Introducing Sydney's Lone Elk and their dreamy new single, Broad Arrow

Lone Elk is a Sydney-based band consisting of Anika Evans (vocals/synth), Ryan Van Der Woude (vocals/guitars), Emma Elmslie (bass) and Caleb Gaha (drums), already impressing with only two singles under their belt. Their debut single, Same Moon, has just been followed up with latest effort Broad Arrow, and we're very much enjoying their take on dreamy indie-rock, with some pop elements akin to the The Jezabels mixed with Beach House.

We were so enamoured with their newest effort that we sent across a few questions to find out a little more, check it out below:

Tell us about yourselves?

We formed in Sydney, Australia in 2017. Ryan Van Der Woude and Anika Evans firstly formed as a duo of vocals, guitar and keyabords, with bass player Emma Elmslie and drummer Caleb Gaha joining soon after. We draw on musical influences from different eras and are inspired by psychedelic, rock and experimental compositions from artists such as Pink Floyd, Beach House, Warpaint and Interpol. Stuck in a bit of a time-warp, they create distinctive sounds that are constantly evolving.

What kinda tunes we talkin’?

This is hard, collectively we agree this should be the job of the submissive listener, however, the most appropriate labels we think we have been given to date are: alternative-rock, psychedelic, dream-pop, post-punk. Our music is based on a combination of fuzzy/echoing guitars, warm synth tones, piano, chugging bass which is sometimes distorted, and upbeat intricate drumming patterns.

Production/writing process:

It varies, in the original batch of songs that we have now the writing process was between Ryan and Anika, Ryan would come up a chord progression or riff and lyrics and Anika would utilise the lyrics to come up with a vocal melody over the chords and integrate her keyboard/synthesizer parts as well. Same Moon was written that way and Anika added additional lyrics – and the rest of the song was created from an evolution of jams when Caleb and Emma joined which resulted in its final composition, and we harnessed that live energy in-place for the studio recording. For new material we are collaborative and also one of us will go home and write a song and come back and present it to the group and we go from there, everyone sort of pours their own flavour into the “cauldron” – so to speak.

Can you tell us about your new single, Broad Arrow?

Broad Arrow is our second single (following Same Moon) and it is probably the best representation of our sound to date, we think it’s the most “accessible’ song from our collection. It's written in dedication/memoir of the horrible Port Arthur Massacre and is our take/representation of the gun laws around the world. Obviously we live in a very strange time right now where we have come so far to think that parts of the world would have evolved a little bit more – in relation to the gun laws obviously. Especially how baffling it is when you look at statistics of fatalities in the USA compared to Australia and people are so obsessed with the ideology of having a gun for protection and they overlook what may be best for society as a whole, and that’s an idea of what Broad Arrow is about. But listen to the song and make your own interpretation.

Any shows coming up?

We have a show on December 4th at the Leadbelly in Newtown!

What’s the rest of the year have in store?

The rest of the year is working around our next batch of singles, writing new material and trying to find a new drummer (haha).

Where can we hear more of your music?

Our music is accessible on Spotify, YouTube, iTunes, Soundcloud and many other platforms

Follow Lone Elk: FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM