Elkapath are a five-piece rock band based in Gloucester, United Kingdom. Over the last couple of years there have been some changes to the line up and are making quite a name for themselves on the metal circuit. We caught up with lead vocalist, Carla at her Gloucester base to dig deep into the bands gothic leanings…
I’v e been aware of Carla’s solo writing for quite some time, but when did the full band get together?
Elkapath made the transition to a full band in 2019. Being in a band was all new for me, but as time went on, I learned a lot, and the band became more professional.
What’s the dynamic been like, and how has having a full band changed the sound and direction?
The new dynamic has been an interesting one. The sound has gone from an electronic goth feel to an electronic metal feel with some punky riffs thrown in for good measure.
Was it an easy transition for you Carla ? I guess you’ve had to ‘let go’ of a few things?
Not ‘let go’ as such. The writing process from my part hasn’t changed too much . I start off as I always have done by writing an electronic version of the song, which is handed over to the guys. The drums are then written and adjusted slightly over time. The bass and guitars are then written alongside the drums, and extra synth is then added in to flesh it out. It’s been quite an exciting transition with this new album.
The Black Spiders album seemed (to me) to influenced by NIN and Tool amongst others, who would you describe as your influences and who are your contemporaries now?
My main influences was The Prodigy as that’s what got me into playing synths I always was drawn to the darker spooky sounds of horror films so that’s where the dark inspiration comes from though. I do listen to other artists that I draw inspiration from such as Lacuna Coil, The Birthday Massacre. I’m also a big fan of Kate Bush as she is my vocal inspiration as well as Madonna growing up.
Carla, you’ve recently collaborated with PardoxOfRoze, are there any other artists (and/or producers) that the band would like to work with in the future?
The dream one would be The Prodigy. A few personal favourites would be with Justin Symbol from the Godbombs and Corlyx.
There seems to be a surge in (dare we say it) female fronted rock bands at the moment with Cassyette, Scowl, Witch Fever, Kittie and The Sprints (and many more) all shaking up the rock world. About time right?
Yes, definitely, it’s nice to hear more female fronted bands. Though a lot of people don’t like to use the term female fronted a lot these days.
Do you think this will help to bring a greater acceptance of women in the industry and cut down the misogyny that’s been rife for way too many years?
I think the world is changing, and people are more open to how they feel on the inside than what they see on the outside. So I think everyone would be seen as equal than separating male to female. We just want to make the music we love and that’s all it should be.
You’ve been posting some interesting covers on your TikTok channel, any plans to release any?
I see covers as just a bit of fun. I don’t take it too seriously. It’s a good way of showing different styles of vocals and my own musical tastes outside of what Elkapath creates. Tiktok is popular, so it’s a good way of drawing people into the band if they’re interested in the covers I do.
Lyrically, do you have a message to get across or is each song a new challenge on a new day? Some of them certainly touch on some dark (gothic) subject matter.
There are some that are experiences that I’ve had. I guess it’s what I feel like writing at the time. Somedays, I want a lyrically fun song, others I want to just offload my inner thoughts.
What are you working on at the moment? Any releases coming soon?
We are currently working on a brand new EP called ‘The Twisted Jester’, which should be out around springtime. It’s taken a little longer than I’d hoped due to line up changes, but we’re well on our way to completion now.
Any plans to get out on the road again soon? Where you heading to?
We have a few gigs lined up this year with plenty more to come, Birmingham Manchester, Wales Cheltenham, to name a few. We will be posting a full list once more are added.
Where do you stand on the Spotify debate? A poison chalice for artists or something you have to do to get noticed?
It’s a tricky one tho I decided not to use it straight away and actually sell cds and have people download it directly so it would actually be something for people to keep as well as help fund the band a bit more than spotify payouts. However, we probably didn’t get noticed as much with no Spotify. We decided to put the album on Spotify 2 years later. The only downfall of that is maybe we would have a lot more listeners on there if we put it straight up. But it’s good to experiment and see what works, but times are changing, and it seems we are supposed to follow what is considered the new normal that is Spotify. It’s good for finding new music, but the downfall is that it’s basically free music.
What’s the ambition for the future?
Just keep writing and have fun. That’s what I love doing most.
