Electric Guest give another twist to their story on new album, ’10K’
Electric Guest
Electric Guest are the best kind of inconsistent.
The LA-based duo, aka Asa Taccone and Matthew Compton, released their debut album, Mondo, back in 2012, a year after The Strokes released a compilation album (The Collection) full of wonderfully catchy and (with all due love and respect) largely indistinguishable tracks. 2011 also saw the release of The Black Keys‘ breakout record, El Camino, a brilliant and beautiful continuation – elevated by Danger Mouse’s signature production (more on that later) – of their trademark sound following a remarkable run of five album releases in six years. In their 00s heyday, Casablancas & Co had released three strikingly similar ‘indie rock’ records in five years.
Meanwhile, Electric Guest went 5 years before following Mondo with their sophomore album, Plural (2017). At a time when ‘indie rock’ ruled the roost and bands were sticking with repeatable, winning fomulas, Electric Guest were clearly a different breed of ‘indie rock’ band. Plural was a sea-change from Mondo, and the two-year hiatus between it and 2019’s KIN resulted in an even starker difference. Fast forward six years, and Electric Guest have just released 10K amidst competition from AI ‘artists’ churning out algorithmically-created track after track.
So if you’re looking for consistency, go listen to an identikit indie-rock release from the late 00s-10s. If you want a predictable band programmed to provoke brand loyalty, give AI a try. But if you want to hear an artist searching for their voice, at times struggling with their creativity, then go and listen to Electric Guest. Their discography tells a story, one that started with $10k and (for now) culminates in 10K. Inconsistent? Absolutely. But gloriously so.
FAULT: 10K has been out for a few weeks now. You’re no strangers to a new album release; how does this one compare – both in terms of your own feelings and the public response – to some of your previous records?
Electric Guest (Asa): I dread an album release mostly because they just bring up every doubt I’ve ever had about myself, but this one has been different.
I think because this record was truly made on my own terms, much like our first album: no one to answer to. I think I’m just less stressed because I actually like the album a lot. And the response has definitely reflected that. Mostly through the way people have reacted to it at the few shows we’ve started to do, and also through the DM’s we’ve gotten. I’ve gotten some really sweet messages from artists that I really look up to.
From what I’ve read, the album was recorded with an ‘indie’ ethos: you kept family and friends at the heart of the creative process instead of bringing in outside voices from across the industry. Do you think you would’ve been able to make the same record working with a major label?
No, definitely not. Just listen to our last album if you want an actual example of that. It’s just… I don’t know, there’s a lot of people with a lot of opinions, but those opinions are driven by things that often have very little to do with the art itself. People on majors are looking for a certain type of success and big records, I’m just no longer interested in that.
Obviously some of those aforementioned friends are major players in the industry in their own right. Was there a particularly helpful/memorable suggestion or piece of advice you received from anyone while writing or producing 10K?
Yeah, on ‘1 Player Game’ the original chorus had the same chord progression as the verse. I played it for Danger Mouse, and he told me that the listener should always know where they are in the song, and having the chorus the same as the verse was making the listener wonder if the chorus was really the chorus. So, I changed the whole part.
Also, Carly Rae Jepson gave me the note to add a pre-chorus on ‘Stand Back For You’ to set up the impact of the chorus better, which was very helpful.
Some people still consider Mondo to be your most accomplished album, partly due to the distinctive production by Danger Mouse. As a result, that collaboration is a big part of that album’s narrative. By contrast, 10K is a totally different, much more personal story. Would you ever go down the former route again (with Danger Mouse specifically or another producer with a signature style), or are you going to continue to take things more “in-house” from now on?
Yeah, I’d love to. I’ve been talking to him about it for a while now, but he’s on a different timeline now. But we’ll see.
Discussing ‘Love on High’, you alluded to reaching the top of your particular mountain top. After 3 successful albums, racking up millions of streams and notching up some genuine cultural landmarks (the universally-recognisable ‘This Head I Hold’, Asa’s collab on Portugal. The Man’s ‘Feel it Still’) along the way, a lot of people would be happy to pack things up, keep taking royalties and move onto something else. What’s inspired you to come back, after 6 years, and go again? And what do you think would have to change for you to want to stop?
I’ve never had anyone ask me what it would take to stop doing music! I don’t know… I mean, I love doing music. It’s more of a way to get things out of your head than it is about trying to be successful. And, really, I felt like, these last few years, I got lost down that rabbit hole of trying to write hit songs – and it didn’t feel very good. So, this is really a return to form for me. I think that, when every artist starts their career, it’s just the private desire to create that drives you. Then you enter into the complicated, often-times debased world of commerce & the arts. You sell your art & you hear what everyone has to say about it. This is the stage you can get lost in – and I did.
What’s the story behind this $10k loan, then? I keep seeing it referenced but I don’t know if you’ve spoken about it properly (yet)… What were you doing beforehand, who gave you the loan, what did you do with it…? I know it’s been a while since you started out, but can we please hear the origin story for Electric Guest, please?!
Well, I can’t say who gave me the loan because they’ve asked me not to but I’m forever grateful to them.
If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Probably something with concrete. I’ve been making these huge concrete poly blended planters with large-scale landscaping, and I’ve gotten fairly good at it.
You have an upcoming US tour to promote 10K but you also have a huge following in Europe, particularly in France. Any plans for a UK/EU tour on the horizon?
We were just out in Paris doing little promo shows and press but yeah, I think we’re gonna go back early next year.
What is your FAULT?
Hmm…. I actually think both Matthew and I are too eager to please. I’m really trying to shake that trait because it’s the vibe.