Electric Youth is a Canadian synth-pop duo from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Ontario consisting of Bronwyn Griffin (vocals, songwriter) and Austin Garrick (producer, songwriter, synthesizer, drums).

Career

Garrick and Griffin have been dating since the 8th grade. Their initial breakthrough came in 2011 when their song "

A Real Hero "A Real Hero" is a song by French electronica artist College in collaboration with Electric Youth, released in 2010. The song was included as the eleventh track on Electric Youth's debut studio album '' Innerworld''. The track was used as a main ...

", created in association with

College A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

, was prominently featured in the movie '' Drive''. The song was written by Garrick, in part about

Chesley Sullenberger Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III (born January 23, 1951) is a retired American fighter pilot, diplomat, and airline pilot best known for his heroism as captain of US Airways Flight 1549 that he ditched in the Hudson River in 2009 af ...

and the crash landing of

Flight 1549 US Airways Flight 1549 was a regularly scheduled US Airways flight from New York City (LaGuardia Airport), to Charlotte and Seattle, in the United States. On January 15, 2009, the Airbus A320 serving the flight struck a flock of birds short ...

. "A Real Hero" was nominated for a 2012

MTV Movie Award The MTV Movie & TV Awards (formerly the MTV Movie Awards) is a film and television awards show presented annually on MTV. The first MTV Movie Awards were presented in 1992. The ceremony was renamed the MTV Movie & TV Awards for its 26th editio ...

in the category of "Best Music". '' Spin'' magazine named "A Real Hero" one of the 20 Best Songs of 2011. Contrary to some reports in the press, the group did not name themselves after '' Electric Youth'', the 1989 album by pop singer

Debbie Gibson Deborah Ann Gibson (born August 31, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Gibson released her debut album '' Out of the Blue'' in 1987, which spawned several international hits, later being certified triple plati ...

. Garrick explained to ''

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

'' magazine about the group's sound: In late 2013 Electric Youth signed with

Last Gang Records Last Gang Records is a record label formed by Canadian music industry lawyer Chris Taylor (businessman), Chris Taylor and concert promoter Donald K. Tarlton in the Fall of 2003 at the Pop Montreal Music Festival. Last Gang was nominated as Indepe ...

and

Secretly Canadian Secretly Canadian is an American independent record label based in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Secretly Canadian is a label included in Secretly Group, which ...

. On September 30, 2014 the band released their debut album "Innerworld" through

in Canada and

in the rest of the world, debuting at #13 on the Billboard Top Dance Electronic Albums chart. "Innerworld" was produced by Electric Youth.

Vince Clarke Vincent John Martin (born 3 July 1960), known professionally as Vince Clarke, is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously ...

(

Erasure Erasure () is an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell with songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously known as co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and a membe ...

/ Yazoo/ Depeche Mode) and Peter Mayes (

PNAU Pnau ( ) is an Australian dance music trio originating from Sydney. The trio, a duo before 2016, consists of the musicians Nick Littlemore (vocals, production), Peter Mayes (guitar, production) and Sam Littlemore (production), with the latter j ...

Empire of the Sun ''Empire of the Sun'' is a 1984 novel by English writer J. G. Ballard; it was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Like Ballard's earlier short story "The Dead Time" (published in the anthology ...

) provided additional production, and the album was mixed by Mayes. "Innerworld" includes previously released tracks 'The Best Thing' and 'A Real Hero (feat College)' It received wide critical acclaim including ''

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 ...

'' and

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

''First Listen''. ''Rolling Stone'' declared Electric Youth one of the Ten Artists You Need To Know in 2014. Electric Youth carried out their first headlining tour across the US and Canada in November, 2014. In 2019 Electric Youth released their second studio album “Memory Emotion”, receiving a Juno Award nomination for Electronic Album of the Year.

Discography

Studio albums *'' Innerworld'' (2014) (Secretly Canadian/Last Gang) *''Breathing (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack from a Lost Film)'' (2017) (Milan) *'' Memory Emotion'' (2019) (Watts Arcade Inc./Last Gang) *'' Come True (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)'' (2021) (Sony Music) Singles/EPs *''Runaway'' (2014) (Secretly Canadian/Last Gang) *''

'' with

(2012) (Watts Arcade) *''Right Back to You'' (2011) (Watts Arcade)

References

External links

* * * * *
Electric Youth
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Electric Youth Canadian synthpop groups Synthwave groups Musical groups from Toronto Musical groups established in 2011 2011 establishments in Ontario Secretly Canadian artists