Elephant Gym () is a

math rock Math rock is a style of progressive and indie rock with roots in bands such as King Crimson and Rush as well as 20th-century minimal music composers such as Steve Reich. It is characterized by complex, atypical rhythmic structures (including ...

band from Kaohsiung,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

, founded in February 2012. The group consists of siblings KT Chang (bass) and Tell Chang (guitar), and drummer Chia-Chin Tu. The word "elephant" in the band name symbolizes their bass-driven melodies, and "gym" refers to their agile and irregular rhythms.

History

Formation, ''Balance'' EP, ''Angle'' and hiatus (2014–2016)

As children, KT and Tell Chang were trained in classical music by their mother, while Chia-chin Tu learned classical percussion. After the siblings met Tu at a music club in high school, the trio formed ''Elephant Gym'' in February 2012, hand-produced a limited edition EP, and toured Taiwan on the single "Ordinary Route" (later released on their album ''Angle''). On May 8, 2013 the band released ''Balance'', their first EP, which included the song "Ocean in the Night" which was produced in collaboration with Hong-shen Hong, the lead singer of indie band Touming Magazine. In 2014, they collaborated with Yoga Lin on a song, "Speaking in Tongues", which they performed with him in

Hung Hom Hung Hom () is an area in the southeast of Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong. Including the area of Whampoa, Tai Wan, Hok Yuen, Lo Lung Hang and No. 12 Hill are administratively part of the Kowloon City District, with a portion west of Hu ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and at the

Taipei Arena The Taipei Arena () is a multi-purpose stadium located in Songshan, Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is a ...

. In June 2014, their debut album ''Angle'' was released, with singles featuring

Panai Kusui Panai may refer to: *Panai Kongpraphan (b. 1983), Thai footballer *Panai (Taiwanese singer) *Panai, Iran *Panai Kingdom on the northern coast of Sumatra in the Srivijaya period. Nearby sites were Barus and Lamuri Lamuri or Lambri was a kingdom in ...

and

Enno Cheng Enno Cheng () is a Taiwanese indie singer-songwriter who is also an author and a film actress. She is currently part of the band Chocolate Tiger (猛虎巧克力) in addition to performing and releasing albums solo. She is the daughter of fi ...

. In December 2014, the group members announced a year long hiatus due to Taiwanese compulsory military service, and held a performance entitled ''See You Then'' in addition to a short documentary of the same name.

Post-hiatus: ''Work'' EP and ''Underwater'' (2016–present)

In August 2016, their earlier work ''Angle'' was released in Japan and the group was invited to participate in the

Summer Sonic Festival The , also known as Supersonic, is an annual two- or three-day rock festival held at the same time in Osaka and Chiba, Japan. The majority of the bands playing in Osaka the first day go to Chiba the following day and vice versa. The line-up con ...

The group released their second EP ''Work'' in October 2016, followed by a tour of Taiwan in small venues. In June 2017, the group was invited to Tokyo to play with American math rock band The Fall of Troy and special guest Hikes. The band played in the Megaport Music Festival in 2018. In November 2018, they released their second full-length album ''Underwater'' followed by a world tour, which included a performance at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

and a live session at Audiotree. In August 2019, they performed at the ArcTanGent Festival. They released a single, "Gaze at Blue," on October 18, 2019. They released their latest studio album, Dreams, in 2022.

Awards

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Balance EP'' (2013) * ''Angle'' (2014) * ''Work EP'' (2016) * ''Underwater'' (2018) * ''Dreams'' (2022)

Singles

* ''Gaze at Blue'' (2019) * ''Dear Humans'' (2020) * ''Go Through the Night'' (2021)

References

{{Authority control Taiwanese rock music groups Math rock groups Topshelf Records artists