Biography
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Years Active
2005 – present (19 years)
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Founded In
York, England, United Kingdom
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Members
- Alex Davies
- Ed Minton
Band Members:
Alex Davies - vocals, lead guitar, keyboards, violin, strings/choral/orchestral arrangements
Ed Minton - vocals, rhythm guitar, violin
Dan Hetherton - drums, backing vocals
Ed Hetherton - bass guitar, cello
Former Band Members:
Ali Paul - keyboards
Elliot Minor are a classically influenced rock band from York, England. The group originally started off as an acoustic duo between Alex Davies and Ed Minton. The two met at Uppingham School and in 2005 , they took a gap year to focus on their music. It was during this time that Alex bumped into childhood friend Dan Hetherton and invited him to a band practice. Dan later joined as the band's drummer and his brother, Ed Hetherton, was recruited shortly after to play bass. Alex then brought in another childhood friend, Ali Paul, to join as their keyboardist. They named themselves The Academy (later changed due to legal reasons) and got to work recording songs in a recording studio called Mavehole Studios that Alex built in his home.
Collectively, the members of Elliot Minor play a wide variety of musical instruments including violin, piano, clarinet, cello, double bass, saxophone, guitar and drums. Among their influences they cite Jack's Mannequin, Green Day, Something Corporate, The Used, Muse, Queen, Anberlin, The Beach Boys, John Williams, James Horner, Tom Newman, Hans Zimmer and Simon & Garfunkel.
Their music is described as "symphonic rock" or "pop/rock with a lot of classical harmonies" and is known for being rich in minor and dissonant chords. Many of their songs are characterized by stunning vocal harmonies. Their recorded songs are rich in complex string and choral arrangements, all of which are written by Alex Davies. Unfortunately, these prove difficult to replicate live without a proper orchestra; Thus, their live shows are a stripped-down version of their songs with a more rock edge than classical. However, they have been known in the past to include Alex Davies' violin solo during "Jessica," Ed Hetherton's cello parts during "The Liar Is You" and even a rock version of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor."
To date, Elliot Minor have released three studio albums. The first, Elliot Minor (2008), was supported by the singles, "Parallel Worlds," "Jessica," "The White One Is Evil" and "Still Figuring Out" – all of which reached the top 30 in the UK charts, with the exception of "Parallel Worlds" which peaked at #31. These were followed by a re-issue of "Parallel Worlds" and the single release of "Time After Time" in early 2009.
In writing their follow up album, Solaris (2009), Alex Davies drew from the experiences and changes in his life over the years since Elliot Minor had been formed. They have described this second album as a proper album with a beginning, middle and end, as opposed to their first album which they feel was a collection of singles. With help of the singles - "Electric High," "Discover (Why The Love Hurts)" and a special version of "Solaris" which was featured in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics BBC coverage - the album reached #9 in the UK Indie chart.
The band then released a stripped down version of their second album in the form of Solaris Acoustic (2010). It was released in a CD/DVD format exclusive to their online store and accompanied by an acoustic tour in late 2010 with only Alex Davies and Ed Minton performing.
Elliot Minor are known for strong fan interaction and often post updates and video blogs to their MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube accounts. You can find a list of official links and additional information regarding the band on www.elliotminor.com.
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