ELLiS·D - Hullo, Reality! EP (2023) Hi-Res

Recording the EP in six days at Hackney Road Studios with producer Shuta Shinoda (Hot Chip, Jenny Beth), ELLiS·D serves up a sound at once both heavy and light, bright and dark, twisting between modern and vintage sensibilities with a flamboyant flair.

Best known as the manic drummer behind the garage-psych outfit Strange Cages, and more recently Jealous Nostril, ELLiS·D spent ten years flailing his limbs across the tattered kits of UK and Europe’s basement scene before starting out his solo project in 2021. After signing with DIY label Crafting Room Recordings at the turn of the 2022, the ensuing 15 months has seen him in a state of near consistent gigging and touring throughout the sweaty dives of the continent, bringing his raw, mercurial live performance to stages from London to Luxembourg, Bristol to Brussels, Kendal to Kusel.

Backed by a near-continuously shifting set of session musicians on his tours, in the studio ELLiS·D channels the workhorse-like energy of fellow multi-instrumentalists Ty Segall, Prince and Kevin Parker to mould a sound that at once feels familiar but also completely his own, embodying the extravagance and glam-pop sensibilities of the likes of Marc Bolan and New York Dolls with the lyrical sensitivity and intensity of The Smiths and Jehnny Beth, to create something almost uniquely contradictory. Jangly, threadbare guitar riffs weave their way through CAN inspired rhythmic pulses as hook-smeared repetitions and explosive, abstract vocal acrobatics flow and fight their way into psych-driven instrumentals.

After two self-produced EP’s recorded on a shoestring in his mysterious Brighton studio space (known only to its inhabitants as ‘The Carwash’) sold out separate limited cassette runs, February 2023 single ‘Straitjacket Blues’ signified a marked shift as ELLiS·D began exploring new territory with tinges of new wave and disco infused kraut rock weaving its way into his music, gaining consistent radio play from Tom Robinson at BBC Radio 6 alongside support slots for Razorlight at Brighton Dome and Hammersmith Apollo in April 2023.

"If you're into twisted, psychosomatic art-rock, ELLiS·D is right up your alley. It's like they've hacked into the matrix of music-making and come up with something entirely new. But the real magic happens during his live shows where every performance is a wild ride, like a game of musical roulette."