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Courtesy of ellenthefelon.net
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Several weeks back, Ellen the Felon offered up a debut CD, Bang Bang Bang, complete with a well-attended release show at South City’s premier skating rink doubling as a music venue, The Skatium. Though the album’s now available via SoundCloud streaming, digital download, or via hard copy at local record shops, you’re well-advised to secure an actual CD copy from songwriter Ellen Cook. She’ll take the time to sign your disc, as well as to note what songs contain bits of FCC-violating speech, you know, in case you want to play some of it on the radio.
Finding her isn’t too terribly hard, as she’s on the scene a fair bit, oftentimes catching friends in other local acts. In fact, we caught up with her at Hammerstone's this past weekend, where she literally sat at the table in front of the stage, the best place to catch a show. Out back, though, the expansive Hammerstone's patio was the best place to talk, and that’s where Cook filled us in on some of the album’s particulars.
For example, that the 13-song, 55-minute album was recorded at Firebrand Studio with Brian Schaeffer; it’s a place Cook and drummer Matthew “The Mattronome” Reyland were familiar with through friends’ experiences there, as well as the fact that “I just really like their work.” And while a baker’s dozen cuts made the album, “that was narrowing it down quite a bit. We probably have three times that amount of songs. And it’s growing.”
On the group’s in-town show schedule: “Right now, we’re playing pretty much once a month. We used to play out all the time. I’d personally like to play every other night. But you can’t do that as an original band in St. Louis.”
On preferred venues: “I really like playing Mangia, because you get to play ‘til 2:30 and there’s going to be a bunch of people there. Off Broadway is a great room. I love the Way Out Club; we had our first-ever show there. The Livery is great. Foam has really great acoustics, I think. The Heavy Anchor, Lemmons… I just like playing all the rooms. And I really like playing house parties, too.”
On an ideal number of future videos: “We want to make a million videos.”
On early feedback towards the album: “Even people that I thought hated my music said that they really like it. And that I’d never sounded better.”
On achieving a full sound with just two instrumentalists: “I would love to start another band with a guitar players, horn players, just a huge band. But that’s something I haven’t gotten around to yet. As far as playing with Matt, it’s great, because he can just pick up and go. And we communicate so well. I love when that fullness is achieved, like when Abbie (Hainz Steiling) plays violin with us. We’d love to have her around more often. She counters everyone perfectly. And we’ve played with trumpet players and sax players. But I don’t know that every song necessarily needs that.”
If unfamiliar with Ellen the Felon’s sound, you can apply these words from the group’s website: “Ellen the Felon and the Mattronome are a 2-piece, punk jazz, cabaret powerhouse that have been playing in and around the St. Louis area for about 4 years now. Their music is an amalgam of jazz piano confessionals, cabaret dramatics equally seductive and snarky balladry.”
Or you can make up your own description, after listening to the album, available via this SoundCloud page. Or, even better, by catching Ellen the Felon live at the Heavy Anchor on Saturday, December 14 with Shark Dad and Cat Purse. More info on that show here.
