Your Elders, as far as I could make out, only ever released two songs, appearing on two separate compilation albums issued by Glasgow-based Bubblegum Records back in 2009. There is absolute no info out there, so I issued an SOS to a couple of folk who were involved with the label….and they duly came up with the goods. It’s a wonderful little tale.
———-
Your Elders is a Glasgow-based one-man-band. And that one man is the affable Carter Anderson.
Two Your Elders numbers are found on releases from Bubblegum Records, a Glasgow label and a friend of this blog. Both these tracks are worthy of a bit of a spotlight. So here’s some quick info about Carter himself, the label he released on and, of course, the songs themselves.
A lover of comics and pop music, art and literature, professionally Carter found his niche in the advertising industry. It was a great fit, though hardly traditional. That’s because on the creative side of advertising, you’re generally either a words or pictures specialist – so that’s copywriting or artwork and its direction. But across his considerable time in the ad game, Carter was both.
Unusual also was a workmanlike and unpretentious demeanour – qualities that persisted even as he assumed a Glasgow agency’s top-banana role of Creative Director. So with personal peacocking and flash AWOL, panache and flamboyance manifested instead in the work. This was largely located in a pre-social media era – a time characterised mainly by TV and radio ads, press and print. AKA The Good Old Days. It’s no surprise that the energy and zap that typified Carter’s ad work also manifested in the two Your Elders track featured in this post.
Now, if all this sounds like a bit of an obituary, don’t fret. Carter’s disarming manner is today benefitting his charges via a new role as a teacher of English. And I can think of no person better equipped to make an engaging case for Shakespeare and all that other lot.
When introduced to the music for the first time, Bubblegum Records was taken by what it perceived as an intense Bowie/Roxy Music/Eno feel – glam without the sham, not forgetting those all-encompassing distorted guitars.
Your Elders appeared on two Bubblegum Records compilations Pop Vol. 1 and Pick ‘n’ Mix. Both compilations sought to highlight the international nature of independent pop music and that ‘indie’ didn’t have to sound ‘schmindie’ although there’s nowt wrong with a bit of ‘schmindie’.
Pop Vol. 1: (August, 2009).
A four track EP that takes us from Israel to the USA, to Scotland, then back to the USA with Your Elders offering an eponymous track.
Your Elders – Your Elders
Pick ‘n’ Mix: (December, 2009).
Your Elders’ next appearance was on the truly international 27 track, double CD, Pick ’n’ Mix which spanned five continents of DIY talent. Your Elders provided the CD closer, The Ghost In The Machine.
Your Elders – The Ghost From The Machine
Released in time for Christmas, the double CD was given away free to those that attended the Bubblegum Winter event, with an additional fifty lucky people receiving the double CD and all five previous releases in their goody bag.
Pick ‘n’ Mix marked a significant achievement as far as the label was concerned. From serious musicians recording in studios to solo artists experimenting in bedrooms, the compilation illustrated not only the DIY nature of some of the bands/artists, but also the label itself.
Carter created the majority of the art work for the label, capturing both its spirit and irreverence.
—————
So….I was right about there only ever being two songs. But they are more than decent songs to listen to and enjoy. The eponymous track is a pop number which seems to pay homage to all sorts of influences from across the decades, while The Ghost From The Machine is a more gentle offering. What strikes me is that both sound as if they are the work of a band rather than an individual, and it does seem remarkable that they are the work of someone who was very much interested in making music as a ‘hobby’ with no intention of seemingly ever giving up the day job. A couple of hidden gems for you…..
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 