Feature: The Links Decodes “elvira”
What was the creative process like for this particular song?
Jack Morrison: The song actually started as a result of me trying to figure out the guitar chords to a depeche mode song (I'll let you try and guess which one) and in the process, kind of just stumbled upon the first few chords which essentially led to me writing the initial arpeggio/instrumental parts for those first couple of verses. After that got going it basically just took off, except for the bridge which I basically wrote "acapella" in my kitchen.
Were there any challenges or breakthrough moments during the songwriting process for "elvira?"
I think with both this song and the last one (sela) I've really taken a more... "incisive" approach to lyrics - at least in regards to how I may have approached them in the past - and I suppose by extension, the music itself is honed in on in a bit more of a particular way. A lot of the songs on our last album were pretty well-developed I would say, but a lot of that was really through just playing most of those songs a LOT before we recorded them. With "elvira" and "sela" I pretty much made a point to present the band with what were essentially very developed demos that were nevertheless going to be pulled apart and rebuilt to give them that "Linky feeling" in the end. It's very satisfying when something like that actually does come together and give you something that you and everyone who worked on it are incredibly proud of & all-around enthused with.
How do you feel this song represents your artistic identity?
The word "liminal" gets thrown around the Links Camp a lot, sometimes facetiously but sometimes as a genuine means of trying to describe that particular feeling, where you're in or simply just seeing pictures of a place you feel almost doesn't exist at all. I feel like with this song and the remix ("ghosts in the abandoned mall") we've actually achieved something of a soundtrack to that type of feeling, which is probably a lot more often found in the form of vaporwave or Boards of Canada type stuff, but that's part of it really. Boards of Canada themselves I'd say was a direct influence on this song, and in particular my guitar parts - the intro ran through a very degradated tape machine situation before making its way to the final mix being maybe the most tangible example. What was the question again?
What is your creative vision as a band?
By this point I think we're approaching it from 2 different angles - the "online presence" and then our actual live shows & so-called physical appearances. With the online thing I'm almost approaching it as if we were an animated/virtual band that didn't even actually exist in the supposed Real World. most of our press pictures and things like that reflect it, with us more often than not being superimposed on locations (even amongst scenes I personally photographed) rather than lining up in super serious, super COOL formations to take the typical set of Band Pics. But then in person you could just find us making stupid - I mean incredible and hilarious - jokes and probably not being exactly the type of hyper-intellectual, dark characters you might think were behind a song like this. Don't get me wrong though, I can brood with the best of them.
How do you continuously grow and evolve as a band?
That's maybe the most fun & exciting part, it happens so organically we don't really plan or map it out at all. if you had asked what my plans were after the last single (sela) I probably would have told you we were putting out a Gang of Four cover. Needless to say, that was not quite the turn of events that ended up unfolding - don't rule it out for next time, though.
