California genre-bending band Elevaters is the new hope for people craving unconventional hip-hop. The racially diverse group manages to push their musical experiment to new heights, all the while never loosing their populist appeal. The six-member crew's sound is as original as it is intoxicating. Sam Golzari, Miles Ellington Gregley, and Benjamin Hall front the band with fresh verses, uplifting melodies, a dash of humor, and musicianship. Andre Morton, David Noily and Itai Shapira, drums, guitar, and bass respectively, explore grooves heard on the avenues where funk, rock, pop, and hip-hop intersect. The group's dynamic live presentation, warm audio-production and compelling lyrical commentary on daily life will delight even the most objective and discerning ears. Amidst all the worldly challenges their music confronts, Elevaters strive to discover the hope and positivity in all of us. After years of touring and playing for packed local clubs, this underground staple is emerging as a leading voice of a new urban music movement.
Elevaters have been enticing fans on the Los Angeles circuit for years with brilliant songs that uplift and tug at the heartstrings with playful dexterity. Their charismatic, touching and comedic stage performances employ deep grooves and moody melodies with sensitive arrangements in every composition. This product is extracted from a truly collaborative process. "When we sit down and workshop a song- nothing moves forward until every individual in the group is satisfied," says Shapira. "Everyone in the group is very honest and direct. We all listen to each other and respect the collective process."
The lush-soulful vocals, clever lyrics and shimmering keyboards of Golzari, lick laden guitar grooves of Noily, the pocket of cutting drums of Morton, the urban philosophies of Gregley, the percussion and beat box aptitude of Hall, and punchy bass of Shapira negotiate one another into dope melodic grooves that are original and pop-savvy.
So how did this body of diverse artistic souls come together? Elevaters came together as students at UCLA, studying theater, music history, and ethno-musicology. One class and one teacher in particular, Art as Social Action, taught by renowned American theater director, Peter Sellars, greatly influenced the forming of what was to become Elevaters. The art as action they chose was to use their generation's most potent medium, popular music, to empower and uplift. Morton joined the band after seeing them live minus rhythm section, and moved them from coffeehouses to at-capacity clubs and venues. Elevaters' diversity, Black and White, Persian and Israeli, make up what could be the poster children for America's great melting pot. Their eclectic musical influences combine Outkast, Bob Marley, The Roots, Bjork, Earth Wind & Fire, Bill Withers, Jamiroquai, Prince, The Time, Led Zeppelin, Sly & the Family Stone, Bell Biv Devoe, A Tribe Called Quest, Hendrix, Bonnie Raitt, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Wu-Tang Clan, Paul Simon, and Brazilian national-treasure Caetano Veloso.
What's in a name? "One night, as our weeks-long search for a name deteriorated into absurd, stream-of-consciousness, three of us guys walked into an elevator," explained Hall. The name, its implied meaning, and the mission the group had committed to had all aligned. "This group blesses a lot of people, helps them lighten up, get loose and feel better. But I'd be full of sh*t and terribly one-dimensional to say it's all positive. Elevaters get up and get down. And I'm okay with that, because one way or another we're gonna move you." Most of the inspiration in their music is spawned from the band's ability to feed off of each other's energy, and then give that synergy to an audience. Every note is infused with this contagion, whether a lilting understatement, a soaring crescendo, or a beat to move with.
Elevaters' debut album Rising, made up of seventeen tracks laden with soul-rendering rhymes, lush urban ballads, and hard-hitting funk anthems, weighs in with any hip-hop classic. Rising showcases Elevaters' tight-pocketed grooves most clearly on its first single "The One" which Daft Punk fans will surely appreciate. "'The One' was conceived at a house party when Ben started singing the hook. It became a song about unity and the feelings we all reach for our entire lives- those of completeness, purpose, destiny, and empowerment," recounted Noily. The album also contains soul ballads of hope like "Someday" that harkens to Stevie Wonder's best. The Bluesy Ballad "From Silence", the album's final cut, features gorgeous arrangements of voices and strings to tell the story of overcoming depression. "Ladylove," a minimalist mid-tempo song features lyrical straightforwardness, stripped of any excess to highlight a story about love, loneliness and the ability to let go. Listeners can witness lyrical prowess on tracks like "Grandma's Hands" where Gregley spits, "Don't ever tell me that I'm wrong, 'Cause you ain't doin' it; That's false rulership. So who you think you're fooling with; can't change my train of thought; Unless you plan on moving it. Chill out be cool with it; Me and my posse proving it; KRS One taught me the philosophy; My parent's ideology; The eye of God's light; Steady watches me." The song is about honoring ancestors while making a better way for the future generations. The group led the album's production, showcasing a great breadth of musical forms while maintaining a strong and cohesive voice of its own.
The band's live performance has been praised and hailed as everything from "inventive", "energetic" and "cosmic", to even a "spiritual experience" by some avid fans. They have also shared the stage with hip-hop luminaries such as The Roots, KRS-1, De La Soul and LA's native Queen of hip-hop Medusa. Elevaters and were rated among the top ten underground hip-hop and soul artists by Insomniac Magazine.
Since music and theater go hand in hand, it comes as no surprise that group members Golzari and Gregley are accomplished actors. Golzari most recently played the role of "Cam" in the Sony Pictures feature film, "21" starring academy award-winner Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth. Also in 2006 Golzari appeared in Universal Pictures "American Dreamz", as part of an ensemble cast including Hugh Grant, Dennis Quaid, academy award-winner Marcia Gay Harden, Mandy Moore and Willem Dafoe. Gregley is a founding member of Speak Theatre Arts and co-writer of the company's critically acclaimed hit production, "N*gger, Wetb*ck, Ch*nk", a play lambasting, showcasing and diffusing racial intolerance in modern America.
To say the Elevaters are talented would be an understatement. Still, what is obvious about the Elevaters is that they love and respect the music they make together, a byproduct of rare chemistry that cannot be manufactured. That same genuine chemistry has been setting off audiences across the country. The Elevaters debut album Rising is available on iTunes and distributed by CD Baby.
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