Pop Hobbit

Gerling were always one of the most pure, airy and unashamedly positive forces in Australian music. Indie pop, indie rock, indie dance, indie house… they nailed it all – an eternally captivating trio of genuine space cadets in a league of their own, legendary for their versatility and youthful exuberance. Darren Cross (not the Canadian, not the rednut) ain’t calling it quits just yet! As The E.L.F., he has come to bring you joy – believe in him. With a new solo EP and label of his own, Cross is keen to prove that he’s got more than just Kylie’s digits tucked away at the bottom of his backpack. You can catch him skipping around Australia’s major cities showing off his gleaming grin and buoyant, tech-y treasures. A pleasant feeling will stay with you long after this beat goblin has left the venue, long after you hear his Stevie Nicks Hearts EP, long after you read this raw, verbatim email interview. When The E.L.F. is a mere dot bopping on the horizon, you’ll understand why we couldn’t bring ourselves to edit his words. They’re gerly gospel – it’s all part of a twenty-first century electro fantasy.

ADRIAN TRAJSTMAN asks questions of THE E.L.F.

According to my day of research, the first Gerling release, Sedatives for Dead Radars, came out in 1995 on Steve Pavlovic's Fellaheen label. Now over a decade has passed, and times have changed. Pavlovic has his hyper-successful Modular label, and I can't help but notice that you've maintained strong ties with some of the bands on its roster, such as The Presets and The Avalanches. How does The E.L.F. react to the strong aestheticism and retro-futurist movement in contemporary Australian dance music spearheaded by Modular and bands like Midnight Juggernauts?

I love it!!! Hahaha. Heaps of young people love dance music in Australia more than ever. I think it's great that some dance music with an indie edge is getting lots of people excited and dancing!

I wouldn't say I have strong ties with all of the bands you mentioned but when a band says they like what I'm doing I really get excited. It's a nice feeling to be accepted by your peers sometimes, especially if you admire their music and what they do!

Steve Pav is a very smart guy. I can learn many things from him, his career and his record company, to make my record company OAKS RECORDS totally awesome!!!!

You've just announced your own MGM-distributed label Oaks Records. Who's signed so far? What kinds of artists are you looking to release?

At the moment the E.L.F. is the only signed act, with our first release being the E.L.F.'s debut E.P Stevie Nick's Hearts. When I have time and the funds I want to put out bands and music that I totally believe in and can help in some way! (All this third person typing is making my dizzy!!!!)

Young people can record pop gems at home on multi-track software, self-release CD-Rs with photocopied sleeves, get a web presence and effectively start their own DIY record label on a minimal budget. Getting widespread distribution is another kettle of often much stinkier fish. What advice would you give to bedroom labels looking to take things one step further? How did you do it?

Just find who is appropriate for what you want to do. Look at bands who you like and who they are distributed by. If they're approachable talk to the band. Email the distribution companies. Have meetings with them, find out how it all works. Ask local record stores who give a fuck. You can find out loads of info using Google as well. LOL!

Photocopied A0 and A1 posters can be effective lo-tech advertisements for independent bands and solo acts. What was the last thing you pasted up on a wall?

I sent a bunch of A3 E.L.F. photocopied posters up to Brisbane for my show at Rics bar in two weeks on Friday. I'm more into posting songs and pictures and gig info on the internet and blogs. A lot more effective I would say!!

Stevie Nicks Hearts has an almost kraut-y drive to it, with the bass firmly rooted in the one place. What's your favourite past and present German music? Which classic record would you recommend cranking?

I love Berlin as a city and check out anything by Kraftwerk or NEU! Everybody advises me to listen to Can as well…but I havent fully tripped out about them yet to be honest. All my krautrock-head friends say they rule...but from what I have heard they are amazing!!

You could definitely bliss out to the type of disco you're making. The tones and drones are divine. Do you meditate?

No I don't meditate but I do believe your brain instinctively remembers sounds and frequencies for as long as you live, and when you hear something similar you feel it (again) and you become excited. Or feel discomfort or bliss/sadness etc etc. Like smell - not that the E.L.F. smells!!!!! Hahahaha. And I guess I have experimented a lot with blissing out - so hopefully that's part of what I do and the message and sound that I send out!!!

Dr Richard Alpert (who later became Baba Ram Dass) used psychedelic substances such as LSD to explore the gardens of his mind, tune in to cosmic consciousness and experience OM. Four-to-the-floor dance music celebrates a constant rhythmic pulse that has hypnotic potential and could promote altered states. Is there a place for LSD on the E.L.F's dance floor?

Sure come along and have fun. I don't discriminate. As long as things stay positive and its a heap of fun!!!! Drinking red bull makes me trip out these days. I'm a sensitive little ELF. It sure is fun tripping out to a good sound system at maximum volume though, to music and sounds and frequencies you love!!! ITS LIKE WOW.

Do you get nostalgic about 'acid house' as a genre, tweaking the cutoff on a TB-303 (old school synth), raving till dawn and all that? What are your oldest and most beautiful techno memories?

Probably hearing Daft Punk for the first time. Darren from The Avalanches told me about them. I had never heard of them before. Changed everything. Early Underworld as well...freaking sweet. Although Daft Punk isn't really acid house - it does have some of the same elements. The TB-303 tweaking in Massive Attack's song 'Protection' still is some of my fave blissed out TB-303 moments. 'Theme from S'Express' (by S'Express) is amazing as well. I was a kid when I first fell in love with that sound!!

For you, what is the most precious moment on Pavement's fragmented epic Wowee Zowee?

'We Dance' - the first song on Wowee Zowee is amazing to me. I'm more into Westing (By Musket And Sextant). That is my favourite Pavement period. Right at the beginning. INSPIRING.

Dancing can be sexual, passionate, positive and empowering - it can be far more than simply 'letting off steam'. Pagans use dance during ritual work and spell-craft to raise energy and centre the mind. When The E.L.F. raises energy during live performance, is it focused and released with metaphysical purpose and intent or grounded and sent back to the Earth?

Um...its more about losing yourself/escapism/leaving your troubles behind for a few hours. For the E.L.F. its a bit more about having some fun. Not really too serious! I guess it is more of 'blowing off some steam or having a party" than some Chakra alignment or tantric sex!!

The K.L.F. (or 'Kopyright Liberation Front') are widely acclaimed as renegade pranksters who recognized music as political and sought to subvert the industry through their hype and hokum. Copyright now seems nearly entirely liberated in this age of torrents and P2P, where people have unrestricted access to fuckloads of records for free (including your copyrighted Stevie Nicks Hearts EP). Times have changed since Sedatives for Dead Radars came out in 1995. How have you and your attitudes to music changed?

Well there was no internet when Gerling first started so it's totally changed and different now in 2008. I love technology and torrents and stuff. I love being able to buy things from people all over the world on the net. I love downloading but I also love buying music as well. Sometimes its easier to download - sometimes its easier to buy. Like the last thing I bought two days ago was the Sigur Ros DVD Heima. Couldn't be fucked downloading it. It works on so many levels. But downloading Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up' to do a comedy mash-up as a joke for my girlfriend...I didn't give a flying fuck about that!!!

Cut Copy are touring in Barcelona at the moment and after they finished their set on the weekend, the Spanish DJ dropped the E.L.F. track 'Cockroaches' and they all spun right out and got heaps psyched. Hell its exciting that someone downloaded my song and played it in Spain instantaneously. That to me is rewarding! But yeah, don't be shy in buying my new EP. If you support indies, and rip-off majors Robin Hood stylee, i dont mind!!! Here's a link to download my song 'Cockroaches'

If you like it you can buy my EP from JB-HI for $10!!! It's up 2 u!

www.myspace.com/theelff www.myspace.com/oaksrecords

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