Q&A: Evening Elephants Return Serving the Swell, the Shitty and Everything in Between With Newest Single “Succubus”
THE BOYS ARE BACK — Echo Park’s devious genre-surfing duo join The Luna Collective for another round since their debut with us in spring 2023, but this time with a new single and the same (if not more) on-brand brutal honesty. In our conversation with the band, the Evening Elephants open up about the struggles of being growing artists trying to simultaneously stay afloat and grounded, and being human above all else.
In true Evening Elephants fashion, the day is carefree. We meet up with the band’s eclectic members — Sam Boggs and Brandon (B) Leslie — at the bottom of a vividly tagged skatepark bowl somewhere in Los Angeles, (accidentally) breaking cigarettes and looking like posers.
Read the interview down below to catch up with the Evening Elephants amidst the chaos of life since trading in their notorious backyard shows for coast to coast ones, and to hear about the fans and exes that followed.
Skaters (Left to Right): Kieran Paquia, Yamato Furuta, Mark Mallari, Tyler Lydell
LUNA: It’s been almost a year since your official debut as a duo, as well as our last interview together for the release of your first single, “Life is Swell.” What have you guys been up to? How’s life been treating you? What’s good, what’s shitty?
BOGGS: Life has been shitty and swell, to say the least. We've both gone through relationship problems whilst juggling multiple shows that bring no money, that only had our friends [have been] coming out to, reluctantly, but it's been good and it's all been moving forward. The listeners have been going up, actual fans have been coming [to the shows], and we've been wondering why they know the words to the songs. It's been a super progressive year for us. Overall, I think we're on the cusp of something good happening, but it's also kind of a gamble at all times: you know, things are good, then they're bad, and we try to focus on the non-problematic parts of the band.
LESLIE: Life's been good. I think it's always a surprise to Sam and I when we actually see this shit working because we made this as a kind of a joke and just for fun — to see it kind of blossom in the way it is, is cool. I think we're both dealing with knowing that Evening Elephants is probably the best part of our lives [and the understanding that] there's also another side of life, which is just basic needs, and juggling those because we feel like we're almost in between right now, if we're being real. But so many cool things, like Sam said: seeing people know the lyrics is awesome and surprising and cool at the same time. We're writing a lot of music, we have a lot of beautiful things on the way.
LUNA: I know it must be really busy at the start of your career, trying to get more shows and to always be producing and moving. How have you guys balanced that so far?
EVENING ELEPHANTS: Hectic, it's super hectic. Especially, obviously, money-wise. I feel like people don't talk about the struggle of that. We don't put on the persona like we're riding in fancy cars bullshit or living the life. I think we're actually the opposite of that. But at the same time, I think we're deeper in the end of acting like it's all good when every month is a struggle to get through. We're putting on a jam and our friends are like, "You guys are fucking killing it, you guys are so good. Everything's great," and lowkey, we're just not having a good time. Except for the shows. The shows are the pinnacle of what we're doing right now. It's pushing everything, which I think is out of sorts for bands nowadays — TikTok rules the world, social media is the thing and we're doing that as well. But it seems that our biggest push is the shows so it's all [centered] around that. So yeah, to put it simply: shit sucks until the show, and then after the show it sucks again.
LUNA: On the topic of keeping it incredibly real, let’s talk about your newest single— what’s it about?
EVENING ELEPHANTS: It's called “Succubus,” it's about one of our relationships with an ex lover that — how would you put it candidly — drew the life out of you. Kind of encapsulating the Succubus, which is like a devil. A little background on the story: It was a relationship that went sour, but not too bad, there were still ties left. We had a show in New York coming up and [the ex] had already planned to come. At 5 a.m. at the airport, they rocked up perfectly on time. We were on the same flight, but they literally came right when we walked into the airport, onto the airplane with us. Our creative director was sitting in a seat, and one of us was sitting in another seat beside him, they asked to switch seats with him so that they could sit beside [that] one of us, and rode the whole way there. Then on the day of the show, they called and we didn't answer. Jokingly we were like, “No way they just show up to the show, right?” We're at soundcheck, and 30 seconds later, I shit you not, they walk through the door. Everyone looked at each other and went, "No fucking way."
LUNA: You thought that after hopping on your plane and switching seats to sit next to you that they weren’t also going to show up to your show?
EVENING ELEPHANTS: Well, you know, we like to think dumb. But they showed up at soundcheck and they stayed for the rest of the show. Then after the show they dragged one of us away into the depths of the darkness. That's what the songs about. The artwork was going to be kind of like this devilish, sucking being. Then at the last minute, we changed it to a picture of them — it's not them, but it's a picture of what it looks like; it's like a person who, on paper, they're good, but then in real life, they're not what you expected. So the artwork is a person on [literal] paper, and that's the only place where they were good.
LUNA: Wow. This is much deeper than just a bad breakup song then, very complex.
EVENING ELEPHANTS: Yeah, we like to keep it light. But also if you kind of dig a little bit deeper, it gets way worse, but it's not what we want to talk about.
LUNA: That’s kind of crazy, because I noticed “Succubus” is sonically on the softer side of the releases you’ve had. It’s something I think that new fans will find kind of unexpected at first, considering the crowds drawing to you are from your local performances, like your recent and biggest show at the The Morroccan Lounge in January. Have your crowds been growing bigger and bigger?
LESLIE: I mean, just seeing people know the words; it's happening more and more and a lot of unfamiliar faces [at the shows]. I don't know, it just feels like shows blend and melt into each other now, to be honest. It almost feels like every show unlocks a new level. I don't know if [Sam] feels the same, but it feels that way to me. [The Morroccan Lounge] show was really good. We always have so much gratitude for what we do, you know?
BOGGS: I think he said it really well, about leveling up — every show, we get tighter and people say that we've been progressively getting better as we've gotten comfortable. I think at this point we've been adding two or three songs every show and mixing them in and out to see how the crowd perceives the song and what we would want to put out next. So like you said, this is kind of a more laid back version. We're testing out things at shows now because we're so comfortable and riding off of that. At first it was nervous, like, “Oh fuck, we gotta do this shit. Let's rip.” We rip, and people are like, "This is tight," and now it's like, “Alright, we know we rip. Now let's be experimental.” Let's see what we can draw out of the crowd, what works better and what doesn't work rather than being nervous kids trying their best.
LUNA: Going back to the first backyard show we met you at, right before the debut of “Life is Swell,” I initially expected the energy of your music to be purely upbeat and carefree, just for having a good time. As you’ve released more intimate tracks, like “Succubus” and “Snow on the Bluff,” it’s obvious that you don’t have any restraints on your sound and do whatever feels good. How do you think this translates to your mixed listener demographic?
LESLIE: I mean, not towards the demographic, but I feel like Sam and I have this thing that it's important to be a human. What we're writing is what we're going through with life at that point. “Snow on the Bluff” might be soft, because it's really just about our mental state. If the song is kind of sad, well, Sam and I are going through a sad boy moment, you know?
BOGGS: To the crowd demographic, I think we like to create anything that comes to us because we want to be all encompassing to people. We want everybody to feel comfortable; we do the hard shit because inside of us, we'd love to fucking rip shit. My favorite parts of the shows are when they just fucking do the drops and shit. I don't even like singing, I like that. But then I love the soft shit because I get to see people start to sing along to the songs, mostly to the soft stuff. That's where I think we connect really hard with people on an emotional level. With the ripped shit is when you see them head banging and letting loose.
We get [both] this emotional connection, letting everyone know that they're welcome and nobody gets left out, and [also] the hard shit where everyone gets to release some type of thing that they've been bottling up [the way that] we do when we make the music.
LUNA: You guys definitely have a flow that works well together. “Succubus” was based more on a personal experience of one of you — when that happens, does that one person tend to take the lead on the track or does it become a joint experience?
LESLIE: Sam and I muse for each other. A lot of songs are kind of based on my life — yeah, I feel like so many songs are based on my life; I've had a lot of weird shit — but I'll be going through something and Sam will just be writing a song about [it].
BOGGS: A lot of the songs are about Brandon's life, but it is a cohesive thing. Brandon obviously produces everything and makes the beat, so I write the songs about his life and shit, but I wouldn't be able to do it if he weren't setting the edifice for the construct. I mean, there's shit about me too, but it is always in the moment. We haven't ever thought about a song and gone into a session and been like, “Okay, let's make it about this and make it about that.” It always starts with Brandon setting the vibe and then I just start to rip on whatever is coming to mind. Most of the time it does come to what's going on in his life, but that's just because he's got a lot going on.
LUNA: You guys are going back to New York soon to do some more shows. What are you looking forward to? I’m sure you’ll pick up where you left off with your producer.
EVENING ELEPHANTS: I think we'll go in just like we did before with no ideas, really. The guy's so cool. He's worked with Imagine Dragons and the Jonas Brothers, so when we first linked up with him, we were like, "This is gonna be awful." We are not that vibe — this is not going to be cool, it's gonna be odd. Then as soon as we walked in the room, he was like, "What's up my cosmic brothers? You guys trying to get down? Do you guys want some shrooms?" And we were like, “Okay. Maybe this will work. Maybe this guy is cool.”
He's truly the best — he really gets our sound so well. We've worked with other producers that have put their influence on it more than we wanted. Not that it's a bad thing, but we've come to find, working with this guy, that we work best with someone that wants to reach the goal that we have, rather than what's in their mind. He really gets that. Every idea that we put out, he's like, “It's a good idea.” Even if it's bad, he pushes and then adds his little spice here and there. I think we're both just really excited to see what we do and what he can come up with within the sessions. And then the [New York] show— hopefully people fucking come. That's it. That's all we're worried about.
LUNA: What were some of your favorite moments from the shoot today?
EVENING ELEPHANTS: Sliding into the bowl, that was fun. And Tyler [Lydell], is that his name? I love him. That was probably my favorite part, he was just such a good comedic relief. We always love working with you guys. I think the highlight is just the day, you know? It’s always just a nervous thing, coming and feeling imposter syndrome, and then working with [Brea Lynn] and feeling really good about yourself at the end.
LUNA: What’s the rest of the year looking like for you guys?
LESLIE: A show every three weeks, hopefully getting together and writing new material because I think it's good for our mental health. Seeing the project evolve, seeing more people at the show singing the words. Money, [camera pan to the manager] Seth [Nuddle]! Our managers’ great, I'm just fucking with him. Yeah, but money for sure. What else? Let's get a deal.
BOGGS: Our favorite parts are the shows throughout this year, with the constant struggles in and out of things. It'll just be great to continue to see more people singing the songs. Because I think that's what gives us the most life at this moment.
[Also] Jam in the Van — it's this YouTube channel where you literally play your songs in a fucking van. I saw it when I was in high school and I thought it was the coolest fucking shit ever. They reached out to us like two months ago asking to do it. The guy came to the last show and he fucked with the music, he was like, “You guys are gonna be our first Jam in the Van show for the new year.” We're very excited for that, it'll be in March.
LUNA: Lastly, what’s some advice you can give to write off the crazy people in your life and what have you learned from that experience?
EVENING ELEPHANTS: I think the thing that we both live off of is if the stove is hot, you don't know until you touch. You don't know you fucked up until you did, then hopefully you can calibrate yourself to not do it again. It's kind of like the music: we roll with the punches. We roll with the shit and we try to be a better version of ourselves, even though we know that we're gonna fuck up again.
LUNA: So no preventative measures, you never know until you find out?
EVENING ELEPHANTS: Yeah, I think we would love this year to be the preventive measure year [laughs]. Not that it will. But we would love that. If you have any tips, we're very open ears.
