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Elvis Monroe : rock’n’roll allstars around the fire pit

English / Interviews / November 26, 2012

Photo: Elvis Monroe

Matchbox Twenty, Lifehouse, Paperback Hero, Nelson, The Drills. That’s not the line-up of an upcoming festival. It is simply a list of the bands the guys of LA-based group Elvis Monroe play with normally. The band is bringing together the best of pop, rock and Americana in their very own songs. I had the pleasure of catching one of the band’s  performances at Walter’s Restaurant in the town of Claremont, California and chatted with the guys about their life between different bands, their debut EP “Comin’ Around” and upcoming plans.

Elvis Monroe is like an allstar team consisting of Paperback Hero singer Bryan Hopkins, Lifehouse guitarist Ben Carey, Matchbox Twenty drummer Ryan MacMillan, Daniel Spriewald from the Drills and Matt Nelson. Due to their busy rehearsing and touring schedules not all band members are available at all Elvis Monroe shows. This time Matt Nelson is the one missing but nonetheless the band puts on a great performance. After the show I find myself sitting around the fire pit with four guys who are nothing less than a bunch of great friends that just love picking on each other.

Flashback: The epic story of Elvis Monroe started at Mel’s Diner on Sunset Blvd. when Bryan Hopkins hung out with Australian singer Toby Rand who had brought his bandmates from Juke Kartel (nowadays London Cries) as well as Ben Carey tot he table. At 2 in the morning it was Ben who said the magic words, “I’ll play with you. We’ll do a show together”. Hopkins admits that the other guys at the table did not like him in the first place but later became great friends, too. And then they met Ryan MacMillan. It was love at first sight. Not! Ben explains, “It’s not that I didn’t like Ryan. I thought he was a douche. Ryan was in this little band that nobody’s heard of called Matchbox Twenty. He looked like this silver fox and he looked at us and he didn’t wanna talk to anybody and I thought it was because he was in Matchbox Twenty. As it turns out when we were sitting on a plane flying to Alaska for our first tour and I was sitting next to Ryan we were having the best time. So he went from total douche to total awesome.” Bryan jokes, “Danny, we were looking up through Craigslist or something. Men searching men.” Ben says, “Matt introduced me to this band called The Drills. I’m the most critical person when it comes to bands. So he took me to see The Drills and they became my favourite LA band. I called their music cartoon rock. If a cartoon was made into a rockband it was this band. And I loved their bass player who turned out to be Danny.”

Elvis Monroe – Comin‘ Around

Being a longtime fan of Lifehouse I can’t help but realize how much more relaxed and goofy Ben Carey is on stage with his Elvis Monroe buddies. Ben replies, “I play a different role in Lifehouse. You can look at a band like a sports team. The Lakers probably wouldn’t be so great if there were five Kobe Bryants.” Danny, “No, they’d be fucking amazing!” Ben, “Yeah, if Elvis Monroe had four me’s, we’d be amazing. Four Ryan’s it’d be a band of douches. There’s the band of brothers and the band of douches.” Ryan laughs, “And the band of douches wins.” Ben explains that he loved the role he played in Lifehouse but he needed to stretch out and not be so serious at times, too. „It’s also telling…I’m not gonna say my story cuz that’d sound selfish,“ he says, „but these songs mean a lot to me cuz they’re my songs that I wrote them with my best buddy. These songs are very personal to us. (…)  My role in Elvis is a different one than in Lifehouse, It’s a different kind of band. It has a totally different feel to it.”

Same goes for singer Bryan Hopkins. For him Paperback Hero seems to be work rather than pleasure. “When he’s with Paperback Hero he’s totally shit and when he’s with us he’s really good. The German translation: SCHEISSE!”, admits Ben showing off his German skills. Bryan explains, “I can express myself anyway I want when I’m with these guys they’ll give me an honest answer. In my other band it’s a little different. I have the right to try and make them happy sometimes. Honestly”. He points out that Elvis Monroe was the best project he has ever  been part of. Being a musical perfectionist and Bryan’s best mate Ben is the one pushing the singer to the best performance possible. “I used to go and watch Paperback Hero before I was Bryan’s best buddy and he was so far above the level that he was involved in. And as a mate I would always say to Bryan ‘I really think you deserve the opportunity to do this right.’.”. This opportunity happened to come at the right time for Bryan, Ben, Ryan, Danny and Matt as they formed their new band.

Elvis Monroe setlist, ep and Ryan’s drum sticks

Being asked about what their respective bands thought about them being in another project all the guys make it clear that Elvis Monroe has become their priority. Neither of them wants to quit their other bands at this time though. “To me this is my main project. I can always be a drummer in a band but it wouldn’t be my own band. Elvis Monroe is my band. This band I feel is going to a higher level than all the other bands I’ve played with.”, says Ryan. Whereas Ben could never choose between his bands. “I’m really really proud to be a member of Lifehouse. I worked my butt off for 8 or 9 years to be in this position where I am and I love these guys, they’re like my family, same as these guys here. But we’re asked to be happy and function in Lifehouse. And very contently, I need to do this because the role I play in Lifehouse is not this role. I need to be creative, I need to write songs. I need to play with my other buddies where I can be myself 100%.”, he explains. Bryan adds, “Cuz here he’s got a hot chick in his arm and with Lifehouse …he’s got a dude.”. Ben complains, “We never have chicks backstage.”. Well, I bet there is a number of ladies who wouldn’t mind changing that.

In September 2012 Elvis Monroe released “Comin’ Around”. Which is their favourite song off of the debut EP? For Ryan “it ties up between “Rewind” and “Black Clouds”. I like the rhythm and feel of “Black Clouds”. And “Rewind” is very laid back and chilling. I like that song.” Bryan’s favourite is the track “Leave Me”. It is a very personal song and was the last one that made the record. Danny goes with “Black Clouds”. “When I first heard it I thought it was badass. I got attached to it. And I liked the mood and the tempo.” he says. Ben goes into detail: “I honestly can’t say. It changes for me, I love “Comin’ Around” because of what it means and what it means to our fans. It’s an amazing feeling. I can’t believe that every week we get to play songs that we wrote and that people sing back to us. I see that at a Lifehouse show everyday but it’s not as personal because there are 15000 or 20000 people in whatever country we’re in and it’s equally amazing but these songs I didn’t write. I play guitar in that band. Whereas these songs I know what every single word and every single note is there for. And they all matter to me. Everyone in this band matters and the fact that they’re touching people on a daily basis is awesome. But “Comin’ Around” has an overwhelming effect on the audience wherever we play for whatever reason. It’s probably one of the simplest songs on the record. If you look closer to it you’ll find that the verse and the chorus are the same thing. It’s only because I couldn’t think of something else. It turned out pretty cool.”

Besides their original songs Elvis Monroe play a couple of classic rock tracks which the crowd also sings back to them. Ben jokes, „Did you hear the two we wrote tonight? One of them is called Living On A Prayer. I think it could be a hit and there’s another one that has a steel guitar in it. It’s called Wanted Dead Or Alive.”. Why did they choose to cover Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams? Bryan, “These were not chosen. Ben just threw them at us one night, So it’s not a choice.“. „They don’t get a choice.“ Ben laughs. There is one special cover where Ben Carey himself takes the microphone and makes the crowd go nuts. In a good way. “We sometimes play “Blister In The Sun”. That’s because my vocals are amazing. It’s pretty awesome when I sing. I sing like an angel.”. Oh come on, you know you are a good singer, Ben! You just want fans to tell you once more how great you are, don’t you? 😉 Danny: “First time we played it we saw boobs, right?“ Ben: “We’ve been playing here for a long time and never seen titties. The first night I sing, we see titties.” Danny: “It was awesome!”

Besides these obvious advantages what is the best thing about being in Elvis Monroe for the guys? “Probably me.“, laughs Bryan..“ I was answering for them.“ In a more serious tone he adds, „For me I get to be in a band with my best friend. I know the day that [Ryan] agreed to be the drummer I was doing the happy dance at Knott’s Berry Farm. He just rounded it off. I told his Mom that when we were in Vegas.”. Mommy MacMillan was happy her son got to play in a band with Bryan Hopkins. Why? Because he smelled nice, she said. Danny says, “The best thing about this band is that it’s easy. We all get along, We’re all on the same page. There’s never being drama. With most bands it’s a lot of drama. We’re like a family.”. Ben Carey adds a special shoutout and thank you to their roadie Wayne who has been with Elvis Monroe from the very beginning. Seriously, I have never seen a crew member dancing around like him. He’s a character!

However, the biggest challenge for the band is scheduling rehearsal. The best rehearsals are practically Thursday nights at Walter’s Restaurant they tell me. Bryan states, “The best part of the band is that our rehearsals are in front of people. It’s so cool. Every show is like five rehearsals.“ I wonder how these guys manage such a busy schedule. They literally work their butts off for this project. There is no doubt they love it though. I have hardly seen a band with such a strong passion and work attitude. If Elvis Monroe could change one thing about the music industry it would be people buying records again and support live shows. Ben explains, “We work really hard to put on shows for people. I would love for more people to come and enjoy real music. There’s so much crap on the radio, it’s terrible. I would really like to go back to when the guitars, drums and bass was really cool again.”

There will be another EP which the band has yet  to record. Due to the members busy schedules the band has not made any plans when they will release it. they never make plans but „it naturally evolves“, explains Danny. With the new Lifehouse album being released in December Ben Carey won’t be available a lot for Elvis Monroe soon but the already have a backup plan. „Danny’s gonna jump in and play guitar pretty shortly and our friend Todd Burman is gonna play bass.“, Ben says. There will also be a viral video for „Comin‘ Around“ instead of a regular music video.

Catch Elvis Monroe Thursday nights at Walter’s restaurant in Claremont and every last Thursday of the month at Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa in Las Vegas. Do not miss the upcoming show on 29 November with special guests 2nd Wheel including Bryce Soderberg from Lifehouse and Neal Tiemann.

Get Elvis Monroe – „Comin‘ Around“ on iTunes or Amazon Elvis Monroe on Facebook, Twitter, Reverbnation
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