drummer from kiwi favourites, Elemeno P, but it’s safe to say you’d get along with him
– he is, after all, a cult hero in some circles…
A few years back, when
Elemeno P were just starting to gain some popularity here in Aotearoa, t-shirts that read “I KNOW SCOTTY PEARSON” became a crazy fashion fad at Parachute Festival. Scotty, whose face was emblazoned on the t-shirts, seemed to be the dude you really want to know. “I just try to be obtainable for people,” he chuckles, admitting he’s happy to chat with pretty much anyone. Scotty’s been a regular at Parachute for many years and his history in the music industry is colourful: he played in Kiwi worship-rock band, Form; he’s traveled the US with ‘90s alternative Christian band Hoi Polloi, who played with big names like DC 
Talk and the Newsboys. That band had a taste of cross-over success too, “We wanted to establish outside of the Christian scene, because we believed the music was up to standard.” The musical escapades for which Scotty’s best known in this country lie outside the Christian sub-culture too, as the tub-thumping, harmony-singing drummer in Elemeno P.
When we chatted, Scotty was in the midst of a heavy promo schedule for the band’s new self-titled album and following nationwide tour. “I’ve talked about the album a lot in the last few days,” he admits, explaining that they took a fresh approach to this, their third LP. “The first album surprised everyone and so that meant the second had quite big expectations,” Scotty recalls. He freely admits they weren’t overly thrilled with their sophomore effort, claiming they lost some of their vibe and edginess in the studio. That wasn’t the fault of the engineer though, he assures, noting they used the same guy this time, “But we were more comfortable in our roles… Plus, we felt like we play well together now, so we had a lot of fun laying the tracks down all together.”
Scotty says it’s all part of a more relaxed Elemeno P. “We’re seven years into this now, so we know each other pretty well!” He says as they’ve grown (including some marriages and births, which have extended the Elemeno P family), they’ve become happy with who they are as a band and learnt to give away the strain and strive that just causes stress. “Part of the beauty of this album is that we’ve kind of given away ambitions, rather than push and push – which is quite freeing actually.” The result musically is a little more room to experiment, nothing too out there, but some variation from the straight pop-rock feel. For example, “Louder, Louder” has a shuffle reminiscent of old-time boogie, and Scotty describes “Loaded Gun” as a “shanty-ish” number.
Scratching below the surface, you get the impression Scotty’s stoked to be doing this music thing with good friends, but there lies some as yet untapped potential in this ensemble. Scotty says his Christian faith tends to have an under-the-radar effect on people – the “oh, there’s something different about him” kind of reaction – and his parting statements hint that there may be more to this foursome than just singalong party anthems: “I think we still haven’t got there with Elemeno P in terms of what we’re gonna communicate. I’m not sure what that is yet, but that’s another reason why I want to carry on because I feel like there’s more for us to do.” Maybe there’s a mission amongst all the chilled out fun after all.
Liner Notes Elemeno P is: Dave Gibson, Justyn Pilbrow, Lani Purkis & Scotty PearsonTunes: Love & Disrespect [2003] Trouble in Paradise [2006] Elemeno P [2008]
Web: www.elemenop.com
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