Catching a Lift with The Elovaters: Exclusive Interview
Getting the opportunity to interview a band is an exhilarating experience, no matter who it is. The opportunity to hear how bands go about their business is something I don’t take lightly. I’m often thinking of a thousand questions, only to whittle them down to a handful that I think will be entertaining to read about but also insightful enough to offer substance while giving the reader an inside look at the musicians they love.
This was definitely the case when I had the opportunity to sit down with one of my favorite bands, The Elovaters. I’d like to thank Nick and Jackson for the opportunity to discuss their groundbreaking adventures of 2022 and what’s in store for The Elovaters for 2023. If you don’t know who The Elovaters are, it’s about time you learn.
The Elovaters have been making waves in the music scene since the release of their first album The Cornerstone in 2017. With soulful lyrics and upbeat melodies. With three full length albums under their belt, all loaded with incredible music, it’s impossible not to fall in love with the band and their music. They also provide a live performance that energizes the soul and fills the heart with all types of feelings. With that said, let’s dive into the interview.
From the outside looking in, there wasn’t a moment where The Elovaters seemed to sit still in 2022. Jackson Wetherbee, singer and rhythm guitarist, explained the momentous year through the eyes of the band, “We worked our butt’s off and had the best experiences of our lives that we've ever had, just the whole year seemed jammed packed,” he said. Yet, the memories over the course of would live with the band forever, “So many firsts,” Wetherbee stated, “Getting to play Closer to the Sun was definitely a goal of ours. Especially Nick and I's, when we were first starting the band and we heard about Closer to the Sun and then Red Rocks… That's every musician's dream. Then we recorded [our new album] right outside of El Paso, right on the Mexican border.”
Nick Asta, drummer of The Elovaters added by saying, “And after an insane year of touring nationally and internationally—which is all a blur to me by the way— the cherry on top is we come home to Boston and play a sold out show at the House of Blues on New Years Eve, which is also a dream come true for us.”
When asked what it was like to play at Red Rocks for the first time, Asta confessed, “For me, the half hour before we hit the stage and the half hour we're on stage is all just a blur. I'm so in the zone, I can't even look out at the crowd and realize where I am, I'm just so focused on playing the best that I can play and it's hard to take it all in but right when we got off stage, [laughs] I'm a super emotional dude, I cry at sappy movies all the time but I started bawling my eyes out. I had to go run and hide in the green room and all this emotion just poured out of me and I'm like ‘Did that really just happen?! That was so cool! I've been dreaming of doing that forever!’ Then it all hit me. After we played.”
Whereas Wetherbee stated, “For me, if I started getting stressed or trying to figure out what the next song is, or anything to do with our set, it was one of those moments where I could look up and just realize where we were and just have a moment of ‘Holy shit, we're playing Red Rocks right now!’ and just enjoy it. You're trying to play the best you can play but you also need to remember to have some fun too.” Witnessing their first set at Red Rocks was nothing short of magical, their short, albeit, powerful sent shockwaves through the 190 million year old Aztec Sandstone and pulverized the crowd into a perpetual grin, myself included. I can safely say that us fans eagerly await the day when The Elovaters make their triumphant return to Red Rocks.
From playing Red Rocks and Mexico to playing a hometown show to close out the year was a dream come true for Wetherbee with his ultimate gratitude for the fans that came out to each show and performance. When describing the atmosphere of New Years Eve, Wetherbee states, “I was just blown away by how loud everyone was singing. Selling out House of Blues has been more than a dream to me, I can't even tell you how many shows I've seen there. So to be there doing that is crazy and then being able to put together a whole show, the best show we could put together. With the bubbles, the lights, the ball drop, the confetti, and the costume changes.”
The Elovaters plan to take their craft to a whole new level in 2023. Asta explains, “As a band, we're trying to just expand artistically in the studio and on stage. We want to keep being better versions of ourselves, musician wise, song wise, performance wise, and as people. We just want to keep getting better and better and we really put a lot of effort into that. Jackson has been writing songs and putting so much more effort into them. I think it's the best batch of songs Jackson's ever written, and that really just says a lot to what we're trying to do as a core group. Just keep expanding and keep getting better. I know that sounds a little cliché but it's really true. We never really want to reach the top of the hill and start rolling back down, we always want to keep climbing and whatever it takes to do that, is what we're going to do.”
With a new album slated to come out sometime in the summer of 2023, the pair expressed what to expect from the new album. “It's a beautiful amalgamation of some electronic style stuff mixed with a lot of live band sounding stuff. So nothing is going to sound electronic by any means but we think it's a really fresh sound. We really worked on better hooks, better written songs, better feeling songs. You learn a little bit of something every year as you keep playing and every time you go into a studio, you leave there and you've learned a new trick or learned some new skill and new perspectives,” said Wetherbee before concluding, “When you play live with a lot of your heroes, you kind of get a feel for what they're doing, how the crowd reacts to some songs and how can you write songs that will get a bigger, better reaction.”
Asta added by saying, “I think on this record we're all way better musicians, we're all way better songwriters, we're all way better producers. We've learned so much album to album, that I feel this album is definitely our best album yet. It's the catchiest, it's the most well thought out, it's the best written, it has our best musicianship yet, so I'm super excited for it. We learned all of that along the way by making mistakes or watching better musicians or heroes and just figuring it all out.” Asta also explains that the band gets a bit heavy in the new album, comparing the sound of the album to the likes of Sticky Fingers or Kings of Leon, all while remaining true to The Elovaters sound. Asta explains, “I think people will be surprised about how heavy we actually get. We get a little rock-ish on this one and then there's the classic Elovaters sounds, where we incorporate the laid back reggae feel as well. So this album has a lot of ups and downs that reach a lot of people with its musicality”
Wetherbee also attributed credit to Nick Bailey, for helping write some of the songs on the impending album. He explained that it was a blessing to work with him, getting a chance to peek into his mindset and how he approaches songwriting, and how excited he is to translate that into The Elovaters sound.
When asked how Wetherbee approaches a song, he alluded to The Beatles and how the Liverpoolians would write songs about morning eggs but he also explains that sometimes he just sings vowells before nailing down the exact words. “A lot of the times when I'm writing songs, I'll just be muttering vowels, and sometimes the way certain vowels sounded when I was singing the gibberish just sounded cool, so you'll try and figure out what are some lyrics that can match those vowels and that same syncopation to make it fit.”
There is something truly special about seeing a talented musician playing a beautiful instrument. Sometimes it feels as though an instrument can come to life when in the hands of the musician. Providing something that’s both mesmerizing and inspiring. Whether it's the rich, warm bouncy tones of a bass or the bright or the popping hits of a drum set. The beauty of Wetherbee’s guitar has caught my attention each time I have seen The Elovaters play, with its striking teal waves, accented with a beautiful wooden inlay.
Wetherbee explains the story behind the instrument, “That was actually made by my friend Craig Welsch he actually plays in a band called 10 Foot Ganja Plant and he used to record John Brown's Body albums and he records all the 10 Foot albums, and a lot of other great albums but he makes guitars on the side and so he made that guitar for me and then Stick Figure's little brother, he saw the guitar and I was wondering if he could put some cool epoxy art on it, and he was like "Sure," and I gave him the guitar and a week later I got it back and there was all the cool waves crashing all over it, so it was a bit of a collaboration on that one.”
If you have seen The Elovaters, you understand the potency that these guys put out, each performance is a true feast for the senses. The Elovaters transport the soul out of the body and into a symphonic haven. If you haven’t seen The Elovaters, now is the time, the band is slated to come through Florida in March, with five stops in the beautiful Sunshine State.
Interviewing The Elovaters was an unforgettable experience. Their dedication to their craft is unmatched. They are a band that truly embodies the spirit of great music, and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for them.
Interview by Brendan McGinley
Photo’s by Brian “Porkchop” Nicholson