John is an award-winning composer, music producer, songwriter and performer from West Yorkshire.
Since moving into composing for theatre, TV and film, in 2022 he won the Stage Debut Award for Best Composer for his live electronic score for the Olivier-nominated play Cruise.
Other recent theatre work includes true-crime thriller KENREX, in which John performs his live electronics-infused Americana score, opening at Sheffield Crucible before transferring to Southwark Playhouse in March 2025.
Previously he spent years on the road as a touring and recording artist in the UK and Europe, garnering a cult following for his genre-hopping project The Little Unsaid, now a regular staple at Glastonbury and receiving radio play from the likes of Iggy Pop and Guy Garvey.
John was the recipient of the Steve Reid InNOVAtion Award for boundary-pushing music creators, judged by a panel of music industry professionals including Gilles Peterson, Four Tet and Floating Points.
He is currently working as producer and composer on several album projects, composing for a new TV documentary series, and writing music for a new play by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Summer 2025.
Photo by Pamela Raith
Press
“Bold and different…stretches boundaries.”
— The Guardian
“Entrancing…deeply atmospheric…songwriting of a real rich quality.”
— Clash
“John Elliott's music is nothing short of extraordinary.”
— Broadway World
“An audacious and atmospheric live soundtrack composed and performed by John Patrick Elliott. Imagine, if you will, a musical score created by the ghost of Johnny Cash in collaboration with the celebrated duo of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, and you will have something approximating Elliott’s remarkable combination of country and western with dystopian post-punk rock music.”
— Telegraph
“Mesmeric. Atmospheric. Totally beguiling.”
— RnR
“Original and uncompromising…some of the most soul-searching, brutally self-aware music around.”
— KLOF Mag
“One of the most intriguing and innovative musical minds of his generation.”
— FATEA
“Stunning.”
— The Line of Best Fit
“AMAZING…The best portrayal of clubbing I have ever seen.”
— Russell T Davies (on Cruise)
“John Patrick Elliott is a stunningly effective wingman for Holden. Elliott composes and performs live a swaggering soundtrack evoking the 1980s by way of an astonishing range of influences: disco, Chicago House...The soundtrack is so infectious at times, it is a shame the venue is seated.”
— British Theatre Guide
“Providing the soundtrack and bringing London’s 80’s dance floors to life is composer, music producer and songwriter John Patrick Elliott. Simultaneously mixing tracks, singing and playing instruments, he creates an evolving electropop soundscape that captures the musical vibe of a decade and perfectly amplifies the action.”
— Evening Standard
“The performance is especially masterful on a sound level, too, to the extent that Cruise should be praised as a two-person play: composer and musician John Patrick Elliott may not play a character, but his score is as essential to the success of the play as Holden’s sensitively deft multi-rolling. The instrumentation and genre of the score evolve from the country-pop of Patsy Kline to Chicago house, but it never loses its effortlessly contrapuntal capability to emphasise each separate dramatic moment.”
— The Upcoming