Meet ‘The World’s Finest Elvis-Fronted Tribute to Nirvana’
Words by Audra Tracy
What happens when you combine salacious gyrating hips with thunderous alt-rock riffs? The answer is Elvana – the band you never knew you needed. Hailing from the UK, the Elvis-fronted Nirvana tribute act is heading to the U.S. in May to provide the epic musical escape we’ve all been searching for in 2019.
But before the band leaves the ‘bowels of Disgraceland’ to head out on tour, guitarist ‘Danny Cobain’ answered a hunk of our burnin’ questions…
What made you want to combine the musical styles of two very different American treasures?
Well it’s a funny story. We all met after we all got into a knife fight over an unclaimed cheeseburger at a popular fast food outlet. Once the crowd dispersed we made our peace and discovered our mutual love and passion of all things Nirvana and Elvis Aaron Presley. To our surprise no one had yet to combine the two so we proceeded to explore this crazy idea and things kinda went from there. I never did find out who got the burger in the end. True story.
How do you choose your song mash-ups? What is your favorite mash-up so far?
I’m not gonna start giving away trade secrets of how we come about what to mash up with what, but it usually involves a comical degree of poor communication between us all in the rehearsal room until we stumble across something we’re all happy with. We all bring ideas to the table. Particular favourites of my very own are ‘School – In The Ghetto’.
Will this be your first ever U.S. tour? Are you ready? How do you prepare for a new audience?
We had the pleasure of visiting your pleasant land last year to play some shows including a sold out show at St Vitus. The show was also memorable for an unnamed band member requiring an emergency visit to the toilet mid-show. A questionable bowl of New England chowder was sited as a contributory factor in the resulting inquest. We’re heading to the US off the back of two huge shows in the UK so we’re cocked, locked and ready rock. New audiences tend not to need much preparation on our part, we just try and make sure we play the tunes right, don’t insult the local sports team, and where possible visit the little boys room BEFORE the show.
If you had an unlimited touring budget, how would you enhance your live shows?
Wow. So many things come to mind here. We could get a full brass section in. We could get hologram visuals and stage lighting that makes it look like I have hair … but I think the absolute key things would be a portable solid gold toilet for Elvis. Some Pepto-Bismol to assist bass buys bowel movements. Oh, and some of that new quilted toilet paper … what a time to be alive.
If you could spend a night out with Elvis during his prime, what would you do? Where would you go?
I can picture this well. The night would start by Elvis taking us to places that serve his favourite culinary delights. We’d have a few beers, do some bowling (quoting The Big Lebowski ad nauseum – Elvis would naturally do the best Walter Sobchak impression) and then take in a beautiful sunset on the veranda of his ranch in Graceland surrounded by the people we love with joy and laughter in the air. The night would end with us drag racing his Cadillacs along a beach with the bodies of our ex-wives lawyers in the trunk…
Who would win in a fight – Kurt or Elvis – and why?
Courtney … the other two are corpses.
Catch Elvana at The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park on May 3, and Mercury Lounge in New York City on May 4…
