Electric Guest is a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

-based band formed in 2011. The group comprises

Asa Taccone Asa Taccone (born September 20, 1983) is an American musician, songwriter, producer, and frontman of the band Electric Guest with whom he has released three albums since 2012. He is noted as a close collaborator of The Lonely Island and has co ...

and Matthew "Cornbread" Compton. Luke Top plays bass and Reese Richardson plays keyboards/guitar in the touring version of the band. On April 24, 2012, the band released their debut album, '' Mondo''. They released their second album, ''Plural'', on February 17, 2017, and their third album, ''Kin'', on October 18, 2019.

History

Asa Taccone met Matthew Compton after renting a room, previously inhabited by Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton, in a large house of mostly musician tenants.Gotch, Kristin (May 7, 2012)
"An Interview with Electric Guest"
PopMatters. Retrieved February 23, 2016. Compton was a session drummer, and the two artists began to collaborate. Burton heard demos of their work and, over the span of a year, urged Taccone to make an album. Taccone recalled an older woman once calling him "an electric guest of the universe", and used the quote as an inspiration for their band name. They performed their single "

This Head I Hold "This Head I Hold" is the first single from Electric Guest's debut album ''Mondo (album), Mondo''. It was one of the best-selling singles in France of 2012. Lyrics and composition Taccone said the song was conceived as a "constant reminder that y ...

" on an April 2012 taping of the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

'' and have made other television appearances on '' Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' and '' ''Conan'''' in the United States. In the UK, they have done studio performances for

Lauren Laverne Lauren Cecilia Fisher (née Gofton; born 28 April 1978), known professionally as Lauren Laverne, is an English radio DJ, model, television presenter, author and singer. She was the lead singer and additional guitarist in the alternative rock ba ...

Dermot O'Leary Seán Dermot Fintan O'Leary Jr. (born 24 May 1973) is an English broadcaster who currently works for ITV and BBC Radio 2. His radio career began when he worked as a disc jockey at Essex Radio, but he is best known for being the presenter of ' ...

, and

Rob da Bank Robert John Gorham (born 24 June 1973 in Portsmouth, Hampshire), known by the pseudonym Rob da Bank, is an English DJ and co-founder of music festivals Bestival, originally on the Isle of Wight and now moved to Lulworth, Dorset and Camp Bestiv ...

on BBC sessions. While they have performed live on television they have also had their music featured in popular US television shows such as ''

Teen Wolf ''Teen Wolf'' is a 1985 American coming-of-age romantic fantasy comedy film directed by Rod Daniel and written by Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman. Michael J. Fox stars as the title character, a high school student whose ordinary life is chang ...

'', HBO's award-winning ''

Girls A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.c ...

'' and '' Suits''. Electric Guest debuted their album '' Mondo'' in April 2012. The album is very much influenced on retro grooves from the 1970s and 1980s. As reviewed by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine, the sound of ''Mondo'' is a “Beck-ian journey into L.A. slacker soul, full of hooky neon jams that ponder fame's fraught highway and the emptiness of modern life.” Burton co-produced Electric Guest's debut album ''Mondo'' after a year of exchanging advice and music with Asa Taccone, who happened to be a friend's younger brother.Tittiger, Annie (October 29, 2012)
"7 Questions for Asa Taccone"
''Mondern Luxury''. Retrieved February 22, 2016. Taccone then moved to Los Angeles by taking the room Burton was moving out of. Their relationship continued, and ultimately blossomed into their collaboration on ''Mondo''. Besides the album and singles, there has also been a popular cover of

Little Dragon Little Dragon are a Swedish electronic music band from Gothenburg, Sweden, formed in 1996. The band consists of Yukimi Nagano (vocals, percussion), Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrik Wallin (bass) and Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards). Little Dragon' ...

's 'Ritual Union' which was done for the "Like a Version" sessions for Triple J in Australia. Nu:Logic also did a remix of "This Head I Hold" on UFK Drum&Bass. Both men have been influenced by distinct genres. Compton has noted ''

Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons ''Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons'' is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band Blonde Redhead. It was released on June 6, 2000 by Touch and Go Records. The album was recorded at Bear Creek Studio in Woodinville, and was produce ...

'' and '' Vu de l'extérieur'' as favorites, and said he grew up mostly listening to indie artists. Taccone grew up on hip/hop and soul, citing

Souls Of Mischief Souls of Mischief is a hip hop group from Oakland, California, that is also part of the hip hop collective Hieroglyphics. The Souls of Mischief formed in 1991 and is composed of rappers A-Plus, Opio, Phesto, and Tajai. History East Oakland ...

's ''

93 'til Infinity ''93 'til Infinity'' is the debut studio album by American hip-hop group Souls of Mischief. It was released on February 13, 1993 on the Jive label. Composition The sound of ''93 'til Infinity'' is characteristic of the distinct style explored b ...

'' album,

E-40 Earl Tywone Stevens Sr. (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. He is a founding member of the rap group The Click, and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 26 studio albums to date, ...

, and

Mac Dre Andre Louis Hicks (July 5, 1970 – November 1, 2004), known by his stage name Mac Dre, was an American rapper from Vallejo, California. He was an instrumental figure in the emergence of hyphy, a cultural movement in the Bay Area hip hop scene ...

as influences.Kauffman, Alexia (May 3, 2012)
"Q&A with Electric Guest"
''We Love DC''. Retrieved February 22, 2016. The band is notable for its pop sound that features Motown sensibilities with Taccone's falsettos. Matthew Compton has also appeared on other artist's records, including playing drums on the track 'Wes Come Back' from Rodes Rollins' debut EP Young Adult (2017) and 'Mystery Man' (2018).

Music videos

The band has released nine music videos: "This Head I Hold", "American Daydream", "The Bait", "Dear to Me", "Oh Devil", "Back for Me", "Dollar", "Play With Me" and "More".

Reception

They were featured as one of twelve on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's list of Artists to Watch in 2012 as well as ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

s Radar Band of the Week in February 2013. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' said the band "specialise in soulful, funked-up pop so insidiously catchy you suspect it was designed as a homage to – even a pastiche of – the originators of the form."Lester, Paul (March 7, 2012)
"Electric Guest (No 1,223)"
''The Guardian''. Retrieved February 25, 2016.

Tour

Their ''Mondo'' tour debuted in 2012, selling out shows. Along with Taccone and Compton, keyboardist Todd Dahloff and his brother, guitarist Tory Dahloff, join the duo on tour. One tour review reads, "Real, raw, good emotion was a pumping from these fellows."(May 8, 2012)
"Dynamic Show Review , Electric Guest , 5.2.12"
The Soul Dynamic tumblr. Retrieved February 22, 2016. In 2012 and 2013 they toured through France several times, with the last tour ending with a sold out headliner at

Le Trianon Le Trianon is a theatre and concert hall in Paris. It is located at 80, boulevard de Rochechouart, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, at the foot of the hill of Montmartre. Café concert (1894–1900) The ''Trianon-Concert'' was built as a '' ...

venue in Paris. The UK also has a large fan base with several tours that have gone through; the most recent tour ending with a headlining sold out show at the Scala in London. Electric Guest earned a month-long residency at the Echo in

Echo Park, Los Angeles Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake to the west and Chinatown to the east. The culturally diverse neighborhood has become known ...

. They have made domestic festival appearances at SXSW,Drever, Andrew (July 27, 2012), "Sticks and stones a low note". ''The Age''. Bonnaroo Music Festival,

Sasquatch Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a purported ape-like creature said to inhabit the forest of North America. Many dubious articles have been offered in attempts to prove the existence of Bigfoot, including anecdotal claims of ...

, and the Outside Lands. Internationally, they have performed at the

Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approxima ...

Splendour in the Grass Splendour in the Grass (commonly referred to as Splendour) is an annual Australian music festival held at the North Byron Parklands in Yelgun, New South Wales. Since its inauguration, the festival has also been held in various locations near ...

in Australia,Shedden, Iain (June 16, 2012), "Nice and cheesy". ''The Australian'' :10 and the

Leeds Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...

in the UK, as well as the Festival Printemps de Bourges, Eurockeennes, and We Love Green (all in France). In 2013, they appeared on ''

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American live music television program recorded and produced by Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", and is the only television show to ...

'' and the First City Fest. They also played at Berlin's Fashion Week as well as Cannes Film Festival. They were a headline act for SLO Brew's 30th Anniversary Music Festival on September 8, 2018 in San Luis Obispo, California.slobrew.com/live In 2019, they performed on popular comedy podcast

Comedy Bang Bang ''Comedy Bang! Bang!'' (formerly ''Comedy Death-Ray Radio'') is a weekly comedy audio podcast, which originally began airing as a radio show on May 1, 2009.A Special Thing Forums:Comedy Death-Ray Radio starts today! Popularly known as ''Humani ...

for their holiday special, performing "Oh, Devil" and two songs from Kin.

Members

– vocals, instrumentals *Matthew "Cornbread" Compton – drums * Luke Top – bass guitar *Reese Richardson – guitar, keyboard

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Other charted songs

References

External links

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