By Francesca-Lily McIntosh
Ask Elliot was formed in 2018 after cousins Tom Houghton (lead guitar), Liam Shields (drummer) and classmate Archie Rimmer (bass) met Ream Radomes (lead vocalist). Ask Elliot have played shows across multiple venues in Liverpool such as the Arts Club, the Zanzibar Club and recently showcased in Modern Age Music’s ‘Ones to Watch’ series at Jimmy’s in Liverpool. As they now begin to expand beyond Liverpool, now is the time to get to know Ask Elliot and their plans for the future.
Uncover Liverpool: As things are slowly getting back to normal and the music industry is beginning to thrive once again, how does it feel to be able to play live gigs again?
Ream: It feels really good. A year and a half of gigging was taken away from us and we were really beginning to take off in 2019. We were hitting a point where doors were opening up for us, but it’s very reassuring how we’re gigging again, and things are the same way as they were.
Uncover: Is there a story behind the band name?
Liam: Me and Tom were at our mutual nans’ for a Chinese takeaway, and we were trying to think of a band name. We were struggling and Tom’s sister, Lucy, has a friend called Elliot who is renowned as being quite clever. Someone said, ‘why don’t we ask Elliot?’ and I think it was my dad who said why don’t we just go with Ask Elliot?
Uncover: We are well and truly hooked on you guys – Our favourites have to be Honey, By Your Side and Flowers of White. Do you each have a favourite single?
Archie: Probably to listen to By Your Side but to do in the studio was Settle Down.
Tom: Mine would be Olivia at the minute.
Liam: My favourite changes every day but right now it’s Flowers of White.
Ream: I like them all for different reasons, but the top of the list would be Olivia and Settle Down. However, we do have another single coming out soon. It’s a short one but it makes me move and I like that about the next one.
Uncover: We are really looking forward to seeing what’s next for you. What does 2022 look like for Ask Elliot?
Ream: So far, we have just been preparing, like I said we have a single coming up so we’re getting on with polishing material for that, doing all of the boring promotional things.
This year we’ve planned to take a break from recording, so after this single we are going to go out and play as many gigs as possible.
Our gig at Jimmy’s on the 27th of January was a really good opportunity for us because the promoter we were working with said that they would like to work with us in the future, so hopefully it will open some doors for us outside of Liverpool.
Our aim now is to expand outside of Liverpool and to get people knowing who we are as far and wide as we can.
Uncover: Liverpool must be the perfect place for a band to set their roots in, do you think being so local to Liverpool and its popular music scene has supported you as a band?
Ream: I do feel like it has given us a lot of momentum at the start of our journey and I’m not sure we could have done that in any other place.
The scene is very close-knit. We are friends with other bands, and we often get presented opportunities through them.
I think it has helped a lot and there are a lot more opportunities here, however we only started in Liverpool so it’s all we know really.
Uncover: You have already announced you have some new music lined up for us, can you tell us when we can look out for your next single? Can you give us a word to describe it?
Ream: It’s very much pencilled in and up in the air at the moment but around March is where we’re aiming, so very soon. I would say energetic.
Liam: Bouncy.
Archie: I would say three: In your face.
While we look out for their next in-your-face single, guaranteed to get you moving, you can stream Ask Elliot on Spotify and Apple Music and follow the guys on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.