Elevator Through

While recording with Moncton, New Brunswick indie rock outfit Eric's Trip in 1994, guitarist Rick White and drummer Mark Gaudet launched the side project Elevator to Hell alongside bassist Tara White and keyboard player Ron Bates. Once Eric's Trip disbanded in 1996, Elevator to Hell became White and Gaudet's primary focus. That same year the quartet secured a deal with Sub Pop, the label that had previously been home to White and Gaudet during their Eric's Trip years. Sub Pop signed the group on the basis of their live performances and the album Parts 1-2, which the band had issued independently in February 1995 before Sub Pop reissued it on vinyl. Following their debut, Elevator to Hell put out a 7" single on Sappy Records, the imprint run by former Eric's Trip member Julie Doiron Claytor. Early in 1996 Bates departed, citing both the reduced role of keyboard parts in new material and commitments to his other band, Orange Glass.

Having finalized their formal contract with Sub Pop, the band issued its second full-length, Part 3, in July 1996 as a vinyl-only release. Because Parts 1-2 and Part 3 existed solely on vinyl, Sub Pop compiled both into a single CD titled Parts 1-3 that appeared in August. While still working with Sub Pop, the band released two additional 7"s via Sappy and Squirtgun ahead of the 1997 LP Eerieconsiliation. Further singles and recordings surfaced on Astral Navigation and Murderecords over the next two years. After those releases the members elected to shorten the band name to Elevator Through and delivered their fourth album, Vague Premonition, in 1999. In 2000 they adopted the name Elevator once more, signed with Toronto label Teenage USA, and issued the full-length A Taste of Complete Perspective.