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Tag Archive for: Elephant Tree

Orange Spotlight: Elephant Tree

Who are Elephant Tree?

[Sam] We are Elephant Tree, currently consisting of Jack Townley, Peter Holland, Sam Hart and John Slattery. The band initially was just Jack and Sam when working as runners at a London post-production studio in 2014. We met Pete out at the pub one night and invited him for a jam. Amazingly, he showed up! John came along later to the same studio and initially was more tasked with taking photos and video on tours and in the studio. In 2018, he joined and came on tour around the EU. We used to be all London-based but in the last few years Jack has moved to Kent and Sam has moved up north to Yorkshire. The name came from looking for random names online and just wanting something as a placeholder to label audio files. Sam Googled “messed up books” and found some random list that mentioned The Elephant Tree. We dropped the ‘The’ and then the name just stuck. The book is pretty good actually so that’s a bonus.

What Orange gear is important to Elephant Tree?

John has a Rockerverb 50 MK2

Pete has a Terror Bass, and also an Orange Crush Pro 120 which he uses sometimes in his other band Trippy Wicked and the Cosmic Children of the Knight.

Jack has a Rockerverb 50 MK3

Future Orange amps?

[Johnnie Two Thumbs] I like the attenuation features of the Rockerverb Mk3 which might be of use when home playing, but I am also really happy with my Mk2 50 watt

[Pete] I would like to get my hands on some of the Orange effects pedals to give them a go. The Acoustic Pre or the Phaser would probably be the ones I would be most interested in. Or the Bass Butler bass preamp pedal.

[Jack] It’s probably quite a boring answer but I’ve been meaning to get my hands on an Orange 412 to match the head I have – I’ve been borrowing Pete’s 412 for several years now so it’s probably long overdue. I have seen that you offer a version that is a bit lighter than the regular one which is always of interest!

What does Orange mean to you?

[Jack] When I was growing up I received a combo amp from my parents, and it was the best. It was really exciting to play loud and sounded good! I’m not sure what happened to that amp but I’ll always remember the excitement I had back then as I turned it on. We started Elephant Tree ten years ago after seeing a show at the Underworld in Camden that was full of Orange amps, they sounded (and looked) amazing! I was pretty blown away. We started playing shows and I didn’t have my own amp. I used venue amps or people lent me amps, some of which were Orange. Fast forward some years later and I was put in hospital by an unfortunately placed lamppost. After a while I returned to playing. I was then lucky enough to get an Orange amp of my own. When I switched it on I got that same excitement that I had all those years ago. Orange to me is very much freedom and sound.

What’s the most memorable Elephant Tree moment?

[Sam] There are almost too many moments to choose from, whether it’s memorable performances like opening up DesertFest in The Roundhouse or playing that one time to a lone dog in a cafe in northern France (the dog proceeded to fall asleep) just as we were starting out. Then there’s the people and hijinx you get up to on tours, seeing the world, drinking questionable concoctions, eating even more questionable ‘food’. The thing that sticks out the most though is the first practice back after Jack’s accident. All of us getting back into the room together and having that harsh reset, not knowing how things were going to go and then absolutely smashing it again as if we’d never paused. It really brings it back down to earth and made us realise why we are in the band in the first place and that’s to hang out and make loud cool music together as brothers.

What’s on the horizon for Elephant Tree?

We have a 10 year anniversary album of B-sides and rarities called “Handful of Ten” out in September celebrating the anniversary of the band through Magnetic Eye Records, as well as featuring on their Jethro Tull covers record. There’s also a split record “The Long Forever” with the excellent Lowrider which will be coming out through Post Wax. There’s a few shows we have booked at the end of 2024 with a little stint around the UK over a few weekends in September, before heading to do a double bill at The Black Heart in Camden as a little pre-Christmas treat. 2025 is slowly starting to be filled with some further afield dates but you’ll have to wait a little longer and keep your eyes and ears open for those.

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Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters

Sunday, the grand finale! As I arrived in Camden, I met up with the guys from Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters as my hair braiding services had been requested before their show at The Black Heart later in the evening. We sat camp at The Blues Kitchen, they cracked open their flight case of make up, and we got going. Three grown in tie dye men having their hair done while applying layers of corpse paint, at 2pm on a Sunday afternoon. A sight for sore eyes, to say the least.

Elephant Tree

As I finished my duties in the beauty department, I ventured over to the Underworld for Elephant Tree. This was the third time I’ve seen them, and they continue to blow me away. They sounded absolutely immense, and the Underworld was the perfect fit for them – their heavy sound bouncing off the walls in the underground bunker. As they finisher their set, we headed back out into the daylight, and across camden for Saint Vitus at the Roundhouse. Sadly, Saint Vitus were a bit of a let down after Elephant Tree, so again, fucking well done Elephant Tree!

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs

Saint Vitus finished, and it was back to the Underworld, which has pretty much been my home away from home over the weekend, for Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs. The New Castle band with the band name that puts your tongue in a twist. And again, yet another band that killed it at the Underworld! They’re great on record but that still doesn’t do them justice at all as they’re absolutely mind-blowing live.

As Pigs x 7 ended, it was getting late and time for me to face my inner demons – would I go see Sleep at the Roundhouse, or Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters at the Black Heart, followed by Samsara Blues Experiment at Underworld? I went with Chubby and Samsara, and god damn I’m glad I did! Chubby was a big ol’ sweaty mess of riffs, tie dye, corpse paint, cowbells and bubbles, and just one big party – and Samsara? Well, they were sensational.

Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters

Samsara Blues Experiment

So – if I were to summarize this weekend, I’ll have to say it’s the most fun I’ve had in a very long time. The line up was absolutely sensational, and I’m currently suffering from severe post Desertfest blues. Roll up Desertfest London 2018 – it’s only a year away, but who’s counting?