1 The Human Elephant = 1/2 Rats Live On No Evil Star

John Edward Donald grew up in the suburbs of Chicago during the seventies as a child of a divorce. He was given a guitar as a Christmas gift under the advice of one of his six older brothers when 9 years old and was schooled, as typical in Chicago, in blues guitar, then country until he was introduced to Joy Divison through a cassette tape given by a friend. The introduction to the music of Joy Division, which was at that time not considered "Punk“ or "Post-Punk“ but a type of proto-Gothic and later other industrial/post-industrial groups such as Current 93, Death in June, and especially the literary talent of Edward Ka-Spel of Legendary Pink Dots brought about a change in John Edward Donald's style. After embarking on an attempt with some other schoolmates to play the new sort of "hardcore“ commonly played by trios such as Distorted Pony which placed J. Donald on vocals and guitar he intuitively moved more and more into acoustic-based songwriting, using a four-track to record his sketches while living from eighteen on in the city of Chicago. The new area of Wicker Park with its hookers, theft, murder, and high heroin usage; full-time nightwork, and his ever-growing interest in the occult and literature, especially W. Somerset Maugham, changed the contents of his lyrics. His new artist name was taken from a short story by the fore-mentioned; he called himself as a working title "The Human Element.“ Some classic themes of his songs became inspiration through dreams and the wishes for solitude and companionship (1726 being the very first song written by him in the new "acoustic style"); loss (being the last-born he experienced death at an early age and especially the death of his oldest brother affected him deeply), and the mechanism of modern, urban life and also society's sicknesses complicating the natural human urges of partnership and the search for meaning and justice in life (see The Star).

The upcoming Lp called "White Thunder“ showcases John's ability as a songwriter and his work with various producers and musicians. It includes titles which were unreleased and left on the shelf due to band tensions and a flailing record industry and ones released only on compilations or digital download. Songs like "Sympathy“ demonstrate his roots in post-punk melancholy and his unique adaptation of this genre to the acoustic guitar while on songs such as "Happy and Sweet“ and "All Chorus No Verse“ one might recognize guitar playing rooted in the country tradition of the United States together with a post-modern sense of disenchantment and playfulness of text. The influence of gifted producers is felt in songs such as "Ausland“ with its tweaked rockabilly back up track and floating instruments, or in "Three Pictures of Three Women" by Schneider Tm and its dubby reverb and quirkily produced vocals. All songs have a ruthlessness of declaration harking simultaneously back to the belief and power of ideals of hardcore and the unplugged violence and confrontation of sixties folk reminiscent of Jackson C. Frank or Pearls Before Swine. An unflinching display of self-not-self from a quaky, deep, unique and sometime off-kilter voice and personality that is John Edward Donald. He lives in Berlin. It is his third release on Umor Rex and the first release of Umor Rex on vinyl. It is also the first L.P. Length collection of The Human Elephant's songs available on vinyl, all of which were mastered especially for this release by Calyx Mastering of Berlin and span almost the whole of his more well-recorded career.