Elf Power started off in 1993 as a series of 4-track recordings by Andrew Rieger with some
of his roommates including Dave Wrathgeber (Fablefactory), Raleigh Hatfield,
and Laura Carter (his girlfriend at the time). There were two self-circulated tapes that were released around this time but
their proper debut was an album called Vainly Clutching At Phantom Limbs. Approximately 53 copies were
pressed and distributed to friends.
Bryan Poole (AKA Bryan Helium or the Late B.P. Helium) joined the band shortly after.
Bryan described his first meeting with Andrew in an interview : "We were both going to school at the University of Georgia
and I first met him after giving his inebriated ass a ride home from a Dinosaur Jr. show at the 40-Watt. ...Andrew and I would occasionally see each other, but we were off doing our own things.
His housemates at the time had acquired a 4-track and they were all making a noisy mess of things. Some pretty
incoherent stuff, but this was the beginning of Elf Power."
The trio (Andrew, Bryan, Laura) played sporadic gigs with Andrew on guitar and vocals, Bryan on bass and Laura on
drums. However, Andrew and Laura decided to move to New York City after
they'd graduated, whilst Bryan decided to stay put in Athens and soon joined Of Montreal.
Elf Power's second release, The Winter Hawk EP, was recorded during Andrew and Laura's stay in NYC and on a visit
to Virginia. Like its predecessor, it includes contributions from many of their friends; Roxanne Martin (
Dixie Blood mustache, Fablefactory), Dave Wrathgeber (Fablefactory), Julian Koster (The Music Tapes,
Neutral Milk Hotel) and Ravi Fernandes (sister of John of
The Olivia Tremor Control).
The stay in NYC lasted 9 months, until the pair were persuaded to return to Athens, where the second Elf Power album,
When The Red King Comes, was recorded as a four-piece. Aaron Wegelin joined on drums, allowing Laura to
move to keyboards (and many other instruments). It is a joint release between Elephant 6 and the Arena Rock Recording
Company featuring contributions from John and Will (The Olivia Tremor Control,
The Circulatory System),
Kevin Barnes (Of Montreal), Dave Wrathgeber (Fablefactory),
Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel) and Julian Koster (The Music Tapes,
Neutral Milk Hotel), amongst others.
A Dream In Sound was recorded by the band and Dave Fridmann over two weeks at his studio in
Cassadaga, NY in the fall of 1998. It was their first real "studio" album. Some contributors included John D'Azzo (The Gerbils),
W. Cullen Hart (The Olivia Tremor Control,
The Circulatory System), Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel), Scott Spillane
(Neutral Milk Hotel and The Gerbils) and Dave Wrathgeber (Fablefactory). The album was also released
on vinyl with a bonus 7" single which included the CD's "secret" track, Interlude #87 and another track, Wrinkles.
A CD EP entitled Come On produced by Chris Bishop (Fablefactory) was released in
the spring of 1999 and was sold at gigs on tour. A few escaped to be sold by mail order and record shops. It contained 6
cover versions of some of the band's favorite songs and a remix of The Separating Fault. It was around the time of this tour
that Adrian Finch (Masters of the Hemisphere, Summer Hymns, Dances With Wolves)
joined the band playing violin, guitar and saxophone.
The band contributed a version of The Byrds' Feel A Whole Lot Better as their half of a split single with
Great Lakes which was the May 2000 installment of the Kindercore singles club.
In June 2000, Arena Rock re-released Vainly Clutching At Phantom Limbs on CD and LP, with additional tracks
taken from The Winter Hawk EP and The Money Shot compilation appearance.
In October 2000, Elf Power's fourth album, The Winter is Coming was released on SugarFree Records. It was
recorded over several months at a home studio in Athens, GA with the help of producer Chris Colbert and the usual contributors
including: Raleigh Hatfield, Roxanne Martin (Dixie Blood Mustache,
Fablefactory), Scott Spillane (The Gerbils, Neutral Milk Hotel), Dave Wrathgeber
(Fablefactory), W. Cullen Hart (The Olivia Tremor Control,
The Circulatory System), and Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel).
Following their European tour in May 2001, Bryan left the band to pursue his solo project, The Late B.P. Helium.
Neil Golden took over the bass duties.
In the summer of 2001, the band began recording their next album in Athens and finished it in October. Their fifth
album entitled Creatures was released May 2002. One song on the album, Three Seeds was
co-written with W. Cullen Hart (Circulatory System, Olivia Tremor control)
Fall of 2002 saw the release of Nothing's Going To Happen, an album of all cover songs released
on Orange Twin. It also includes 6 songs from the limited edition Come On EP. Also at this time, Neil left the band
and Ballard Lesemann replaced him on bass. And at the end of 2002, Adrian Finch also left the line-up.
In the fall of 2003 they finished their latest album with new guitarist Eric Harris (Olivia Tremor Control).
Walking With The Beggar Boys was released April 2004 on Orange Twin Records.
Official web page: www.elfpower.com
Other projects involving Elf Power members:
Dixie Blood Mustache
