Scotland Yard Gospel Choir Re-Emerges Recovered, Refreshed, Ready To Rock

By Katie Karpowicz in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 22, 2013 4:00PM

Photo credit: Casey Black

It's t-minus two hours before the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir takes the stage for a headlining show at The Burlington in Logan Square. The six mainstay members are sitting at a pizza parlor down the street, passing pizza slices and a two liter bottle of soda to each other. After the band fell victim to a literally crippling van crash 3 1/2 years ago, these hometown shows have grown less and less common.

Soon the topic of conversation turns to the question that's been on everyone's mind: What has the band has been up to for the past couple of years?

"Oh, I don't know," someone jokes, "learning to walk again." The table, myself included, bursts into laughter. I immediately stop myself and apologize for being insensitive.

"It's okay," singer and assumed bandleader Elia Einhorn tells me, "if we can laugh about it, so can you."

Finally ready to release a new album early next year and make their comeback, the following conversation tells me the traumatic events of the past couple years have left the members of the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir affected but certainly not beaten down.

CHICAGOIST: So, in terms of the new record, is it finished?

Elia Einhorn: The recording is finished. We did it at Studio Chicago with Mark Yoshizumi—who plays in our band and also co-produces all of our records. We still have to mix it and master it. The mixing process is going to be a long one because we have so many instruments on the record.

CHICAGOIST: Elia, since you're living in New York now and all of the other members are still in Chicago did you do the recording all at once or did you commute back and forth?

EE: It was kinda weird because I'm used to being able to just roll into the studio, but I've come back four or five times now to record. We'll do it in two-day stints where we'll block out the studio and just work as hard as we can for as long as we can. I've been staying with Mark when we're not at the studio.

CHICAGOIST: Do you think this long-distance situation will still work for the band in the future?

Alison Hinderliter (Keyboards): There's plenty of other bands that have members dispersed all over. I was just talking to someone [in a band] yesterday who told me he was in Florida while everyone else was in Ohio recording. And they stuck together.

CHICAGOIST: And it seems like this most recent recording process went fine.

EE: It went okay. I got the inspiration from Ben Gibbard. We did a show with him a while back and then we hung out a few times and one of those times he was telling me how he was working on new Postal Service stuff with [Postal Service partner Jimmy Tamborello]. And I asked him how he was doing that since he was always on the road and he told me they did it all through email. I thought, well, we can do that.

CHICAGOIST: How many tracks did you end up with for the new album?

EE: I think we've got 15 or 16 but that will get whittled down. I had this fear that everything I had ever wanted to do with the Choir, I had to do now. I think it was just the fact that everything we've been through in the past two years has been so crazy. Mark and I have been friends since we were kids and we talked about all these songs that we've been wanting to do for years and we thought this is the time to do then.

CHICAGOIST: It's been so long since you've recorded new material and so much has happened since. What tone did the record end up taking on?

Ethan Adelsman (Violin/Guitar): It's fun. It' a lot of fun. We had a great time in the studio.

CHICAGOIST: I don't want to dwell on this, but were any feelings about the accident expressed on this record?

EE: Yeah, for sure.

Mary Ralph (Vocals/Guitar): We played a show in July and our friend commented on one of the new songs we played and was like, "Oh, I really like that car crash song." It's funny because that song isn't about the car crash but I think it's going to be interpreted that way. We've actually had lines about car crashes on every album.

EE: I'll say that there's nothing directly about the car crash on the album but it affected our lives in such a huge way that the songs are talking about situations that are directly related to the accident having happened.

CHICAGOIST: Elia, have you changed your lyrical style or subject matter at all?

EE: Yes, because the last record was "We broke up. Fuck you. I hate you. Haha." This record is a lot less resentful. One of the song titles is called "I'm Sick Of Texting With My Ex-Girlfriend" and that was from my real life. It was a different ex-girlfriend though.

CHICAGOIST: You just played a new song during your soundcheck for tonight's show (titled "High Diving Towards A Tiny Cup") and the lyrics are something along the lines of "Folk singers make me sick, but punk rock doesn't do it for me anymore." Does any of SYGC's older material not do it for you like it used to?

EE: I love our music. I've been listening to our first record a lot recently. I love it. It's so beautiful. I hear the flaws though—especially with my own singing voice—and wish I could replace them.

CHICAGOIST: Well, that's good. That's the way it should be. Obviously you guys have fans all over the place so the albums aren't just for people in Chicago, but it was fun to hear you reference certain Chicago-centric things on your older album, like an intersection. Are you going to start making Brooklyn references now?

EE: Fuck no. I have have a song on this new record called "Belmont and Clark." I grew up there and spent my punk, teenage years there.

CHICAGOIST: Who doesn't have memories at that intersection? So, have you talked about touring at all yet?

EE: Definitely. We're not in the situation we used to be in, where we would tour a hundred days a year. But we're going to do a national tour behind this records as the six piece group. And then I think there's going to be another tour with a smaller version of the band.

CHICAGOIST: What was the hardest thing about getting the band back in motion?

EE: Well here's the thing: behind the scene we've been extremely busy beavers. We haven't released anything just because we want to wait until it's ready. And we weren't playing many shows because we didn't have a new record behind us. But behind the scenes we've been putting so much effort into this record.

CHICAGOIST: What are you most excited for in regards to the new album coming out?

EE: I'm just going to be honest with you. I'm afraid. I have a lot of fears about this record. I hope people still care about us like they used to. I hope that all this time we've had to take wasn't too much time. There's nothing like being on tour though. I miss that.

CHICAGOIST: Is there anything else you think we should talk about?

EE: I want to talk directly to [Chicagoist] readers for a second. I just want to say thank you so much for all of the support you've given us. And also the Facebook messages and emails asking us when we'll have a new album out or when we'll play a show. That means a lot of us because sometimes I think our time was over and then when I read those messages I know that people still care. It means the world to me.