Elcassette

What's the meaning behind the band's name?

We are called elcassette because we love cassettes and earlier sound technology.  In this increasingly digital age, music seems more virtual than actual.  Holding a cassette or record can be an opportunity to physically connect with the music, whether you possess a piece of memorabilia from an amazing show or trade tapes with friends.  Mixtapes were painstakingly and time-consumingly created with love, in comparison with a mix-cd, which can be thrown together in minutes.  Because of this, tapes signify a more personal connection with music.  We want our audience to feel a more personal connection with our music, too.  :)

The elcassette is a kind of cassette that was created in the '70s.  It was much larger than a typical cassette, and it featured a much higher sound quality than the typical cassette.  It was never made popular, perhaps due to the fact that people would have to purchase a special cassette player for such a device.  But as our mp3 players get smaller and smaller, we use the name elcassette to interrogate the possibility of larger devices being valued, as well.

How the band started??
We met through a mutual friend at a birthday party about a year ago.  Maria had been playing her own songs with a drummer who moved to Berlin, and so she was wanting to play music with Elke for some time before the two actually met, as she heard that Elke was an amazing drummer.  And she is.  :)

What's the message to transmit with your music??

We don't play music to transmit a message, but rather, to put out something unique and creative while simultaneously connecting with the audience.  But a couple of messages could be taken from our music-- such as a d.i.y. ethos (do-it-yourself), as our c.d. covers are handmade, sewn together with velcro; and the importance of valuing each moment one gets to live on this earth, as a few of our songs are about the impermanence of life and the necessity of living one's life for today, as we don't know if there will be a tomorrow.  Such a perspective could seem a little doom-and-gloom-ish, but only if one ignores that to live in the moment is to liberate oneself from stuff that doesn't really matter, such as anything in the past that can't be changed, and any thoughts of future that diminish one's enjoyment of the present.

What's your method at the time of writting a song??
What we have done thus is the following- Maria writes the lyrics, throws down some guitar chords, and then brings the song to band practice, where Elke gives her feedback and lays down a beat.  Lately, Maria has been writing songs while walking her dog, but she also is inspired by listening to hip hop while writing her lyrics.

Which is your music influences??

Maria's musical influences include a variety of indie rock and riot grrrl bands, primarily from the Pacific Northwest, U.S.A., including Team Dresch, Bikini Kill, Des Ark, the Need, Sebadoh, the New Bad Things, and a lot of experimental lo-fi college radio bands.

Elke's musical influences include Falco, Michael Jackson, Tori Amos, Nirvana, Dire Straits, and a lot of other 80's bands.  She is especially influenced by Stewart Copeland, the drummer from the Police.

What plans do you guys have for the future??

We plan to record our second album in January, and then we will tour throughout Europe and the U.S.  We hope to inspire the masses to random acts of dancing and expressions of joy, both at our shows and in their living rooms, as they listen to our albums.

Which has been the funniest prank you guys have been or took part while on tour or after a show??
We don't really have a prank story yet, but the funniest thing that ever happened to us was when we travelled to Marburg, Germany, to play a show.  We missed our train, so we ended up getting there really late, just in time to play.  We were met at the train station by a guy who brought us to the building where we would play.  The building was kind of creepy, a former hospital, now a punk residence.  We winded our way through the maze of halls in the building, going up stairs, down stairs, around corners for what seemed like forever, until we came to a door in the basement.  The guy opened up the door, we crawled under a curtain, and suddenly we found ourselves on stage.  It was totally surreal.  We started playing almost immediately, and it was the most awesome show ever.  Everyone was totally into it, and despite not having a sound check beforehand, everything sounded pretty good.  We were lucky!

If you guys were stranded in the middle of nowhere after a show or while on tour. The help is 65 miles away from where you guys are, ¿Who would you guys send to look for help? And if while the rest wait, there's no food and the only way to feed yourself is by eating each other, ¿Who would you eat first?

If we were stranded somewhere, we would probably send Elke, because she is better at getting things done than Maria is.  She's all business.  Maria would stay behind and forge for wild berries.  Or maybe we would have to switch the roles, because Elke grew up on a farm, where she forged for berries to make her own berry-liquors.  So I guess we'd have Maria get help, while Elke found the berries.  I don't think we would eat each other, because we like each other too much.  We would probably have to eat any edible parts of our band equipment, like leather guitar straps, before we considered cannibalism.  

Which country you guys would love to play?
We are really excited to play in the U.S., because Maria is from the States, and we love the music that comes out of the States.  But it would also be amazing to play somewhere like Japan.

With which bands you guys would love to share stage??
That's a tough one, because so many awesome bands we love are either broken up or dead, so perhaps we could go back in time and share a stage with some bands.  We would go back in time and play a show with Nirvana, Guns 'n' Roses, or the Beatles.  But if we had to pick bands that are still around, Elke would play a show with the Foo Fighters or Blood Red Shoes.  Maria would play a show with the Pixies, Quasi, or Prince.  We would love it if Jimmy Page would play guitar with us at a show.  That would be amazing. 

Mit welcher Band wir gerne auftreten würden:
Ja, Nirvana wäre ziemlich cool, oder Guns'N'Roses in früherer Besetzung Ende der 80er oder eine Show mit den Beatles als Zeitreise in die 60er. Sowas wäre ein Traum. Aber wenn es darum geht, mit welcher aktuellen Band in der Realität wir gerne auftreten würden, würde ich mir die Foo Fighters wünschen, weil ich glaube, dass sie ziemlich coole Typen sind und ich würde ein Schlagzeugsolo mitDave Grohl und Taylor Hawkins machen oder die Blood Red Shoes, weil sie auch eine 2piece-Band sind und ich sie zur Zeit sehr gerne höre oder dass Jimmy Page uns an der Gitarre begleitet, weil er für mich der größte Gitarrist ist, den es gibt und ziemlich viel Ausstrahlung hat meiner Meinung nach... Ach, es gibt soviele....

Are you guys OK, with the direction the band is going actually?

Yes.  We are a little torn between writing rock and roll songs and electro songs, as we love the rock and roll, but the audiences seem to respond better to the electro stuff, so that's a small point of contention, but we are committed to continuing to play both rock and roll and electro, so that we can make everyone happy.  :)

Check out more: www.myspace.com/elcassettemusic