Elliot Minor (formerly The Academy) are a classically influenced pop rock band from York, England. The group consists of Alex Davies (Vocals/Guitars), Ed Minton (Vocals/Guitars), Dan Hetherton (Drums), Ed Hetherton (Bass), and Ali Paul (Keyboards). [1] [2] [3]

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History and formation

Elliot Minor started as a duo, Alex Davies and Ed Minton, who met at Uppingham School in 2000. Minton introduced Davies to the world of rock music; Davies had previously been studying to become a concert violinist. ^[4] They started writing music and recording together, and performed acoustic covers at the school. In 2005, after leaving Uppingham, both Davies and Minton took a gap year from their studies to concentrate on writing and recording their own songs. Later that year Davies ran into childhood friend Dan Hetherton at the Minster School in York, where they were both picking up younger brothers, and invited him to a band practice. Hetherton joined as the band's drummer. They also recruited Dan Hetherton's brother Ed to play bass. Davies kept in contact with another childhood friend, Ali Paul, a keyboardist, and from time to time sent Paul piano parts to their songs. Paul had been watching the band's progress on MySpace and was half-learning the songs while showing up to a few gigs to play keyboard for them. Paul officially joined the band shortly after. They named themselves 'The Academy', although later on changed their name to Elliot Minor for legal reasons due to there being many other bands and institutions called The Academy. Davies built a simple recording studio at his home, called Mavehole Studios, ^[5] in which they started to record more songs.

Albums

Debut Album

In 2006 Elliot Minor won a competition hosted by McFly through MySpace, and had the opportunity to support them in Newcastle upon Tyne to an audience of over 13,000. ^[6] They signed to Repossession Records, an indie label run by their manager, Gary Ashley, although later signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records. The band recorded their début single, "Parallel Worlds", in 2006 in Los Angeles with Jim Wirt, producer for Hoobastank, Incubus, Something Corporate, Jack's Mannequin, and others. The single was released in April 2007 and reached #31 on the UK Top 40. Subsequent singles, "Jessica", "The White One Is Evil" and "Still Figuring Out" all reached the Top 30. "Parallel Worlds" was reissued, and followed by "Time After Time".

Their eponymous debut album was released in April 2008 and reached #6 on the UK Albums Chart. The same year Elliot Minor played at several large music festivals, including Download Festival, T in the Park, Oxegen Festival and Reading and Leeds Festival. They made an appearance on Jo Whiley's BBC Radio 1 programme, recording a cover version of the Take That song "Rule the World", which was later released on the compilation album Radio 1's Live Lounge – Volume 3 . Their song "Running Away" was featured on the BBC coverage of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. They have also covered songs such as "Propane Nightmares" by Pendulum and "Do You Know" by Enrique Iglesias.

'Solaris'

In August 2008 the band recorded new songs, including "Discover (Why the Love Hurts)", in Wales with Jim Wirt. In March 2009 they began recording a second album, again with Jim Wirt, in Lincolnshire. In June 2009 the band announced that they have left their partnership with Warner Bros. Records and will return to releasing singles with indie label Repossession Records.

In April and May 2009 Elliot Minor headlined MySpace's School Invasions Tour in conjunction with the music video and free download of "Discover (Why the Love Hurts)" ^[7].

"Solaris" was announced to be the first single from the band's sophomore album; however, due to technical problems with the format of the single, it was not released on iTunes as planned on August 10th, 2009. With the imminent release of "Electric High" the band decided to go with "Electric High" as the first single instead. "Solaris" will be included as part of the "Electric High" digital bundle, due to be released October 5th, 2009. The album is scheduled to be released on October 19th, 2009 in conjunction with the 22-date 'Solaris Tour,' starting on November 4th with Wrexham Central Station and ending on December 6th at Dublin Academy ^[8]. A European tour is currently being planned for 2010.

Touring

In the past Elliot Minor have toured with McFly, Simple Plan and Fall Out Boy, and have had support from bands such as Furthest Drive Home, Anberlin, The Hot Melts, The Electric City, The Higher, Freak Bazar, The Days, Third Conduct, Enjoy Destroy, Shibby (Eleven Eleven), Kids in Glass Houses, Fox Avenue, The Mission District, and Saving Aimee.

Musical background and style

The members of Elliot Minor are all classically trained music students ^[9] and between them play the violin, piano, clarinet, cello, double bass, saxophone, guitar and drums. Davies, Paul, Dan and Ed Hetherton were choristers at the Minster School in York and Minton was a member of the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, becoming head chorister in 1999. ^[10]

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. ^[11] Many of their songs are characterized by "stunning vocal harmonies that betray the band's origins in the chamber choir." Their recorded songs are rich in complex string and choral arrangements, all written by Davies, which are difficult to replicate live without a proper orchestra; ^[12] thus, their live shows are a stripped-down version of their songs, with a more rock edge than classical, although they have been known in the past to include Davies' violin solo during "Jessica" and Ed Hetherton's cello parts during "The Liar Is You." They frequently perform a rock version of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor."

The band is known for strong fan interaction and often post updates and video blogs to their MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube accounts.

Influences

Elliot Minor cite among their influences Green Day, Something Corporate, The Used, Muse, Queen, The Beach Boys, John Williams, James Horner, Tom Newman, Hans Zimmer and Simon & Garfunkel.

Discography

Singles

Date	Single	Album	UK	UK Indie
April 9, 2007	"Parallel Worlds"	Elliot Minor	31	1
August 6, 2007	"Jessica"		19	1
October 29, 2007	"The White One Is Evil"		27	N/A
January 28, 2008	"Still Figuring Out"		17	N/A
April 7, 2008	"Parallel Worlds" (re-release)		22	N/A
June 23, 2008	"Time After Time"		47	N/A
N/A	"Discover (Why the Love Hurts)"	Solaris	N/A	N/A
N/A	"Solaris"		N/A	N/A
October 5, 2009	"Electric High"		N/A	N/A

Albums

Date	Album	UK	UK Indie
April 14, 2008	Elliot Minor	6	N/A
October 19, 2009	Solaris	N/A	N/A

Band members

• Alex Davies - lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, violin, orchestral arrangements
• Ed Minton - vocals, guitar, violin
• Dan Hetherton - drums, backing vocals
• Ed Hetherton - bass, cello
• Ali Paul - keyboards, synthesizer

References

1. Rock Blog: INTERVIEW: Elliot Minor
2. channel4 - Elliot Minor Interview
3. :: Welcome to UKUndercurrent ::
4. Fame Magazine Elliot Minor
5. Geek Stink Breath blog Elliot Minor
6. Leeds Music Scene: INTERVIEW: Elliot Minor
7. Phoenix FM interview with Elliot Minor
8. Official Elliot Minor Blog
9. South West: INTERVIEW: Elliot Minor
10. The Press: INTERVIEW: Elliot Minor
11. The Jitty: INTERVIEW: Elliot Minor
12. Gigging Northern Ireland: INTERVIEW: Elliot Minor