About Elan

SOUTH AFRICAN SINGER/SONGWRITER ELAN PREPARES TO “TAKE THE WORLD” WITH U.S. 1Q 2012 LAUNCH

Pop/Rock Musician’s Collaborators Include The Bee Gees’ Robin Gibb, And has previously commissioned songs by Guy Chambers, Diane Warren

Singer/songwriter Elan Lea lives by the golfing mantra coined by fellow South African Gary Player, “The more I practice, the luckier I get.” Over the past decade, the South African artist has certainly experienced his share of ups and downs in the fickle music industry: from a rare hole-in-one hit at age 17 to an outright plunk when momentum stalled in his 20s—and back to the upper reaches of the pop/rock pantheon with 2009 Universal Records album “My Only Excuse,” which brought him success in UK.

Elan is now hoping for his greatest score yet as he prepares to take a swing at the U.S. market, with upcoming first-quarter 2012 full-length release “Conversations Over Time,” led by single “Take the World” in January.

The new album follows on the success of “My Only Excuse,” which included tracks written by Guy Chambers (Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue, INXS) and Diane Warren (LeAnn Rimes, Celine Dion, Toni Braxton), as well as hit “Right Away,” produced by Matt Ward and Dean Gillard (Usher, Taylor Swift, The Saturdays, Lemar), with remixes by Digital Dog and J-Staxx, which reached the top 20 on the U.K. Commercial Club Pop Chart.

“Coming to the States is like landing on the moon for first time. It’s definitely uncharted territory for me,” Elan says. “I’m arriving with a clean slate. No one knows me, which gives the music an opportunity to speak for itself.”

Elan’s musical journey began as a teenager when he stumbled across his grandparents’ piano and found instant kinship. He taught himself to play by practicing scales and chords, imitating the harmonic pop of radio acts like Backstreet Boys. In no time, he started adding lyrics as his melodies began to take shape.

He recorded one of his first songs, “Hold Me In Your Arms,” at a local studio, and a benevolent acquaintance who happened to own an independent record label agreed to promote the track at radio. In a rare indie coup, “Arms” began gleaning airplay at top 40 radio in his Johannesburg hometown, ultimately proliferating across South Africa to become a national hit. To everyone’s astonishment, the teen’s sweet love song garnered a nomination for Best Pop/Rock Single at the South African Music Awards.

“There’s this skinny kid with a horrible tie and bad skin, with a song that’s being played at people’s weddings,” Elan says with a laugh. “Naivety and that initial rush of success gave me a lot of confidence. I thought, man, this is easy.”

Wisely, Elan earned a degree in Business Management at college while launching his own independent record label, Mutha Deer. In 2006, he released a full-length album, “Rock the World”… The effort was promptly all but ignored by radio. “It was an unbelievable lesson about the music industry,” he reflects. “Radio didn’t play it and stores wouldn’t stock the CD. I was knocked down hard. At 22, I had learned the hard lesson.”

Fortunately, Elan was destined for another successful chapter: “Every person I met over the 11 years has added value in where I am today— from introducing me to people with whom I would collaborate, to a talent manager, to the artist manager in France who spotted my music video…”

Among those meets was Full Phatt Productions in the U.K., in the persons of Matt Ward and Dean Gillard, who were eager to work with Elan. The latter is a consultant with Universal Records – and that intro led to the singer’s signing by the major label for his 13-song album, “My Only Excuse.” The success of the single “Right Anyway,” produced by Ward and Gillard, led to fair press coverage in, amongst others, British Cosmopolitan and celebrity news magazine Heat.” The pair in turn introduced Elan to up and coming producer Mark Crew. Elan says “Mark and I started around the same time and have been on pretty similar journeys - its great to work with someone who gets you and the sound you’re after. Meeting Mark was a very important stage in my career and having him at the production helm is fantastic”

For his upcoming 2012 album, “Conversations Over Time,” Elan is relying upon his own voice, as the primary composer: “I looked for inspiration not only in my own life, but also from friends’ and the people around me: Conversations is about heartache, hope and life’s challenges. These are a far cry from the simple love songs I wrote as a kid.”

The one grand exception: Elan collaborated on a track and sings it with the legendary Bee Gee. Robin Gibb. “ I stayed in his home with his family, and he taught me more than a thing or two about writing. Robin is my music mentor” Elan says. “There aren’t too many people out there who have the privilege of singing and writing a duet with a Bee Gee. It’s an honor I will cherish forever”

Other highlights on “Conversations”—which was produced by Crew—include “I Miss You, I Love You,” a song Elan re-recorded from the previous album with a modified arrangement, about the real-life loss of a buddy’s girlfriend in the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. “It was as though I could hear the pain coming from his eyes,” he says. “I’m really eager for people to experience this track.”

The single “Take the World,” meanwhile, offers an ironic lyrical twist, suggesting that no matter what you attempt to project, people see things their own way, particularly in dealing with life and what it has to throw at you. Tracks “Broken Man,” “Butterfly Best Friend” and “Different Stories” all render deceptively sunny piano-driven melodies, with dark lyrical overtones and edgy beats. “Like Picasso had his ‘blue phase,’ this was my dark phase; which I hope ironically inspires others to more smile than cry.”