WHEN you listen to music you can usually imagine the band or the soloist performing. But what if the music sounded like a band, had the name of a band, but was in fact just one person?

Well, John Elliot also known as The Little Unsaid, started off as one person who recorded music at home with an old computer and microphone.

He said: “Since I was younger I have loved music. I did what everyone did - I took piano lessons and I hated it. When I was a teenager I got into bands and attempted to sing, well it was more shouting then.

“I thought seriously about it when I started recording music at home on an old PC and Microphone and I loved that you could put loads of instruments together and make it sound like there was a whole band, when there was just me.”

Growing up in a small West Yorkshire town (and later writing a song about it, called Milltown), John soon decided that moving to London was the only way he was going to make it in the music industry. He started touring on his own and self-releasing records, under the name The Little Unsaid.

He added: “When I was playing solo gigs but didn’t want to use my own name, I came up with The Little Unsaid. This made people think that I was actually a band. There is a kind of mythology behind a piece of music – it makes you wonder what the people are like and with a name like The Little Unsaid, I could have been a whole band of people.

“I was never on a mission to find other members, I just played with people but when I met Tim, Alison and Mariya, I knew it felt right playing with them.

“It allows me (and now the rest of the band) to be whatever we want – a solo, a duo or a full-blown band.”

Since the band came together, they have toured the UK and Europe and self-released several acclaimed albums but have now signed with Reveal Records. They released their latest album Atomise in May 2019.

He said: “Our album, Atomise, is about looking outwards to the division in the air that people around us are feeling at the moment – it looks at the atomisation in culture. Some songs have taken a long time to write – like three years, but others have taken literally 20 minutes.”

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Rather than focus on a specific genre, John believes that the song writing is the most important part of his music.

Some of their songs require just a piano and a voice (similar to folk music) and some songs use electric drum machines – The Little Unsaid don’t like to confine themselves to any particular style or limit themselves to any particular type of music.

He added: “The most recent songs use mainly piano and guitar, but we do swap around. All of us are multi-instrumentalists which is good because it keeps the set fluid and fresh.

“We change up the show each live tour, which is important to keep songs fresh. We change dependent on mood – it is good to keep it in the moment.”

Their latest tour starts this November and the band will be performing songs from their latest EP, Music/Nature.

These six tracks extend the Atomise album’s themes of finding hope and meaning amidst an atmosphere of division, and the many forms of fragmentation – of the self, of our communities, relationships, memories – that we struggle against day to day.

John said: “Playing gigs is what we all live for. Being in a room full of people makes you feel more connected, especially with the disconnection in the world at the moment. It is nice to be part of the community.”

The Little Unsaid will be at The David Hall in South Petherton on November 23 and who knows whether it will be a duo, solo or a whole band – you’ll have to book to find out.

John added: “I am looking forward to the gig in South Petherton. I think it’s a converted church space which is always great for acoustics.”

To book visit www.thedavidhall.com