LimeWire Music Blog

Move over, John Mellencamp, your days of unopposed sovereignty as Seymour, Indiana’s favorite musical son may be numbered. Seymour-based rockers The Elms are a band on the rise. They play an all-American brand of bold, rootsy rock ‘n’ roll that seems to have reached a new level with their fourth album, The Great American Midrange. The band is fronted by singer/guitarist Owen Thomas, who started The Elms some 10 years ago with his drumming brother Christopher. The Elms are a band on the move, but we got Owen to slow down long enough to let us know a bit about the Elms’ backstory, give us the lowdown on the new album, and talk about what keeps him and his fellow Elms going.

What are the pros and cons of playing in a band with your brother?

Owen Thomas: I have eternal trust in my brother, we’re always on each other’s side in the long run. But, of course, there are daily disagreements; we fight and argue like any brothers do. I can sincerely say that we’ve never begrudged each other, there’s never been long-standing animus. Nobody is closer to me than my brother is. Plus he’s my favorite drummer ever.

You and your brother are originally from New York, right? How did you wind up based in Seymour, Indiana?

Yes, my brother and I were born in Buffalo, NY. I lived there until I was eight; my brother was six. Our parents both have vocal performance degrees, and we traveled a bit because of their jobs. They’ve done music in churches, theaters, operas, you name it. So that made us skip around a bit. We moved to Indiana when I was 14, and I’ve lived there since.

What are you trying to get across about your home state on “Back To Indiana,” from the new album?

Well, the ultimate goal of that song is not to laud Indiana. It’s not a travelogue or anything. It’s just a song about going home, and for us, that’s Indiana.

You’re on your fourth album now, and it seems like the Midwest still looms large in your music. How has being Midwesterners affected the band’s music?

It’s primarily affected the songs lyrically, because you can’t turn your head and look around a town like the one we live in without seeing some kind of situation that feels urgent. We’re very much committed to keeping people’s spirits buoyant wherever we can despite the realities around them, especially working-class people like our friends and families.

Would you say “Americana” is an accurate description of your music? What does the term mean to you?

I’m not sure that I’ve ever been very good at classifying what kind of band we are, but that’s not because we explore a million styles or anything. The band’s general formula is just guitar, bass, drums, and a voice, and then we try to push things further and further within those parameters. The songs are our primary identity. If anyone asks, I usually just say that we’re a rock band. There’s a very deep respect for blues-based playing in The Elms. I’ve never thought of us as Americana, but American, yes.

Who are the artists that have most inspired your work with the Elms?

In a lyrical sense, it’s [Bruce] Springsteen for me, hands down. I remember hearing “Highway Patrolman” for the first time probably about 10 years ago, and the song made me see cinema in my head. So I just resolved that it would be a pursuit of mine to try to do that too with our songs when I could. I can be inspired by anything that’s got a lot of musical muscle, whether it’s pop or rhythmic or rock or whatever. Anything that feels and sounds important, I can find inspiration in.

The Elms started out as Just Visiting, which has been described as a Christian rock band. What relationship do you have with that world now?

We have very little relationship with that world anymore in a formal sense. That’s not to say that there aren’t fantastic people of faith. There are, and the members of our band have varying degrees of faith, all centered around a belief in God. We’re not at all ashamed of that, it’s a large part of who we are. But the formalities of the modern Christian church are things we don’t identify with very often. We’ve always just thought of ourselves as a rock band, even through the years we were recording for a Gospel label.

How would you describe the social message of the song “This is How the World Will End?”

At its core, it’s just a song about people exercising the best parts of their character. There are some things you just can’t legislate, you just have to hope that people are being appealed to and being asked to be more compassionate and more selfless.

The Elms spend a lot of time on the road. What do you for fun when you’re not touring?

Stay as low-key as possible, to be honest. I spend lots of time with my friends and family, which is a relatively small circle. I’m at a very reflective place in my life, maybe it was turning 30 that did that to me! Otherwise, I’ve been writing a lot of music lately too, which is unusual for me so soon after we’ve put out a record. Usually, I don’t write any music for about a year after we release an album, I just focus totally on the cause of the songs and touring.

This is the first album you’ve released on your own label, how is that experience so far?

It’s been absolutely crackling on every level, equal parts exciting and terrifying. The sense of satisfaction is enormous. In autumn of 2008, putting our own record out was just a conversation. Cut to October 2009, it’s a reality. So we’ve got a lot to be proud of, and I really feel like the last year has seen the band make fantastic progress. 2010 is going to be a great year.