Greetings, Modern Drummer readers! I’m Elaine Bradley. I drum and sing (and occasionally play guitar) in Noble Bodies. You might also know me from my drumming and occasional singing in the band Neon Trees. I obviously like to stay busy!

Noble Bodies just released a video for our song “Take Me Down.” This song is a pretty good representation of all of the facets of Noble Bodies—it’s complex, simple, harsh, clever, soft, loud, angry, sweet, and pleading. The song is about the risks we take when we choose to be vulnerable to somebody. The video is a social commentary about how technology is hijacking our hearts. Intense, I know. Watch it. Enjoy it. Think about it.

I love playing live shows. The energy exchanged between audience and band is so unique. I often think about how I get to really let loose in Noble Bodies. I play hard, move around, sing loudly, I actually get to move around the stage when I play guitar, and I even scream aggressively sometimes. I think about how, if I were to act that way in any other scenario in life, people would at least avoid me if not call the cops. I’m so grateful for the expression performing music allows. I would definitely feel more stifled if I didn’t have Noble Bodies as an outlet. And I think our favorite bands give us all license to feel and express right along with them. There’s a reason so many people say that music saved their lives. Advertisement

But I digress. You probably want to know about my go-to gear. I play a Gretsch kit in both Noble Bodies (Renown) and Neon Trees (USA Custom). The difference in setup is that I only have one floor tom in NB, as opposed to two in NT (one on my right, one on my left). I play Evans heads, Vic Firth 5As, Zildjian cymbals (I have so many different cymbals I cycle through, but my favorite crash is my Armand Medium Thin), and I use Gibraltar solely because their Ultra-Adjust snare stand is so easy to adjust, it puts all others to shame.

Thanks for reading and check out our video.

Check out Noble Bodies “Take Me Down” live, here: 

 

 

 For updates, visit https://www.noblebodies.com, https://www.facebook.com/noblebodies/, https://www.instagram.com/noblebodies/, and https://twitter.com/noblebodies.

 Live photos: Justin Hackworth