ELLIOTT HAMMOND OF ‘THE DELTA RIGGS’ ANNOUNCES SOLO PROJECT (‘DRAC HAMMOND’) WITH EXPLOSIVE TONGUE-IN-CHEEK DEBUT SINGLE,
“NEW SENSATION”
‘Cos I’m the sensation,
The new sensation,
Just another fool for validation,
Elliott Hammond – the lead singer of Australian rock mainstays, ‘The Delta Riggs’ – is announcing a solo project on November 13 via the release of his explosive debut single, ‘New Sensation’.
The project emerged as a consequence of COVID-19, with Drac’s schedule with ‘The Delta Riggs’ made impossible by the travel restrictions that arose from the pandemic. The result?
In Elliott’s words: “my friend Reyne had a humble little setup in his bedroom in Bondi – where I was living at the start of the year – and we moved a heap of idle band gear in there because it was just sitting around. I demo’d a song for the Riggs and Rudi, the other main songwriter for the Riggs, didn’t think it fit on our next project.
That’s when I started thinking more about this super lo-fi style of bedroom recording and how I could find a fresh voice in it”.
This led to a period of prolific output for Elliott, with the break giving him a chance to “freshen up and smell the roses a little”. In his downtime, he recorded drums for Hayley Mary and All Day’s next release, as well as recording over twenty originals for ‘Drac Hammond’, to be released in 2021 and beyond.
“The process is drastically different to what I’ve been doing with The Delta Riggs. Most of the time I head into record with no mapped-out plan or even any pre-written lyrics – something might have just happened to me that day that I put onto a track. I also have way less instruments – or talent – at my disposal, so the production that goes into it is really stripped back. It’s very much an anti-structure situation. If there is a hint of agenda or expectation I’ll usually abandon the whole thing and go to the pub”.
Nowadays, Elliott has become accustomed to writing music “anytime, anywhere”. The sonic universe in which ‘Drac Hammond’ exists comes to him “in hallways, hotel rooms, cars, busses, and fire escapes. My kitchen actually – I get a lot done in the kitchen. Even in other friend’s kitchens come to think of it. It’s such a low expectation room for a song, which I reckon is important. I don’t have a single instrument in my flat currently. Just a typewriter – and lots of vodka, because I’m not clinically insane”.
As for ‘New Sensation’ – it emerged as a tongue and cheek reflection on Elliott’s early ideas about launching a solo project: “I didn’t really have a subject for it, I was just laughing about the audacity of releasing my own record and kept repeating to myself ‘I’m the New Sensation, another fool for validation’, which I thought was hilarious”.
“The rest of it is just me ad libbing about my life in fantasy over a 48 hour period – about not being ready or ever getting used to being some sort of public figure, being used by corporations to sell pre-paid mobile plans or pretending to respect simple idiotic dinosaur people just to elevate my career”.
Elliott self-produced ‘New Sensation’ and performed all instrumentation on the track, mixing live instrumentation in with “some MPC programming of a few rare soul samples taken straight off the wax”. The song was edited and mixed by Grammy award-winning producer Warren Riker, who has previously worked with The Fugies, Lauryn Hill, Santana and Destiny’s Child.
It was mastered by Trent Dobson, who has previously worked with Maddy Jane. As for Drac Hammond’s plans in 2021: “I have at least the next three releases for this project in the bank, so I’ll keep releasing EP’s every six months until I die or my management lets me do an album. I guess I just really want people to hear where it all starts for me – as far as my inspirations go – and this is a very obvious body of work that ‘tips the hat’ in a cheeky and fresh way”.
The release will be supported by a music video to be released on Nov 13 (currently being edited) and a single launch show at Boogie Mountain (The Potts Point Hotel), as part of Destination NSW’s “Great Southern Nights” event series.
WHO IS ‘DRAC HAMMOND’?
‘Drac Hammond’ is the moniker of Elliott Hammond, the lead singer of Australian rock mainstays ‘The Delta Riggs’. ‘The Delta Riggs’ have immense success over their 10+ years of releasing music, playing at Australia’s biggest festivals – Groovin the Moo and Splendour in the Grass – alongside supporting music industry behemoths such as The Foo Fighters, Billy Idol and Kasabian. ‘The Delta Riggs’ were awarded a ‘Triple J Feature Album of the Week’ in
2014 for their second album, ‘Dipz Zabazois’.
Elliott Hammond has had an accomplished career independently to this – having written for Dope Lemon, Andrew Stockdale, Angus Stone and Elliphant, among others. He’s also recorded or performed with Wolfmother, Kisschasy, Hayley Mary, All Day and Brian McFadden, among others.
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