The Minders End A 10-Year Hiatus With 'Into The River'

If you're familiar with the Elephant Six collective that began in the 1990s, you'll know there have been several notable bands with a Denver connection to come out of it. In addition to Neutral Milk Hotel, The Apples In Stereo amd Dressy Bessy, that list includes The Minders, who have since relocated to Portland, Ore.

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Fronted by Martyn Leaper, The Minders have been fairly quiet in recent years. But the band returned this month with the album "Into The River," which they released the same day they visited our CPR Performance Studio.

Leaper and his band played four songs from the new album. He also spoke with Jeremy Petersen about incorporating string parts into the band's music for the first time, how they spent the 10 years since the debut album, and the history behind the Elephant Six collective.

Stream the session and watch The Minders perform "It's Gonna Breakout!" above. Read interview highlights and watch more videos below.

Frontman Martyn Leaper on what the Elephant Six collective means to him:

"Neutral Milk Hotel, The Apples In Stereo, Olivia Tremor Control, then there was Elf Power, us. All these bands, we all ... had the same feeling. It was a very organic thing. Still is.

"We were just the straight pop arm of the collective. 'Cause it was a collective and yes, we still put Elephant Six logos on our records and stuff. It's really kind of a badge. It's a badge of pride."

Leaper on using string parts on "Into The River":

"We wanted to dress this album right. We've never been able to have the opportunity to bring real strings in. And so we were lucky enough to get a couple of folks from the Portland Cello Project."

Songs performed: