elliston

[elliston]

Elliston: A Digital Archive

Read the preface to learn what this is and why it exists. If you don’t care, which is likely the case, continue on until you just can’t take it anymore. Scroll for the whole story or use the numbered links to view specific media.

Elliston was a band from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin made up of four teenage friends that existed from 2004 to 2006. During its brief two years, the band achieved relative success locally by performing at and producing their own all-ages shows in and around their hometown at coffee shops, clubs, and art galleries.

In June 2005, Elliston released its first album, When Caught in a Panic, ventured out on a scattershot tour around Wisconsin and Minnesota, came home, and immediately started work on a new album, which brought on a complete shift in musical styles and eventually a name change.

Upon graduating from high school, and with the goal of keeping the band intact and pursuing music full-time, all four members moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota and lived together while attending college. Laughing Bell, as the band was called now, spent the summer and fall of 2006 recording its second album, One Morning In The Year 1983. The band broke up shortly after completing the album, and it was never released.

What follows are the photos, videos, sounds and words that tell the story of Elliston and those two fast and formative years of four kids from small-town America with big dreams.

from left: Eric (guitar/vocals), Zach (drums), Nick (bass), Kyle (keys)

[elliston]

Summer 2004: Basements Made of Music

“Elliston is our new band with Eric. We’ve been talking about doing something for a while, ever since hearing him perform at school last year. He and Zach have also gotten to know each other well working at Papa Murphy’s together. He has a lot of songs already written, so we’ve been recording for a week. I spent five hours on the piano tracks the other day. Nick recorded some bass parts too, but nothing solid yet. Zach’s been recording his drum parts on and off since it’s his house. I’d call it a ‘makeshift hi-fi studio.’ We do what we can with the little knowledge we have, which must be more than most people, because it does sound excellent for a basement and not being mixed!

Someday Sooner has a show in Rice Lake on the 27th and the 28th in Burnsville, MN at a popular all-ages venue called The Garage. It shall be the grand finale to our whole summer! Eric said he’d come and that we can use his van, which is great! We’re going to stay at Zach’s aunt and uncle’s house in Minneapolis after The Garage show so that we don’t have to drive back home super late. It’s been a while since we’ve been able to play shows, so I’m excited but also very nervous. I hope we play well. We need to get one more practice in beforehand.

I got a job at the movie theater finally! My first shift is this Sunday form 6 to close. Then I work Tues, Wed and Thurs. I hope it doesn’t interfere with practicing. I’m obsessed, I know, but it’s all I want, all I see, all I care about, and all I know. Besides school and work, I’ve been putting all of my time and effort into music. This new band is especially exciting, because Eric’s songs are great and mostly acoustic, so we’re hoping to play at coffee shops, like the new one going in downtown. Someday is too loud to play at coffee shops. I guess we could play acoustic, but it’d be very different. Peter wouldn’t be able to use his double-kick, haha!”

August 18, 2004: Kyle journal entry

[elliston]

August 2004: scanned film photos

Elliston recording in Zach’s parents’ basement. These early recordings have been lost to history.

[elliston]

kylefrenette . Hide Us From The Truth (Eric Demo)

Date Unknown: 4-track audio cassette recording 

A 4-track demo of a song called "Hide Us From The Truth" by Eric that became an early Elliston song. Recorded before the formation of the band.

[elliston]

“The Someday Sooner mini-tour was a success! We played well at both shows but had some technical difficulties at The Garage. The goth kids didn’t seem to care; they were just there to watch Aqua Teen on the big screen, I think. More people came to the Rice Lake show. We somehow locked the keys in the van at that show. Peter was able to squeeze his hand into the side window and jam it open enough for Eric to get it unlocked. I’m not sure what we would have done, especially for food since the big bag of delicious lemon poppy seed muffins Eric brought were in there, haha! Zach’s aunt and uncle, Tim and Julie were cool. It was so nice of them to let us stay the night at their house and cool to see what it’s like to live in a big city. I hope I can live in a house in a big city like that someday.

Elliston recording is going good. We’ve tracked three full songs and stated a fourth yesterday. Eric’s going to help us record Someday demos too so that we have something to give out at shows and put up online before we record for real, hopefully with Tyler (of Silvering). Might be harder now that I don’t work at Connell’s. I just need to call him. My goal is for each band to have EPs out by spring.

School starts tomorrow. I hope I have time for everything. Junior year is already looking up!”

August 31, 2004: Kyle journal entry

[elliston]

August 29, 2004: scanned film photo

Someday Sooner with Eric outside of Zach’s aunt and uncle’s house in Minneapolis. That’s Peter in the middle; he played drums in Someday Sooner.

[elliston]

“I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that we recorded two Someday Sooner demos this weekend and they turned out great! Now we just need to mix them. Once they're mixed, we can put music up on our PureVolume and give CDs out at shows. Maybe charge $2 or something. The bad news is Zach’s parents are selling their house to build a new house and so we can no longer practice in the basement. I’m not sure what we’re going to do. It’s also sad, because I love that basement. We’ve made so much good music down there. I asked if we could move into my room, and Dad’s still thinking about it... He’ll come around, he has to. We have big plans!”

September 6, 2004: Kyle journal entry

[elliston]

kylefrenette · Someday Sooner (2004 Demos)

September 2004: multitrack digital audio recordings 

Someday Sooner demos, recorded in Zach’s basement and mixed in Kyle’s. These two tracks were posted to the band’s PureVolume and MySpace profiles, and burned CD copies were given out at shows. The sample in “Silent Sessions” was recorded and added later.

[elliston]

Emo

Someday Sooner live at The Quest, December 2004

Definition of emo  \ ˈē-(ˌ)mō \ 

noun

: a style of rock music resembling punk but having more complex arrangements and lyrics that deal with more emotional subjects.

adjective

: denoting or relating to emo and its associated subculture.

If the band name didn’t make it clear, then perhaps the hair gave it away. Someday Sooner was an emo band, and so was Elliston, at least at first. A basic understanding of this vast music subgenera is key to appreciating this story. To explain...

As the story goes, emo came out of the hardcore punk movement in Washington, D.C. in the mid-1980s when a few bands decided to write more personal and introspective lyrics to their songs. These bands adamantly denounced the label, which would remain a recurring trend throughout its subsequent iterations.

Emo dimmed for a while and then emerged again in the mid-90s with less distortion and more melody when it merge with indie rock. It then migrated across the U.S. with its largest concentration in the Midwest. By the early 2000s, emo was entering its third wave, about to explode into the mainstream and become its own subculture with the help of early social media and music streaming websites like MySpace and PureVolume. Suddenly it was possible for musicians and fans alike to discover and connect with each other like never before. This proliferation of bands and wider access to an audience gave more purpose to starting a band and made the idea of having success at it more tangible, especially for four teenagers from a small town in northwestern Wisconsin.

At this point, the subgenera had become its own genera and permeated the mainstream so much that any music that featured even a hint of emotion in its lyrics was either seriously or jokingly dubbed “emo.” To be more specific though, emo’s influence touched pop punk, hardcore, indie, and folk the most during this period. And it’s during this period when the story of Elliston takes place.

Someday Sooner was an evolution of Kyle and Zach’s earlier acoustic collaboration into a full four-piece rock band with screams, taking influence from the harder emo bands of the time, 41like Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, and Coheed and Cambria. Elliston first formed around Eric’s songwriting, which was more influenced by punk, indie and folk, bands like Green Day, Death Cab for Cutie, and Bright Eyes. The Bright Eyes comparisons were undeniable and would show up plenty during the band’s first year. Much like the distaste for the emo label by most bands, Elliston did not welcome these comparison, which may have contributed to its eventual turn away from the genera all together.

The formation of Elliston can be traced back to Eric attending Someday Sooner’s second show, “Because that’s where I learned there were other emo kids in Chippewa,” he recalled recently. A few months later, the band would form one night in Zach’s basement, playing along to a few of Eric’s songs on their other bands’ equipment.

[elliston]

“I worked most of the weekend. Working at the theater is much better than washing dishes, and I don’t come home smelling like fried fish. It’s nice that Nick works there too.

I got a hold of Tyler yesterday to talk about recording for Someday Sooner; it all looks as if it will go through, which is awesome! Sometime this winter we are next in line. 

Lately, I’ve been spending my nights mixing the demos we recorded and working on the Elliston album. Recording by yourself is a long process, but I am learning a lot. If we can record with Tyler for Someday and keep doing the Elliston stuff on our own, we’ll definitely have music out by spring or summer, and then maybe both bands can tour together.

I really like recording and mixing; I might look into going to school for it. We’ll see... Speaking of which, school is fine. I like my teachers and classes alright. 

Oh, I almost forgot! I’ve been able to work on stuff so much because Dad came around to letting us move into my room while Zach’s parents build their new house. He bought himself wireless headphones for the TV because of how loud we are, haha! It’s been great to have all of the gear at my disposal. Now that we don’t have to work around Zach’s dad’s work schedule, each band can hopefully practice twice a week.”

September 19, 2004: Kyle journal entry

[elliston]

Fall 2004: Futile Art

"Me, Zach, Eric, Nick, Peter, Katie and Cherie all went to see The Faint last night at First Ave. It was a great show! A new Saddle Creek band called Beep Beep opened who were good but also weird. Eric bought their shirt. We left after school in Eric’s van and got home super late. The fall colors were beautiful on the way over. When we were driving through downtown, Cherie said something like, ‘It’s crazy to think that I’ll be living and going to school here next year.’ That stuck with me. Chippewa feels so small sometimes. 

I think Cherie might like me, which is nice, but I don’t have time for a girlfriend right now. I can’t be distracted. I joked to Katie the other day that I don’t plan on dating until I’m 24 so that I can accomplish all that I want to with music. She rolled her eyes. It might be a good idea though...”

October 6, 2004: Kyle journal entry

[elliston]

“This last week has been stressful since coming home from the Disney cruise. I made Dad mad toward the end of the trip because I was so stressed about coming home to a pile of homework, which I did. I was able to do some of it on the trip but not much. I’m mostly caught up now. Chemistry and algebra have been the worst.

Anyway, I’m happy to be home and back to practicing, which we need to for our shows coming up. Someday Sooner is playing two shows this weekend, at this place up north on Saturday with The Avenue and at the student center at UWEC for Halloween on Sunday. I will not be dressing up.

Duncan is spearheading a ‘Rock for Food’ concert at Chi-Hi, like they have at Memorial every year. It’s set for Nov. 19th and both bands will be playing. It will be Elliston’s first show. We also booked another show. Before leaving for the cruise, Eric and I stopped in at 4:30 AM Coffee downtown and asked if we could play. They’ve never had live music, but we told ‘em that we could bring the PA and everything and would just play for tips. They said yes, and so we’re set to play there on Dec. 3rd! We plan to promote it at school a bunch. Hopefully people come. Someday Sooner will hopefully be playing at The Quest in the Cities the weekend after that; we just need to sell 12 more tickets to get a spot.

In other news, Nick bought a sampler, so we’re going to play around with it after school tomorrow. It’ll be great for intros and transitions during sets.”

October 25, 2004: Kyle journal entry

[elliston]

kylefrenette · Elliston Practice (2004)

November 2004: audio cassette recording 

Two separate cassette recordings of Elliston hanging out between rehearsals at Kyle’s house. The first minute was sampled in Someday Sooner’s “Silent Sessions (2004 Demo)” and used live countless times by both bands played through Nick’s sampler. The second half (4:09) is a recording of the band attempting to add the first minute to the sampler.

[elliston]

November 5, 2004: DV camcorder audio/video, digitally edited 

Chippewa Falls High School’s weekly student-made television program, Chi-Hi Happenings spotlighting Elliston two weeks before the band would play its very first show at the school.

[elliston]

“It’s been a bit. Things have been busy! Both bands practiced yesterday; we have a lot to work out for Rock for Food on the 19th. I closed tonight and took the popcorn again for our after school parking lot hangs, which have been so fun! We all gather and eat it out of the trunk of my car and feed the seagulls and just hang out before work or practice or whatever. I finished the lyrics to a new song for Elliston during my shift. I’m calling it ‘Excite, Erase.’ It’ll be the only song we play that I wrote, which I like - mixes things up but not too much. I’m still in aw at how fast Eric writes songs.

Elliston was featured on Chi-Hi Happenings on Friday; it turned out okay. I wish the guys would have taken it a bit more seriously though. I had class when they decided to film the interview. Oh well... Hopefully it will encourage people to come and see us.

Zach got a job at the new coffee shop downtown, Higher Grounds, and he asked if we could play there. They said yes but need to get past their grand opening next week first before we set a date. It’s a Christian place, but I don’t think that’ll matter, we just can’t swear. It’s cool that new businesses like this are opening in Chippewa!

Someday booked another show at UWEC the day after the 4:30 AM show. So that’ll be a great weekend of playing music! We have just five more tickets to sell for The Quest show before next week. Zach and I are driving to the Cities next Tuesday after school to turn in the money and get our spot. Both our parents said they’d just buy the remaining tickets if we can’t sell ‘em, which is awesome, so fingers-crossed we get a good spot!”

November 7, 2004: Kyle journal entry 

[elliston]

November 15, 2004: digital photo

One of the band’s first promotional photos, taken by Eric’s girlfriend at the time, Kelsey, outside of his aunt and uncle’s house.

[elliston]

“This past weekend was really fun! We practiced after school on Friday and then all went over to Eric’s aunt and uncle’s house to make spaghetti squash pasta with his aunt Sandy, who is an excellent cook. It was delicious, and I had never seen how pasta is made from scratch before!

On Saturday night, we all went and saw The Village at Micon, except for Nick who was working and took our tickets. I typically do not like scary movies, but I enjoyed this one. M. Night Shyamalan’s movies are more heady than scary I feel like. I did not see the twist at the end coming at all!

We took promo photos tonight at Eric’s house. Kelsey took them. Now we’ll have photos to put up online and use for posters. We need to get posters made for the 4:30 AM show. I need to get our website up too. So much is happening! It feels like we’re really onto something with this band.

Rock for Food is on Friday! Wish us luck!”

November 15, 2004: Kyle journal entry