Elle Milano

Band page created in 2005.

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Biography

Elle Milano were an alternative rock band based in Brighton, UK signed to independent label Brighton Electric. They were fronted by Adam Crisp, who also played guitar and keyboard. He was joined by Chloe Dunford on bass and backing vocals, and by James Headley, who played drums and keyboard, and did backing vocals.

Their beginning can be traced back to when Adam and James met in 2002 whilst at sixth form college in Farnborough , Hampshire. There, they formed the band Psirens. When the pair moved to Leicester, UK in 2004 to study Music Technology, Chloe and Alex Peterson (also from Psirens) joined and formed Elle Milano.

In 2005 they signed to Brighton Electric and on 3rd April 2006, they released their debut EP; Swearing's For Art Students. The band are known for having a large catalogue of songs that have been given out via the Internet and at gigs; many were recorded during the album sessions in 2006, which would be self-produced by Adam and James. As a four piece the band adopted outlandish on-stage personas, pretending to be former models called Kobé Winona (Adam), Mr. Alexander Ross Petersen (Alex), Betty K (Chloe) and Jé Suisse (James). Kobe and Je had their own bands, the Konsoles and the Juggernauts respectively, from which the odd track would emerge, usually via Myspace.

After Leicester the band relocated to the home of their label, Brighton, UK. On 11 September 2007, it was announced on the band's Myspace that guitarist Alex Peterson had left the band. Their first single as a three piece was My Brother, The Astronaut, released on 5th November 2007. Meanwhile In Hollywood... was released on 30th March 2008, followed by album Acres Of Dead Space Cadets two weeks later (14th April 2008). On 23rd June they released Laughing All The Way To The Plank as 7" and digital only.

After a couple of months of silence and cancelled gigs, on the 27th October 2008 the band posted to their Myspace that they had decided to split up after family tragedy in Adam's life, as well as having progressively "lost the magic" as a band. A 4-song EP entitled "Schwanengesang" was released for free as a download, featuring new tracks such as "(our lives are a constant) In-Joke" and "Cut Up The Middle Man" which were markedly darker compared to their older material. Adam continues as Entrepreneurs and the band remain on good terms. Chloe has now joined Does It Offend You, Yeah?

Elle Milano garnered sustained praise from the independent music press, including Artrocker Magazine. They sported a calculated cynicism of the inescapable clichés of industry-manufactured popular culture and the shallow consumerist attitudes of the information age, but also of the British indie rock scene and pretentious, flippant, student culture. The band had an edgy angular sound with a melodic pop influence, featuring sharp rhythms, sometimes spoken, sometimes yelped or screamed vocals and melodic bass-lines.