The birth of Elliott was in the fall of '95 when guitarist Jay Palumbo left the band Empathy, moved to Louisville, and joined up with Chris Higdon (vox/ guitar) and Jonathan Mobley (bass). Higdon and Mobley had recently ended an accomplished run with the highly acclaimed band Falling Forward and been jamming with one another on an off since childhood. With the intention of sounding unlike a continuation of any of their previous hardcore bands, the threesome began writing and, with the temporary fill in drummer, soon recorded a 7" for Initial Records. The band's sound was developing into one that was quite their own: an extremely textured combination of melodic hardcore, rock, and emo that hits you smack in the face one minute and sways you into a daydream the next. In the fall of '96 they enlisted drummer Kevin Ratterman and the true focus of Elliott began.