ourselves.
Adam: We don't work very well under pressure, so when we got booked into expensive studios, with money dripping away... it didn't work out. I think we sound better when we're doing it in our own way.

Was it a conscious decision not to re-record it for its release?
Adam: A bit of it was re-recorded. We're never going to sound like we've got big American production.

You're known for the huge amount of demos available - are there any songs in particular that your fans have been annoyed that didn't make it onto the album?
Adam: We did an EP a couple of years ago, 'Swearing's For Art Students', that was quite full on, with big tunes, and that's not ended up on the album. We tend to get through songs at quite a rate though!

On your blog you mention being in a depressive rut in 2007 - what specifically turned it around?
James: Around New Year, when we got given a promo copy of the album. We've also had a bit of fortune in Japan - they've been really good to us. Our album's been out there earlier. The rut would've been when a member left, and we had to sort ourselves out a lot. We feel a lot better about ourselves now!

Have you managed to visit Japan?
Adam: We've got an ultimatum - sell 5000 copies and we'll go out there!

Do you think people will be surprised to hear the album after the single Meanwhile In Hollywood?
Adam: Maybe. Apparently it sounds like a less aggressive Hard-Fi... [laughs] I was thinking the other day that if you did hear that song... it wasn't meant to be one end of the spectrum. It was the most radio friendly, with the big chorus. I don't really care too much what we release as a single.
Chloe: We're into such different things as influences.
Adam: Because the album took quite a long time to come together, there were different phases of what we were into. I had quite a big Smiths binge at one stage, and that probably had a bit of an influence.

As the album has been in the bag for some time, are you thinking about the follow-up already?
Adam: Yeah, we're playing new songs already. You've got to move on or you go insane! I think the new songs have a bit more integrity, and are heavier. We're never going to move away from having big pop hooks in our band.

You've got a very devoted fanbase - what's been the best thing a fan has done in your name?
Chloe: There was one guy who became a little bit obsessed with us, and he gave our CDs to Steve Lamacq.
James: Then the next day Steve rings us up asking us to do a session! For a while it was a joke - or not - that we really liked Girls Aloud, so we had posters on our studio walls. One of the photo shoots was in front of this wall, and one of our "more loving" fans took note of that and sent us loads of clippings from magazines!

You're on the first night of this tour - what's been the highlight of previous tours?
Adam: My favourite ones are the small ones - we haven't done a really massive one for a while.
James: Most recently the one at the Old Blue Last was really good. it's quite rare to have a good London gig, as normally people just stand there waiting to be impressed, and there's always an industry angle. We like playing Hull as well. There's a packet of enthusiasm in Hull! The last tour we did, we turned up there expecting it to be shit and there was a mosh pit, with a massive surge!

Becky Reed

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