The E.L.F. is going to daz-zleus with his wit

Wed 13th Feb, 2008 in Features

I guess when Gerling actually said that we were going to take a break officially, I thought, ok, well, I guess I better start writing my own music. I just bought a laptop, got the programs ready and started writing heaps by myself. – Darren Cross

Currently on a break from his band of 15 years, Gerling front man Darren “Daz” Cross has recently been tucked away in his Sydney home studio producing and recording his solo project The E.L.F. and forming his own record label “Oaks Records”. Describing his sound as “dance music with a cheeky indie aesthetic”, I asked Darren how his debut EP Stevie Nicks Hearts (named after Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac fame) came about. “I guess when Gerling actually said that we were going to take a break officially, I thought, ok, well, I guess I better start writing my own music. I just bought a laptop, got the programs ready and started writing heaps by myself. The end result [of the EP] is probably the direction I’m gonna head….”

I mention to him that I found some elements of the E.L.F. tunes are very reminiscent of Gerling’s earlier electronica work (i.e. Children of Telepathic Experiences & When Young Terrorists Chase the Sun ). He responds and says “I guess some of the sounds are a bit similar. I guess because with Gerling there were three of us working on the material, but sometimes you develop your own sound within the group. I think it’s really good that people who like the old Gerling tunes will hear that in my music, although I did make a conscious effort to get it away from the Gerling sound with the guitar and my voice over the top. Originally I didn’t even want to have vocals on any of the new E.L.F. stuff, but I found that they kinda work…”

Lately he’s been gearing up and doing a lot of preparation for his upcoming solo tour where he’ll be launching his debut EP. “Hopefully some people will come along to the shows. I’m still getting some things organized for it, trying to make it really good, doing heaps of mash-ups, new ones on a daily basis. They’re kinda weird those mash-ups…” One of those mash-ups is Stuck in the Vanilla which contains Stuck in the Middle With You and Vanilla Ice’s Ice, Ice, Baby. Strange combination you might say? Well the E.L.F. makes them both gel really nicely together. I ask him what sort of process he goes through when creating these mash-ups “I just try to pick songs that I really like and I think people will really like. Sometimes it takes ages to make them work and then sometimes by mistake you put the wrong song on and you think, oh man, that sounds really good!”

So how does he find performing solo different to with Gerling? Does he get nervous being by himself on stage or is it something he looks forward to and relishes? “I’m really used to it now. I was never really nervous. It’s just totally different. I guess cause I’m doing heaps of stuff on the computer as well and I’m maybe a bit nervous that the computer might not work or press the wrong button and the wrong song comes on or the wrong drum beat comes out of time or something like that. It’s actually a bit more complicated than just getting up there with a guitar and standing in front of the mic or whatever, but I’m really into it, because it’s more of a dance thing. You really notice if everyone sits down, or if one of the songs is crummy, so it’s just trying to figure out the best way to keep everyone dancing.”

Darren is a big fan of the DIY ethic and has never had any professional training/lessons in how to play his instruments or using music equipment “It’s all been self-taught. You learn a lot from everyone who you work with, every different producer, see the way they record, everyone has their own funny little way of doing things. It’s kinda good to go and see how other people are doing it. I mean, programs are getting so easy now, it’s not that hard.” Making his debut film clip for his song Cockroaches with a $12 budget, you’ve got to be impressed with the guy. “When I made the film clip for Cockroaches, I didn’t know how to make a film clip at all”, but with a little research on the internet and his perspicaciousness, it was created. The video became a featured clip on YouTube and has had over 235,000 hits.

So what does the future hold for Darren Cross? Will he be riding the E.L.F. pony for a while, or does this mean the end of his long-time band Gerling? “….I’m finding the E.L.F. project is just really full on, intense and I can see myself doing things with this for a couple years now at least. I’m not too sure with Gerling, I mean, we’re all doing such different things now and it just feels right. Who knows down the track with a reunion… Every schmuck’s doing that at the moment. Maybe by the time we decide to do it, it’ll be retro kitch cool again, but my main focus at the moment is 100% E.L.F. and it’s just the way it is….”

Darren tells me his second passion in life is collecting various bric n brac, can we expect “the E.L.F’s daz-zling trash n treasure” to open up once he’s finished with his music career? He laughs and says, “Yeah, that’d be cool. I love that kind of stuff…. just going to op shops and finding clothes, old books, weird stuff. Yeah, I love doing that. I’m not too sure, I’ll probably be doing something that involves music, just because I’ve been doing it for so long, I haven’t really thought about it. Starting the new record label [Oaks Records] as well, that’s another thing I can concentrate on when I’m too old to rock out. There are heaps of different facades within the music industry that I really get into down the track.”

Darren isn’t too sure what the E.L.F. acronym stands for at the moment and says “it’s all kind of changing. I don’t want to put anything down, or solidify it, put it in stone just yet. It can change, I mean, I’m sure people will have a lot of fun with it. There are heaps of fun words. I dunno, it can be positive or negative, but it’s still gonna be interesting with what people will come up with…”

The E.L.F. will be releasing his debut EP Stevie Nicks Hearts on 16th February on his recently formed record label “Oaks Records” (through MGM) and will kick off the EP launch tour at Strangeways in Canberra on Friday 15 February. For more dates and details on the upcoming tour, click HERE