ElephantProof stomped into the Fred Festival and delivered an electric late-night set, which many thought was one of the highlights of an exceptional weekend. Their set was a pleasant surprise to many, as quite a few TEDheads didn’t know much about the Allston, Massachusetts-based band prior to their inclusion in the festival lineup. Our TEDitor-in-Chief caught up with Sean Cronin, the guitarist and mastermind behind ElephantProof, following their first show in over six years at Fred the Festival:

What was it like performing late night at the Fred Festival? More importantly, what was it like playing on stage with your friends again? The energy was palpable and it was one of our favorite sets of the weekend!

Thank you, I appreciate that. Thank you for coming to check out the set! I know like no one really knew anything of the band, so I’m glad that some people were interested enough to come out and see what we are about. It was everything I hoped for and so much more, you know? 

It was amazing. The lights in the trees in the forest were just adding so much to the vibe. It was incredible, the crowd was so locked-in with us and it felt so good. It sounded great up there on the stage. At some point I was definitely feeling the vibes of, like, a thousand gigs before – emanating out of the forest. I was like, “It’s time to dig in right now!” This is what this stage was meant for. The production crews at Fred were so good on both stages – on the main stage and the forest stage. The PA was just about as good of a PA as I’ve ever heard. The crew took all the time that was necessary to make sure everything was perfect. The guys were so happy to be on stage and we were locked in super hard all set. It was a fuckin’ blast!

Whose idea was it to do the Home Depot theme into a cover of Purple Haze? The unexpected covers were a treat and illustrated to us how ElephantProof is an incredibly unique melting pot of influences – from metal to jazz to everything in-between. 

It speaks to the quote from your interview with the Great Beyond podcast: “The goal of art is to become an amalgamation of everything you’ve ever heard that’s stuck with you and put your own signature on it.”

(chuckles) That one was my idea, because, first of all, as a lot of people have said on the internet, the Home Depot song has no business slapping as hard as it does! That shit fucks! (chuckles)

But that’s kind of a cornerstone of ElephantProof’s live shows: crazy covers that make no sense but somehow end up making sense in the end.

Something I’ve always been really into with music is making stuff work that really shouldn’t. I got very heavily into that style of mashup covers whether we mash two songs together or just do a completely different version of a song that was not very good and make it into something cool on purpose. 

When we started playing in like 2012 or 2013, I was still very heavy into the electronic scene. One of the things I love about electronic music is the DJ’s ability to transition between songs into something else in a way that fucks with your head and that’s something we like to put into our music. There’s an artistic value of taking somebody off guard and there’s also just as much artistic value of giving them a lot of what they expect. Some combination of those two throughout the night is our style - it’s about feeling pace of the show. But you can’t go wrong with the Home Depot song! 

What can fans expect moving forward? Will there be an official release of the Fred Festival set? In addition, will there be any more “EP EPs” and/or tour dates to look forward to within the next year or two? 

We’re definitely going to make another studio album, for sure. We’ve got like 30 or 40 songs that are originals lying around that we used to perform all the time – and some of them you’ve heard at Fred Fest. We have at least another record worth of music that we could go record right now. But I did get some kind of bad news…

Somebody had lost the soundboard recording from the Fred Festival set. It sucks…the reason it’s really sad is because Goose’s film crew camera work was incredible (top notch). We just don’t have any good enough audio to make it into an official release. We’re looking into options right now, but honestly, I don’t think we’re going to be able to do it. I really hope something pulls through…the only sound we have was built in from one of the cameras from the guys on stage. It’s looking unlikely for a full set with quality sound, unfortunately. 

We do have a bunch of sessions coming up, something with Relix Magazine (a live in-studio performance) and we’re going to check-in at a recording studio in Brooklyn in October at some point to talk logistics, lay down a few tracks and hang out with the guys. And right now, we’re looking at a few shows in January. I can’t speak of those shows yet, but they’re pretty big and they’ll be in the New England area. We’ll go from there – we’ve got two on the books and five or six more that we’re working on. Like I said, the (Goose) management team is so good, they’re really professional and care a lot about what we’re trying to accomplish. 

(Goose as well) are regular dudes who worked super hard at what they were doing, they never gave up, and it turned into something that people really fell in love with. They worked hard and kept going. They’re super down-to-earth and I’m just so excited to work with their management team. 

What shows are you most looking forward to on Goose’s Fall Tour?

I did see they’re doing some gigs in Colorado in mid-November – I looked on my calendar and my calendar is free, which is a first for me. I’ve been doing 150-200 nights a year for the last 12 years of my life, I don’t remember the last time I had a month off (minus the time during the pandemic). It’s ski season, I’m a big skier and mountain biker – I might just go out there to do some skiing, see some Goose and hang out with my Colorado friends. 

Thank you again for spending time catching up with The el Goose Times – we love ElephantProof and look forward to hearing more soon! TEDheads, remember to check out the ElephantProof EP, out now on digital services, if you haven’t yet.