EL VY

EL VY is an American indie rock duo that consists of Matt Berninger (lead vocalist of The National) and Brent Knopf (founding member of Ramona Falls and Menomena). The duo released their debut album, Return to the Moon, in October 2015.

EL VY
EL VY in concert
Background information
Genres	Indie rock
Years active	2015–present
Labels	4AD
Members	Matt Berninger Brent Knopf
Website	www.elvy.co

History

Berninger and Knopf met when The National and Menomena shared a bill in Portland, Oregon on October 24, 2003, at Holocene.^[1] The two became friends and kept in touch, periodically playing gigs together in subsequent years.^[2]

EL VY released its debut studio album, Return to the Moon, in October 2015,^[3] which Berninger, inspired by both Grease and We Jam Econo, imagined "as a sort of punk rock musical following the adventures of Didi and Michael—named after the Minutemen's D. Boon and Mike Watt."^[4] EL VY tours as a four-piece, with Matt Sheehy on bass guitar and Andy Stack on drums.

On January 11, 2016, following the death of David Bowie, EL VY performed a cover of Bowie's "Let's Dance" on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, collaborating with Colbert's house band, Jon Batiste & Stay Human.^[5]

In October 2016, EL VY contributed a song and videogame^[6] to Dave Eggers' 30 Days, 50 Songs project, entitled "Are These My Jets".^[7]

Members

Official Members

• Matt Berninger – lead vocals, lyrics
• Brent Knopf – music composition, production, keys, guitars, synths, programming

Touring Members

• Andy Stack (of Wye Oak) – drums
• Matt Sheehy (of Lost Lander) – bass guitar

Collaborators

During the recording of Return to the Moon, EL VY collaborated with several artists, including drummers Drew Shoals (of Train) and John O'Reilly Jr (fun. and others^[8]), violinist Lauren Jacobson (The Lumineers and others), and background vocalists Ural Thomas, Moorea Masa, Allison Hall, and Margaret Wehr. A unique art card was created by John Solimine^[9] for each song on the album. Return to the Moon was mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound, mixed by Craig Silvey at Toast (assisted by Eduardo de la Paz). EL VY later enlisted Andrew Joslyn for strings on "Are These My Jets".^[10]

Discography

Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions

Title	Details	Peak chart positions
		US ^[11]	BEL (FL) ^[12]	BEL (WA) ^[13]	CAN ^[14]	FRA ^[15]	IRL ^[16]	NLD ^[17]	NZ ^[18]	SCO ^[19]	UK ^[20]
Return to the Moon	Released: October 30, 2015 Label: 4AD	66	6	106	53	154	7	34	35	39	43

Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Peak chart positions					Album
		US AAA ^[21]	US Alt ^[22]	US Rock Air ^[23]	BEL (FL) ^[12]	CAN Rock ^[24]
"Return to the Moon (Political Song for Didi Blume to Sing, with Crescendo)"	2015	6	28	31	53	49	Return to the Moon
"Need a Friend"		—	—	—	119	—
"Are These My Jets"	2016	—	—	—	—	—	Non-album single
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

References

1. . americanmary.com. Archived from the original on April 15, 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
2. Kaplan, Illana (October 20, 2015). "Inside the National Singer Matt Berninger's Quirky New Side Project, EL VY". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
3. Gaerig, Andrew (November 2, 2015). "EL VY: Return to the Moon". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
4. "In El Vy, Matt Berninger works with dark humor and a brighter sound". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
5. Breihan, Tom (January 12, 2016). "Watch El Vy Cover David Bowie's "Let's Dance" On Colbert". Stereogum. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
6. "Are These My Jets?". 30 Days, 30 Songs. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
7. Barsanti, Sam (October 17, 2016). "El Vy kicks off this week's 30 Days, 30 Songs anti-Trump protest with a video game". The A.V. Club. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
8. "Drummer Bio | Discography". www.jordrum.com. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
9. "Spike Press  » EL VY". spikepress.com. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
10. "El Vy (The National/Menomena) Share New Anti-Trump Song". Andrew Joslyn. October 18, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
11. "El Vy – Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
12. "Discografie El Vy". ultratop.be (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
13. "Discografie El Vy". ultratop.be (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
14. "El Vy – Chart History: Canadian Albums". Billboard. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
15. "Discographie El Vy". lescharts.com (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
16. "Discography El Vy". irish-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
17. "Discografie El Vy". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
18. "Discography El Vy". charts.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
19. Peaks in Scotland:
    • Return to the Moon: "Top 100 Scottish Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
20. "Official Charts: El Vy" (select "Albums" tab). Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
21. "El Vy – Chart History: Adult Alternative Songs". Billboard. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
22. "El Vy – Chart History: Alternative Songs". Billboard. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
23. "El Vy – Chart History: Rock Airplay". Billboard. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
24. "The National – Chart History: Canada Rock". Billboard. Retrieved June 4, 2018.

External links

• Official website
• Under the Radar