Elia Einhorn got a lesson in music journalism with the release of his first album under the banner of the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir six years ago. The Welsh born/Chicago reared singer/songwriter found some interesting feedback in a local review.
“One critic here in Chicago, who I had idolized and loved his column, hated it and the reasons he didn’t like it was he thought we sounded too much like other groups — specifically Belle and Sebastian — and he said it was too British a record for a Chicago band,” says Einhorn with a laugh. “He was right about us being too derivative — here it wasn’t a negative thing, it was almost paying homage - but I realized wanted to be my own songwriter, so that was a positive. But the negative was that I realized this guy was a shitty journalist as far as following up and asking questions. He had all our contact information and he just assumed we were a Chicago band. I spent a third of my life in Britain. That’s where I come from musically. I realized that a lot of journalists are passionate people but not the most thorough writers. I developed this method of interviewing where I would take over the interview from people I felt hadn’t done their research.”
