All sanity is lost on a rainy day in New York City. Taxis forget how to steer. Traffic lights freeze. Herds of black umbrellas bulldoze and become weapons through the streets. Pedestrians shove and jab each other off the sidewalks. They slosh ankle deep in the rain-river of sopping trash and gasoline spill. Uber drivers and bike riders wage war. Fist fight during green lights. The shrill of sirens and honks are painfully eternal. That’s why when I heard I would be interviewing [Electric Guest](https://www.instagram.com/electricguest/) in a building in Times Square, the most lawless of all on a rainy day, I braced myself for ruined boots and a sprained ankle.
On my way over, I listened to their newest album. _KIN_’s bubble gum, summertime balmy, early 2000s carbonation can teleport anyone to a state of head-over-heels bliss. Even if you’re shoved in the back of a packed subway, with some else’s wet hair dripping all over you. Although unapologetically pop, Electric Guest redefines the genre. With standout tracks like “[I Got the Money](https://open.spotify.com/track/0QzAOGbtxL5kRrv5mpMbVJ?si=Mop73upDS9ySYwcnvtjfaQ)” and [“Freestyle”](https://open.spotify.com/track/2RuWg81oFr6MTBrCK9qIUw?si=n3tG0i6nSi6M_IoByJAEdg) we hear notes from Justin Timberlake to Portugal The Man. Their lyrics bring a genuine sense of humanity back the bubbly beat we so rarely hear. The chorus’s throb in your head like a bitter-sweet hangover. You can’t help but nod.
When I rushed into the meeting room, I find Asa Taccone (vocals) curled up like a house cat. His back against the floor to ceiling window, now streaked with steaming rain. He slurped up chicken noodle soup. A Cheshire grin prowled up his cheeks. “I hope it’s okay I’m eating!” he exclaimed. He wore all black, with piercing gold earrings. They glisten like the Los Angeles sun. Soon, Matthew Compton (drums) joins us, and we begin.
**You made it clear that you didn’t want to make an album that was _angst_ or _artsy_ - you wanted to make it unapologetically pop. Why?**
Asa: I think I got tired of hearing a certain thing in music, which was that being _artsy_ was synonymous with being angsty, or burdened in some way. I have enough burdens in my own life, I’m not gonna spend my whole life writing an album on my own personal angst. I realized that I had a privileged life and I didn’t want to have another album to let out my personal complaints. That being said, the reason why the music is pop is because both of us really love pop and have a sweet tooth for it. The goal was to try to make it out as unapologetic pop, that wasn’t void of sentiment. That was also saying something. And that turned out to be the hella hard part because it’s either a dance, like _I wanna live forever_. Or it’s this other kind of music that we consider more ‘art.’ So it was really trying to strike this balance of no - every song is trying to express something.
**What are your thoughts on the phrase “Pop music is like chewing gum - it’s sweet for a few minutes - and then goes dull and loses flavor.” ?**
I feel like that is a modern definition of pop, which I can’t say I don’t agree with. I totally feel what you are saying. But pop has become synonymous with a kind of bullshit. But if you think about pop, you know, The Beatles are pop. So, also like hoping to change that word and headed towards pop music that has some kind of destination.
**In “1 4 Me,” why do you think having faith in something bigger than yourself is important?**
It’s funny because I’m not religious by any means, I don’t believe in God in the classic way. But more and more as I get older, I kind of see the burden of just living for yourself. I think in America, we are so about the individuals, and like _you_ and _you_ express yourself. It hasn’t gotten me very far. I mean I feel like I’m starting to try in my own life to see things in a more communal sense ‘cause the other shit about personal freedom hasn’t panned out the way I thought it would.
Matthew: also as I get older I can’t deny the fact that I have to be myself and battle the expectations that are put on you. It’s just the truer you can remain, the more gratifying it will be.
**Where do you guys find faith outside of music? Or do you solely invest yourself in it?**
Matthew: Honestly for me, I find so much solace in listening to people that are in their way in their 50s or 60s. Either in directors I like, who directed movies I grew up watching. You realize that everyone, no matter how big you are, there is still this moment of feeling self-doubt, feeling that you’ll never be able to write another record or movie. Everyone has that feeling. It’s very relieving to hear the people say that because it makes you get out of your own head. And realize you shouldn’t hold anything to a gold standard, and that things will happen in your career that you can’t navigate, and just have to go with it.
**Asa, you don’t have air conditioning. Why? And do you think that physical environment can infect and influence the type of sound, rhythm, beats you produce?**
Asa: 100 percent. I don’t even like doing the classic studio thing, that dark thing. That room we recorded in, the album looks like that room to me. There’s like hella orange and yellow rugs and shit. There’s tons of light. It’s not at all perfect for recording. You can hear the fucking neighbor mowing.
**If you were instead in a cold environment, say New York in the dead of Winter - how do you think that would impact KIN?**
Matthew: Oh it would be totally different. I think you would feel it. I think this city does something to you.
**How did crowd testing your material at barbecues and parties go? Is this a common trend that artists do?**
Asa: I don’t know if other artists do it. It’s like the best. You know the band Haim? So Alana lives down the street from me. And this other band Sir Sly, friends of ours. Just pretty much all our friends in LA are artists in some capacity. So we have parties. I would always wait until people were nice and destroyed \[laughs\], a good mood. And I was like _come this way!_ Those are the moments where you can see what the record even is. Because up until that moment, you have no idea what it is. You make it in the privacy of your little space.
Matthew: It sometimes takes really playing it for someone for it to be fully realized in front of you. You get an immediate gauge.
**When bands hit their second or third album, you’ve seen them over intellectualize the process, and it’s stressful.**
Matthew: That was the second album
Asa: Yeah we went through that
**Why do you think that happens, and how did you combat that second album syndrome?**
Matthew: Just pressure. Any artist puts pressure on themselves. You wonder if your vision is going to click with the people or not.
Asa: In the first one, no one’s told you shit for the most part. Someone just buys your album when you were in you pajamas just fucking around. And all of a sudden you get out in the world and you’re like oh, this works and this doesn’t.
Matthew: And then on the third one you’re like fuck everything. I’m just gonna do what the fuck I wanna do. Like really. This is us, and we gotta be us. Fuck the pressure.
**If you could hand pick with the algorithms suggestions for your “You Might Also Like” songs/artists, who would they be?**
Matthew: Years ago I would have said Little Dragon. It’s not that we don’t like them now, it’s just that our music has changed a lot.
Asa: Who’s doing that kind of pop that we like?
Matthew: Does it have to be a current artist? Can it be like, Justin Timberlake or something?
Asa: That’s our ideal choice. Or Usher
Matthew: Yeah Yeah it would be great if Justin Timberlake showed up
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Photos by Jimmy Fontaine
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