Taiwanese math rock band
Elephant Gym
(
Chinese
:
大象體操
) is a
math rock
band from
Kaohsiung
,
Taiwan
, founded in February 2012. The group consists of siblings KT Chang (bass) and Tell Chang (guitar), and drummer Chia-Chin Tu. The word "elephant" in the band name symbolizes their bass-driven melodies, and "gym" refers to their agile and irregular rhythms.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
Formation,
Balance
EP,
Angle
and hiatus (2014?2016)
[
edit
]
As children, KT and Tell Chang were trained in classical music by their mother, while Chia-chin Tu learned classical percussion. After the siblings met Tu at a music club in high school, the trio formed
Elephant Gym
in February 2012,
[2]
hand-produced a limited edition EP, and toured Taiwan on the single "Ordinary Route" (later released on their album
Angle
). On May 8, 2013 the band released
Balance
, their first EP, which included the song "Ocean in the Night" which was produced in collaboration with Hong-shen Hong, the lead singer of indie band Touming Magazine. In 2014, they collaborated with
Yoga Lin
on a song, "Speaking in Tongues",
[1]
which they performed with him in
Hung Hom
,
Hong Kong
and at the
Taipei Arena
.
In June 2014, their debut album
Angle
was released, with singles featuring
Panai Kusui
and
Enno Cheng
. In December 2014, the group members announced a year long hiatus due to Taiwanese compulsory military service, and held a performance entitled
See You Then
in addition to a short documentary of the same name.
[3]
[4]
Post-hiatus:
Work
EP and
Underwater
(2016?present)
[
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]
In August 2016, their earlier work
Angle
was released in Japan and the group was invited to participate in the
Summer Sonic Festival
.
[5]
The group released their second EP
Work
in October 2016, followed by a tour of Taiwan in small venues. In June 2017, the group was invited to Tokyo to play with American math rock band The Fall of Troy and special guest Hikes. The band played in the
Megaport Music Festival
in 2018.
[6]
In November 2018, they released their second full-length album
Underwater
followed by a world tour, which included a performance at
SXSW
[7]
and a live session at
Audiotree
.
[8]
In August 2019, they performed at the
ArcTanGent Festival
.
[9]
They released a single, "Gaze at Blue," on October 18, 2019.
[10]
They announced their latest studio album, World, in late 2023.
Awards
[
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]
Year
|
Award
|
Category
|
Recipients
|
Result
|
Ref.
|
2013
|
4th Golden Indie Music Awards
|
Best New Band
|
Balance
|
Nominated
|
[11]
|
2014
|
5th Golden Indie Music Awards
|
Best Style Category Album
|
Angle
|
Won
|
[12]
[13]
[14]
|
Best Album
|
Angle
|
Nominated
|
Best Band
|
Elephant Gym
|
Nominated
|
Best Musician
|
KT Chang (
張凱?
), bass
|
Nominated
|
Best Musician
|
Chia-chin Tu (
?嘉欽
), drums
|
Nominated
|
Best Rock Single
|
"Whistle"
|
Nominated
|
Best Jazz Single
|
"Body"
|
Nominated
|
Best Style Category Single
|
"Games"
|
Nominated
|
2017
|
8th Golden Indie Music Awards
|
Best Style Category Single
|
"Spring Rain"
|
Nominated
|
[15]
|
2019
|
10th Golden Indie Music Awards
|
Best Band
|
Elephant Gym
|
Won
|
[16]
[17]
|
Best Album
|
Underwater
|
Nominated
|
Best Musician
|
KT Chang (
張凱?
), bass and synthesizer
|
Nominated
|
Best Rock Single
|
"Underwater"
|
Nominated
|
Best World Music Album
|
Underwater
|
Nominated
|
Best World Music Single
|
"Half"
|
Nominated
|
Discography
[
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]
Studio albums
[
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]
- Balance EP
(2013)
- Angle
(2014)
- Work EP
(2016)
- Underwater
(2018)
- Dreams
(2022)
- World
(2023)
[18]
Singles
[
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]
- Gaze at Blue
(2019)
- Dear Humans
(2020)
- Go Through the Night
(2021)
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Chan, Boon (September 20, 2017).
"Taiwan's Elephant Gym say audiences are learning to love their math rock"
.
The Straits Times
. Retrieved
October 8,
2019
.
- ^
"Top Shelf Records, Elephant Gym Roster"
.
- ^
"SEE YOU THEN Official Short Documentary"
.
- ^
"Taiwan's Elephant Gym bring back bass-driven math rock"
.
South China Morning Post
. August 14, 2014
. Retrieved
October 8,
2019
.
- ^
"SUMMER SONIC 2016 LINE UP"
.
- ^
"Taiwan math rock band Elephant Gym release multi-cam live video from Megaport Festival"
.
- ^
"SXSW 2019 Schedule"
.
- ^
"Elephant Gym -- Audiotree"
.
- ^
"Elephant Gym to perform at ArcTanGent Festival with Coheed and Cambria, Polyphia, Meshuggah, and more"
.
- ^
"Elephant Gym"
.
Bandcamp
.
- ^
"第4屆金音創作?入圍名單"
[4th Golden Indie Awards Nominees].
Ministry of Culture, Taiwan
. October 28, 2013. Archived from
the original
on September 27, 2019
. Retrieved
May 28,
2020
.
- ^
"第4屆金音創作?入圍名單"
[5th Golden Indie Awards Nominees].
Ministry of Culture, Taiwan
. October 14, 2014
. Retrieved
May 28,
2020
.
- ^
"第5屆金音創作?得?名單"
[5th Golden Indie Awards Winners].
Ministry of Culture, Taiwan
. December 6, 2014. Archived from
the original
on September 27, 2019
. Retrieved
May 28,
2020
.
- ^
"Taiwan, Malaysia musicians to hold joint bash in Kuala Lumpur"
.
Central News Agency
. August 20, 2019
. Retrieved
October 8,
2019
.
- ^
"第8屆金音創作?入圍名單"
[8th Golden Indie Awards Nominees].
Ministry of Culture, Taiwan
. September 26, 2017
. Retrieved
May 28,
2020
.
- ^
"第10屆金音創作?入圍名單"
[10th Golden Indie Awards Nominees].
Ministry of Culture, Taiwan
. October 3, 2019
. Retrieved
May 28,
2020
.
- ^
"金音?完整得?名單"
[Golden Indie Awards Winners].
Central News Agency
. November 17, 2019
. Retrieved
May 28,
2020
.
- ^
"World, by Elephant Gym"
.
Elephant Gym
. Retrieved
2023-11-28
.
External links
[
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]