Roy Jurgens on May 7th, 2019

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Every now and then you’ll come across an artist who refuses to give in to market forces, the ravages of time and the dismissive back of the hand slapped upon him by an industry that is cruelly ageist. The artist in question is Andy Stochansky, whose new solo project is called White Elephant Orchestra.

Born in Canada and plying his trade just south of the border in Buffalo, N.Y., Stochansky caught the eye of a fervent young folkie named Ani DiFranco in 1991. They went on to change the world throughout much of the ’90s, recording seven albums together while breaking boundaries, merging genres, espousing politics and altering the very business model of the music industry. After seven years as DiFranco’s musical heartbeat, Stochansky left under amicable terms and went to blaze his own path. Switching up on his instrumentation, he broke out on his own, releasing “RadioFusebox” in 1999. Critical accolades followed, from pundits and luminaries such as David Byrne. Songs poured forth and soon a label deal with RCA happened. In 2001, he released “5 Star Motel,” which garnered some radio attention with the singles “Wonderful (It’s Superman)” and “Stutter.”

But by the time he was ready to release his follow-up, “100,” produced by Goo Goo Dolls frontman Johnny Rzeznik, his label had undergone a sea change and he was set adrift. As luck would have it, his first would-be single, “Shine,” was covered by Aussie singer Shannon Noll, who had a No. 1 hit with it.

Stochansky’ career took a turn as he began getting syncs for films such as “Twilight” and “Van Wilder” and television, while collaborating with artists as varied as EDM DJs Ferry Corsten and Marlon Roudette and “American Idol” alumni James Durbin and Casey Abrams.

But Stochansky was unfulfilled, it had been 10 years since he’d last recorded and toured and felt it was time. At 54, Stochansky found that he had regained his passion for writing and performing. “The last record ‘100’ was only released in Canada, but that was the last time I was in the studio and touring,” Stochansky recalls. “At one point I decided I wanted to co-write with other artists. I honestly didn’t think I would want to give this another shot, but one day I woke up and the need to make my own work, songs, record and statement was all there in front of me and would not leave.”

Other than backing vocals by Lola Stone-Fox and Martina Sorbara (Dragonette, Martin Solveig), the instrumentation, songwriting and production on White Elephant Orchestra’s “Debut” are all the work of Stochansky. “Revolution Superstar,” the debut single, is the kind of song that worms its way into your brain and stays there. The electronic production is a considerable departure from the guitar band sound of his earlier work. Stochansky explained this new sound by adopting the moniker “White Elephant Orchestra” for this project: “Because this is such a different direction for me I decided to go under a pseudonym so right now I am not doing any songs from my catalogue, because I really feel like one of the more important things is going forward and being excited with all these new songs.”

||| Stream: “Revolution Superstar”