Band sees the bigger picture

May 23 2008 By Andy Coleman

ELLIOT Minor's self-titled debut album is awash with orchestral flourishes and wide-screen imagery - which reflects songwriter Alex Davies' love of movies.

"Alex is really into film scores," confirms guitarist Ed Minton. "I'm sure that in the future he'd like to write the music for a film, and hopefully we'll also have some of our songs used in movies one day."

Even the album cover has a film connection.

"It's a photo of a model made by film maker Corin Hardy," says Ed. "It summed up the vibe we were aiming to create."

Orchestral music is another influence on the band's sound.

"Alex writes the string parts on piano," reveals Ed, who founded the York-based band with Alex in 2005. "We'd love to eventually do arena shows with a full orchestra but until then we're happy with intimate rock shows, with the orchestra parts on tape."

Elliot Minor's next 'intimate rock show' is on Sunday at Digbeth's The Place I Love as part of Birmingham's O2 Wireless Weekender but they're also looking forward to a bigger gig at the Download Festival at Donington Park on June 15.

"We played there last year and we were so nervous," Ed says. "We arrived really early. I admit we didn't play very well but the crowd really accepted us."