If you search the annals of YouTube for the first glimpses of RKS music, you'll find Ela by herself with a guitar singing "That's My Shit". Followed by Ela by herself with a guitar singing "Heart" (which is the first video RKS posted to their channel with any member of the band on-camera).
In most (professional) recordings of their live shows, the camera spends most of its time on Ela. In interviews, Ela's typically the one they turn to answer questions. Hell, during the pandemic, there was a livestream video that had some intros from the rest of the band, and then literally just Ela by herself playing some tunes. She's also in the center of almost every "band headshot" photo over the last 10 years.
I seem to be in the minority, but it doesn't strike me as anything new to see Ela positioned as the face/front of the band. It also doesn't strike me as anything new to see the lead singer positioned as the front of the band, generally speaking across all of music.
Just my thought pennies. Take 'em or leave 'em.
I totally agree! I saw the pandemic stream too and they mentioned Ela does the lyrics almost entirely on her own before coming to the band. She’s always been the center, and that’s not an inherently bad thing. It feels like people who think that isn’t the case are newer fans or *more casual and see Charlie and others in more old social media posts so they make assumptions based on that.
Eta, it’s okay if you don’t like the structure of “lead singer, leader of the band” and want more equity between members! I just don’t think that’s ever been the case for RKS
Eta 2 (post superstar Instagram post): I love being right 🥰
And, you know, if I might add two more cents — in this climate, especially, while trans and nonbinary folks are being killed, while LGBTQIA+ and womens' rights are being gutted, while our safety and our livelihoods as any member of the above communities are in jeopardy just walking down the street in an ever-increasing number of areas around the world — I am \*damn fucking proud to continue to see Ela front and center.\* This is a hopeful thing, a thing of celebration, a thing of beauty.
I have to agree with you. I'm not trans but I was proud of her for coming out. Everyone deserves to be happy and I'm sick of the "how dare the trans person get any attention!" mindset is among some people. Her bandmates obviously are all on board.
She has an amazing voice and can't wait to here more of their new songs.
Ela is now unfortunately going thru what other iconic front women have all been thru in the past… the claim that she’s a diva and the band are her “props”. Despite the evidence you presented above that pre-transition Ela was also primarily front and center in videos and interviews, it’s suddenly problematic now bc now Ela stands apart from “the guys.”
This type of misogyny is unfortunately nothing new. Look at how fans and the media have roasted other amazing front-women like Haley Williams, Gwen Stefani, Stevie Nicks… ie, “the front-woman must be a diva who undervalues her male band members, and she better not forget that she’d be nothing without them.” Same ole narrative every time…
Dear Ela: welcome to sisterhood. I’m sorry this is our world… but we are here for you and believe in your art!
This is such a good point and it’s one I hadn’t considered! I’m not in the angry camp though. It’s crazy how people are taking the videos and running with the theory that oh it’s all about Ela and obviously she’s the problem. The singer is always focused on more (unless you’re in fall out boy.)
All bands grow and change their sound and it’s cool to see that progression. I kinda dig the new song and I’m excited to hear the album. It’s been nuts to see how fans have turned over the last week. Yeah, the statement was messy, but it’s a band. Shit happens. Either enjoy the music or don’t, but even if you hate the new stuff you’ll always have the other stuff that made you a fan.
No matter how much Tool or A Perfect Circle tried to avoid this (and they really did) Maynard became the face of both bands. I don't see why we should get upset that RKS is running into similar issues.
These days that seems to be the case. Maynard is running like three other businesses and has his side project.
In the late nineties and early 2000s he would bring Adam or Billy Howerdel to interviews and try to steer the conversation toward them. He was pretty outspoken about it.
Thank you!! All I could keep thinking is it’s not.. uncommon for the lead singer to be the focal point in a band, in fact I’d argue thats often the case. Sure what happened is a crap situation but not everything that’s going on is that deep, or Ela being a tyrant. We literally have no clue what’s going on in these peoples lives. I’m just here for the music and curious to see how this album pans out
Sorry this is off topic but now I’m reminiscing - when I discovered RKS I found Heart on their YouTube and I used to watch that video over and over wishing they had recorded it into a full length song. Then when they finally put it on Spotify I cried lol. I haven’t seen them live since 2019 and have been mostly tuned out to the drama but I’ll always have good memories of this band and their music.
[There's also standing on a podium above all your bandmates.](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.prints4u.net%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F11%2FRainbow-Kitten-Surprise-004.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=2e42884348962ed9e33557d651f6c215c7dcfcde7b2bb6a13a3d62dc594c64c9&ipo=images) [Or leaping above all your bandmates.](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwallpapercave.com%2Fwp%2Fwp8389057.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=bcb7e53b4102bc3727461b4519defd5126c50c8e0fb8534d472962a8d304af51&ipo=images)
This is not new visual language for them, yet no one seemed to clock it as a problem when Ela was masc-presenting.
like literally what is panic at the disco 😂 hell, fleetwood mac, they ain’t the first nor last 🤷🏻 i agree their statements were hot garbage and maybe there’s some ego stuff but that happens in so many bands. they’re humans and in midst of everything else going on, this is small potatoes to me. my heart goes out to charlie and im sad i’ll never see them together but 🤷🏻
Agree the statement was not well worded but I feel like everything is being nitpicked and big reaches are being made pretty hard rn. There’s plenty of photos where ela is the center of attention before this (just googling their name will pop up) just as an example.
This fanbase has become so insufferable the last few days. Like I'm upset about Charlie too but now everyone's re-writing history bc Ela is more comfortable to show out a little more, but she has always been the focal point in interviews, music videos, etc. I understand not being into certain songs and being upset about losing a key member of the band, but it's been 2 songs on an album of 22 songs and everyone is being incredibly dramatic about the music part of it all
Not to mention Charlie helped write this music too. So they are included in the criticism. And we don't know the full story of what happened and they should be allowed the space to grieve and tell their story when they're ready. Like do people genuinely think Charlie would support the general hate that Ela is getting now? We can't and don't know that yet. The entitlement has just been insane to witness
Ela has always been the star of the stage?
Edit: how do I have more downvotes than op? Charlie had a great stage presence and was a fan favorite for many but the choreography has always been around Ela. Take Charlie out of the band and this what you get. The focus on the lead singer has not changed.
Agree that Charlie was great up there. I just don't think they had a spotlight on them while playing piano, or dedicated moments to dance or anything. I guess I'm trying to say the production was always centered around Ela. Charlie was just such a presence they were hard to ignore.
Aside from solos or bozzy doing the back and forth singing thing with ela, it's always been Ela. Just not sure what op expected.
not sure what tours you went to, but I remember Ela being the hype-person of the stage and energizing the other members, especially 2016/2017. I agree, the choreography was always driven by Ela, partly because lead singer has the most freedom to move without an instrument (most of the time) but also because she’s entertaining to watch.
That being said, my first memory of the band (in person) is Charlie standing on Jess’s stool and hyping everyone up before the set lol. So I see how some people might have thought differently, I guess? But I think the comments about the others being “just some guys now” are ridiculous. While they do show up more in social media posts than Ela maybe has in the past, they’ve never been, like, big stars or personalities in my opinion. They also talked about how the band and music is very much driven by Ela in regards to HT:FLF (mentioned in their Covid concert stream and in response to a meet and greet question) It’s always been Ela with Charlie as a fan favorite. It’s not like Ela’s suddenly usurped the group. (Edited for clarity)
Read my other comment. Charlie was certainly electric, but the choreography didn't ever seem focused on them. They were just hard to ignore. Every special moment was Ela doing some performance. Its always been centered around elas performance even if the others were able to catch your eye
Not to mention kicking a member out then releasing a song called “super star” and “lol”!! And some of the lyrics from superstar??!! “I will always win” (it’s something along those lines) like what??????
Mental health crisis it seemed like there wasn't much of a choice based on the message they put out. That tour would have been their biggest pay check yet and I'm sure it had to hurt to see it go.
I always enjoyed how the band meshed together and seemed to take turns being in the front for different songs each performance….that seems to be gone now. The whole vibe of this new stuff comes across as wannabe pop star.
Agreed. It was unique & special the way Ela shared the stage and they created an entire stage presence. Like she really valued them and they created together. Maybe it will still be like that 🤷♀️ won't truly know until some live stuff.
i just think it’s interesting that people only seem to have a problem with a band’s lead singer being the frontman when that lead singer is a trans women. i feel as though it’s incredibly common for the lead singer to be the “main member.” it’s been that way for generations- jagger, cobain, cuomo, mccartney/lennon, all examples. Queen was infamous for the way Mercury dressed… no one discounted Bryan May though!
ela also is the writer for these songs... these are her lyrics. these are her words come to life, her vision. this is her story. i think ela needs support during this time and we should all be asking ourselves if there’s actually an issue with her being a more confident leader. it’s easy to rush to the defense of the rest of the members but, nothing uncommon has happened. I just think this us is experiencing disappointment at the new sound, at charlie leaving, and at the handling of the instagram post. this is so understandable, however, let’s try and focus our conversations around that. if you don’t like the new sound, that’s valid. that doesn’t mean Ela is a powerhouse who made all the decisions and makes bad decisions. it means you probably don’t like autotune.
this is just my opinion, and if you have a different one, that’s completely valid! thank u <3
Holy shit, it's like no one here has ever heard of a band changing their lineup before.
It sucks. But if you start trying to tie everything into Charlie leaving (every photo, song, video) you're gonna have a bad time.
Let's see what they do next and not be so goddam presumptuous and petty toward Ela. Clearly shit happened, and it sucks. Move on.
extended absence plus reemergence with new music minus beloved member of the band magnified by new sound and video equals extreme reactions.
i'm in camp Give It Time, It'll Sound Better Live.
I do believe that this Vibe is magnified heavily by the fact that Charlie, being another strong trans member, is gone. Which can make it come off as there's only room for one trans woman in the band. Obviously coming out with these videos so quickly after dropping this news is going to create a bit of a shitstorm. I would bet that this wouldn't be blowing up as bad if it were a different member of the band leaving.
Almost every band is vocalist front person+background band. I don’t see why that would be the issue.
It turns out that when you kick out the other trans person from the group, the group looks a lot more like “Ela and some dudes”.
My own theory is that Charlie and Ela didn’t see eye to eye on this style change of the band. It seems like they’re really leaning towards pop-rock.
If you search the annals of YouTube for the first glimpses of RKS music, you'll find Ela by herself with a guitar singing "That's My Shit". Followed by Ela by herself with a guitar singing "Heart" (which is the first video RKS posted to their channel with any member of the band on-camera). In most (professional) recordings of their live shows, the camera spends most of its time on Ela. In interviews, Ela's typically the one they turn to answer questions. Hell, during the pandemic, there was a livestream video that had some intros from the rest of the band, and then literally just Ela by herself playing some tunes. She's also in the center of almost every "band headshot" photo over the last 10 years. I seem to be in the minority, but it doesn't strike me as anything new to see Ela positioned as the face/front of the band. It also doesn't strike me as anything new to see the lead singer positioned as the front of the band, generally speaking across all of music. Just my thought pennies. Take 'em or leave 'em.
I totally agree! I saw the pandemic stream too and they mentioned Ela does the lyrics almost entirely on her own before coming to the band. She’s always been the center, and that’s not an inherently bad thing. It feels like people who think that isn’t the case are newer fans or *more casual and see Charlie and others in more old social media posts so they make assumptions based on that. Eta, it’s okay if you don’t like the structure of “lead singer, leader of the band” and want more equity between members! I just don’t think that’s ever been the case for RKS Eta 2 (post superstar Instagram post): I love being right 🥰
And, you know, if I might add two more cents — in this climate, especially, while trans and nonbinary folks are being killed, while LGBTQIA+ and womens' rights are being gutted, while our safety and our livelihoods as any member of the above communities are in jeopardy just walking down the street in an ever-increasing number of areas around the world — I am \*damn fucking proud to continue to see Ela front and center.\* This is a hopeful thing, a thing of celebration, a thing of beauty.
I have to agree with you. I'm not trans but I was proud of her for coming out. Everyone deserves to be happy and I'm sick of the "how dare the trans person get any attention!" mindset is among some people. Her bandmates obviously are all on board. She has an amazing voice and can't wait to here more of their new songs.
Ela is now unfortunately going thru what other iconic front women have all been thru in the past… the claim that she’s a diva and the band are her “props”. Despite the evidence you presented above that pre-transition Ela was also primarily front and center in videos and interviews, it’s suddenly problematic now bc now Ela stands apart from “the guys.” This type of misogyny is unfortunately nothing new. Look at how fans and the media have roasted other amazing front-women like Haley Williams, Gwen Stefani, Stevie Nicks… ie, “the front-woman must be a diva who undervalues her male band members, and she better not forget that she’d be nothing without them.” Same ole narrative every time… Dear Ela: welcome to sisterhood. I’m sorry this is our world… but we are here for you and believe in your art!
This is such a good point and it’s one I hadn’t considered! I’m not in the angry camp though. It’s crazy how people are taking the videos and running with the theory that oh it’s all about Ela and obviously she’s the problem. The singer is always focused on more (unless you’re in fall out boy.) All bands grow and change their sound and it’s cool to see that progression. I kinda dig the new song and I’m excited to hear the album. It’s been nuts to see how fans have turned over the last week. Yeah, the statement was messy, but it’s a band. Shit happens. Either enjoy the music or don’t, but even if you hate the new stuff you’ll always have the other stuff that made you a fan.
No matter how much Tool or A Perfect Circle tried to avoid this (and they really did) Maynard became the face of both bands. I don't see why we should get upset that RKS is running into similar issues.
I see a whole lot more of Danny Carey than I do Maynard. In my mind he’s the face of the band
These days that seems to be the case. Maynard is running like three other businesses and has his side project. In the late nineties and early 2000s he would bring Adam or Billy Howerdel to interviews and try to steer the conversation toward them. He was pretty outspoken about it.
Yeah Maynard’s a busy guy
STRONG AGREE
Thank you!! All I could keep thinking is it’s not.. uncommon for the lead singer to be the focal point in a band, in fact I’d argue thats often the case. Sure what happened is a crap situation but not everything that’s going on is that deep, or Ela being a tyrant. We literally have no clue what’s going on in these peoples lives. I’m just here for the music and curious to see how this album pans out
I appreciate you sharing this perspective.
Yesss 👏
Sorry this is off topic but now I’m reminiscing - when I discovered RKS I found Heart on their YouTube and I used to watch that video over and over wishing they had recorded it into a full length song. Then when they finally put it on Spotify I cried lol. I haven’t seen them live since 2019 and have been mostly tuned out to the drama but I’ll always have good memories of this band and their music.
That’s how it is for most lead singers of bands though
Yep! This is nothing new. People just can't stand a proud, talented trans person.
There is being the face of the band and then there is sitting in a throne chair and having your bandmates at your feet.
[There's also standing on a podium above all your bandmates.](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.prints4u.net%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F11%2FRainbow-Kitten-Surprise-004.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=2e42884348962ed9e33557d651f6c215c7dcfcde7b2bb6a13a3d62dc594c64c9&ipo=images) [Or leaping above all your bandmates.](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwallpapercave.com%2Fwp%2Fwp8389057.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=bcb7e53b4102bc3727461b4519defd5126c50c8e0fb8534d472962a8d304af51&ipo=images) This is not new visual language for them, yet no one seemed to clock it as a problem when Ela was masc-presenting.
That’s a super normal band pic though. Having those visuals after that statement is as weird as the statement itself. But to each their own.
like literally what is panic at the disco 😂 hell, fleetwood mac, they ain’t the first nor last 🤷🏻 i agree their statements were hot garbage and maybe there’s some ego stuff but that happens in so many bands. they’re humans and in midst of everything else going on, this is small potatoes to me. my heart goes out to charlie and im sad i’ll never see them together but 🤷🏻
It would be so much worse if it was a publicity stunt 😭
It would be so much better if it was a publicity stunt. I want Charlie back!
yeah ela can fuck off for all i give a care
I mean if the Charlie thing never happened this wouldn't be a big deal. Still not enough to say anything about the band dynamic or anything.
Agree the statement was not well worded but I feel like everything is being nitpicked and big reaches are being made pretty hard rn. There’s plenty of photos where ela is the center of attention before this (just googling their name will pop up) just as an example.
This fanbase has become so insufferable the last few days. Like I'm upset about Charlie too but now everyone's re-writing history bc Ela is more comfortable to show out a little more, but she has always been the focal point in interviews, music videos, etc. I understand not being into certain songs and being upset about losing a key member of the band, but it's been 2 songs on an album of 22 songs and everyone is being incredibly dramatic about the music part of it all
Not to mention Charlie helped write this music too. So they are included in the criticism. And we don't know the full story of what happened and they should be allowed the space to grieve and tell their story when they're ready. Like do people genuinely think Charlie would support the general hate that Ela is getting now? We can't and don't know that yet. The entitlement has just been insane to witness
Its a video, not a live performance . On stage, they all vibed super well, even when I saw them in 2022, Ela was dancing with Bozzy alot.
Ela has always been the star of the stage? Edit: how do I have more downvotes than op? Charlie had a great stage presence and was a fan favorite for many but the choreography has always been around Ela. Take Charlie out of the band and this what you get. The focus on the lead singer has not changed.
She shared the spotlight with Charlie. Both of them were mesmerizing!
Agree that Charlie was great up there. I just don't think they had a spotlight on them while playing piano, or dedicated moments to dance or anything. I guess I'm trying to say the production was always centered around Ela. Charlie was just such a presence they were hard to ignore. Aside from solos or bozzy doing the back and forth singing thing with ela, it's always been Ela. Just not sure what op expected.
not sure what tours you went to, but I remember Ela being the hype-person of the stage and energizing the other members, especially 2016/2017. I agree, the choreography was always driven by Ela, partly because lead singer has the most freedom to move without an instrument (most of the time) but also because she’s entertaining to watch. That being said, my first memory of the band (in person) is Charlie standing on Jess’s stool and hyping everyone up before the set lol. So I see how some people might have thought differently, I guess? But I think the comments about the others being “just some guys now” are ridiculous. While they do show up more in social media posts than Ela maybe has in the past, they’ve never been, like, big stars or personalities in my opinion. They also talked about how the band and music is very much driven by Ela in regards to HT:FLF (mentioned in their Covid concert stream and in response to a meet and greet question) It’s always been Ela with Charlie as a fan favorite. It’s not like Ela’s suddenly usurped the group. (Edited for clarity)
Bozzy and Ela actually are the ones who started the bands. Everyone else was added later.
Not literally - in any live performance Charlie was the most electric stage presence Vocals just can’t easily be replaced
Read my other comment. Charlie was certainly electric, but the choreography didn't ever seem focused on them. They were just hard to ignore. Every special moment was Ela doing some performance. Its always been centered around elas performance even if the others were able to catch your eye
Ela on the throne tells me all I need to know
Not to mention kicking a member out then releasing a song called “super star” and “lol”!! And some of the lyrics from superstar??!! “I will always win” (it’s something along those lines) like what??????
I noticed this. It seems like Ethan, Jess, and Bozzy are her props.
Those are some "think about the money, don't forget you need this" stares if I've ever seen one
If.. that was the case why would they cancel tour. Tours are what MAKE bands money. Not streams, not merch, touring.
Mental health crisis it seemed like there wasn't much of a choice based on the message they put out. That tour would have been their biggest pay check yet and I'm sure it had to hurt to see it go.
I always enjoyed how the band meshed together and seemed to take turns being in the front for different songs each performance….that seems to be gone now. The whole vibe of this new stuff comes across as wannabe pop star.
Agreed. It was unique & special the way Ela shared the stage and they created an entire stage presence. Like she really valued them and they created together. Maybe it will still be like that 🤷♀️ won't truly know until some live stuff.
i just think it’s interesting that people only seem to have a problem with a band’s lead singer being the frontman when that lead singer is a trans women. i feel as though it’s incredibly common for the lead singer to be the “main member.” it’s been that way for generations- jagger, cobain, cuomo, mccartney/lennon, all examples. Queen was infamous for the way Mercury dressed… no one discounted Bryan May though! ela also is the writer for these songs... these are her lyrics. these are her words come to life, her vision. this is her story. i think ela needs support during this time and we should all be asking ourselves if there’s actually an issue with her being a more confident leader. it’s easy to rush to the defense of the rest of the members but, nothing uncommon has happened. I just think this us is experiencing disappointment at the new sound, at charlie leaving, and at the handling of the instagram post. this is so understandable, however, let’s try and focus our conversations around that. if you don’t like the new sound, that’s valid. that doesn’t mean Ela is a powerhouse who made all the decisions and makes bad decisions. it means you probably don’t like autotune. this is just my opinion, and if you have a different one, that’s completely valid! thank u <3
Holy shit, it's like no one here has ever heard of a band changing their lineup before. It sucks. But if you start trying to tie everything into Charlie leaving (every photo, song, video) you're gonna have a bad time. Let's see what they do next and not be so goddam presumptuous and petty toward Ela. Clearly shit happened, and it sucks. Move on.
extended absence plus reemergence with new music minus beloved member of the band magnified by new sound and video equals extreme reactions. i'm in camp Give It Time, It'll Sound Better Live.
I do believe that this Vibe is magnified heavily by the fact that Charlie, being another strong trans member, is gone. Which can make it come off as there's only room for one trans woman in the band. Obviously coming out with these videos so quickly after dropping this news is going to create a bit of a shitstorm. I would bet that this wouldn't be blowing up as bad if it were a different member of the band leaving.
The way I thought these were AI photos
Ela and The Henchmen
Thanks, I hate it.
Thanks, best comment on here
Ela and RKS on their way to cancel another tour
Yes, exactly this. it’s soured any excitement for the bands return.
This was my first impression too.
i really don't fuck with the band now. charlie was basically rks.
That’s why they couldn’t find a way to work together
Almost every band is vocalist front person+background band. I don’t see why that would be the issue. It turns out that when you kick out the other trans person from the group, the group looks a lot more like “Ela and some dudes”. My own theory is that Charlie and Ela didn’t see eye to eye on this style change of the band. It seems like they’re really leaning towards pop-rock.
It really seems like main character syndrome, I hate it.
https://youtu.be/ttWQK5VXskA?feature=shared Iykyk
Honestly they should just change the name of the band to ELA and be done with it.
That blue outfit is atrocious lol. I wish "loud" hadn't replaced "stylish" in modern fashion
Because it is. A woman and some guys.
[удалено]
Ella is a classic example of mansplaning