100 Gecs

100 Gecs (stylized as 100 gecs) is an American musical duo consisting of Dylan Brady and Laura Les.[5][6][7] They each grew up in suburban St. Louis and met in high school[8] before starting to collaborate in 2015.[9][10][11][12][13][14] They self-released their debut album, 1000 Gecs, in 2019 to critical acclaim, followed by a "companion"[1] remix album, 1000 Gecs and the Tree of Clues, in July 2020. Their music has been noted for its often chaotic mixture of various genres and styles.[5][13]

100 Gecs
OriginSt. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Genres
Years active2015–present
Labels
Members

History

2015–2018: Formation and early years

Les and Brady, who lived just miles apart in St. Louis (Brady in Kirkwood, Les in Webster Groves), first met during high school at a rodeo.[8][2] However, they first had the idea to collaborate after meeting again at a house party in 2012, which Les left early.[15] In the winter of 2015, Les and Brady first produced music together, recording in Chicago[12] (Brady "thought it would be really cool if we did it somewhere really cold")[2] and eventually self-releasing their first EP 100 Gecs on July 12, 2016. The origin of the name "100 Gecs" is disputed, as Brady and Les have given varying and contradictory explanations in interviews.[16]

2019–2020: 1000 Gecs and remix album

Despite plans to record more music, they were unable to find enough time until they performed a "breakout"[17] DJ set together for the 2019 Minecraft Fire Festival;[9] following that collaboration, they continued to work on songs and released their debut album 1000 Gecs on May 31, 2019 to positive reviews.[18][19][20] In September 2019, it was announced that 100 Gecs and Slowthai would support Brockhampton on their Heaven Belongs to You Tour[21] later that year;[22] 100 Gecs also headlined six additional shows of their own in various cities along the tour.[20] In November 2019, the duo appeared on the Adult Swim web series FishCenter Live and performed the songs "800db Cloud" and "Stupid Horse" in front of a green screen backdrop of an aquarium.[23]

100 Gecs were named an "Artist You Need to Know" by Rolling Stone in 2019.[24] New York Times music critic Jon Caramanica called 1000 Gecs the best album of 2019,[25] and it was rated among the best albums of the year by Crack Magazine,[26] Noisey,[27] Paper,[28] Pitchfork,[29] and Stereogum.[30] Towards the end of 2019, Brady announced a remix album[31] by the duo tentatively titled 1000 Gecs & th3 phant0m m3nac3 and set to feature artists including A. G. Cook and Injury Reserve. The album was later retitled 1000 Gecs and the Tree of Clues, which Les referred to as "a companion to the original".[1] Tree of Clues was released on July 10, 2020.

Several singles were released prior to the album. A. G. Cook's remix of "Money Machine" was released in October 2019, followed by Injury Reserve's remix of "745 Sticky" in November 2019.[32] "Ringtone (Remix)", featuring Charli XCX, Rico Nasty, and Kero Kero Bonito, was released in February 2020. 100 Gecs signed with Atlantic Records in 2020; Brady told NME they are "trying to be really big—trying to be as big as Ed Sheeran", while Les said that Atlantic was a "good fit ... [t]here's so many things that they could help us accomplish".[1] In October 2020, 100 Gecs commenced an artist residency at New York University's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music.[33] Before the COVID-19 pandemic, they were scheduled to perform at Coachella in April 2020.[34][15] 100 Gecs headlined another Minecraft festival, Square Garden, in April 2020, along with musical artists Charli XCX, Kero Kero Bonito, Dorian Electra, and Cashmere Cat. [35] In June 2020, they stated in an interview with The Forty Five that they hoped to provide the soundtrack to a Disney movie.[36] In August 2020, it was announced that 100 Gecs would perform at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2021.[37]

Fandom

Following the group's success, the pine tree depicted on the album covers of 1000 Gecs and remix album Tree of Clues became famous among fans.[38][2] Soon the "1000 Gecs tree" was found, revealed to be located in an Acuity Brands-owned office park in Des Plaines near O'Hare International Airport. Fans of 100 Gecs began making "pilgrimages" to the tree and leaving items behind. In the Chicago Tribune, the tree and its fame were compared to the house on the cover of American Football's American Football (1999), located in Urbana.[39] The music video for "Money Machine" was filmed in the same office park just before the photo was taken.[16]

Production style and influences

The duo works on tracks by sending Logic Pro project files between the two,[22][9] iterating songs each time[40][10]—Les called the process "sort of an exquisite corpse type thing".[41] Their music has been called an "anarchic assault on the ears"[13] that "[pulls] conventional pop tropes in every direction possible",[42] as well as "abrasive, maximalist pop"[5] with "elements of pop punk, nightcore, ska, dubstep, deconstructed club, trance, metal, and happy hardcore all thrown into one big internet blender",[6] resulting in "[s]ongs [that] shift gears dozens of times, in a way that recalls ... Kid606, or Venetian Snares",[43] also earning comparisons with label PC Music[42][22] and band Sleigh Bells. Les explained that the "merging of genres" is "more natural than people think", adding that the group "didn't expect that [1000 Gecs] would resonate with people so much".[44]

Brady has said 100 Gecs' style is influenced by Breathe Carolina, John Zorn,[12] and I See Stars, among others.[9] Les calls their musical process "[v]ery much almost an improv mentality"[9] and has said that they "try to have fun and write songs that we would want to listen to",[6] adding that "the whole idea of labeling genres is not super important to us".[12] Les became interested in making music as a teenager when she got her first guitar; she has said that she "kind of always just wanted to be a songwriter" and "love[s] anything with a catchy melody".[45][46] She has cited Naked City, Playboi Carti, 3OH!3, Cannibal Corpse,[12] and various PC Music artists as influences.[10] Both of them were heavily inspired by Skrillex's song "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites".[47][8]

Band members and solo work

Dylan Brady
Main article: Dylan Brady

Brady became interested in music after being part of his high school choir and studied audio engineering in college for three years before moving to Los Angeles' Fashion District.[48]

He additionally produces and records music under his own name. In 2019, Brady co-produced the song "Click" from Charli XCX's album Charli (2019)—Charli XCX explained that she heard about Brady via her fans and "listen[s] to [100 Gecs] constantly now".[49]

Laura Les (osno1)

Les has cited being transgender as contributing to her exploration of different singing styles, including pitched-up "nightcore style" vocals, which she now uses almost exclusively in her music.[50] In Chicago, she worked at a "cross between a coffee shop and an empanada restaurant"[8] and studied acoustical engineering before switching to engineering ("I'm just gonna do [music], and study something else", she said)[17] in college.[12] As of 2020, she lives in Chicago with her husband Gabriel.[41][51]

Les now releases music under her own name. However, she formerly[45] released music under the moniker osno1.[52][11]

Discography

Studio albums
Title Details Peak chart positions
US
Current
[53]		 US
Heat.
[54]		 US
Indie
[55]
1000 Gecs[43][5] 94736

Remix albums
Title Details Peak chart positions
US
[56]		 US
Alt
[57]
1000 Gecs and the Tree of Clues[58]
  • Released: July 10, 2020[59]
  • Label: Dog Show, Big Beat, Atlantic[60]
  • Formats: LP, digital download, streaming
 19812

Extended plays
Title Details
100 Gecs[61][62]
  • Released: July 12, 2016
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Digital download, streaming

Singles
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US
Alt.
[63]		 US
Rock
[64]		 NZ
Hot
[65]
"Money Machine" 2019 —47— 1000 Gecs
"Money Machine"
(A. G. Cook Remix)		 ——— 1000 Gecs and the Tree of Clues
"745 Sticky"
(Injury Reserve Remix)		 ———
"Ringtone (Remix)"
(featuring Charli XCX, Rico Nasty and Kero Kero Bonito)		 2020 ———
"Gec 2 Ü (Remix)"
(featuring Dorian Electra)		 ———
"Stupid Horse (Remix)"
(featuring Count Baldor and GFOTY)		 ———
"Hand Crushed by a Mallet (Remix)"
(featuring Fall Out Boy, Craig Owens, Nicole Dollanganger)[66][67]		 222339
"Lonely Machines"
(with 3OH!3)		 ——— TBA
"Sympathy 4 the Grinch" ———

Remixes
Title Original artist Year
"Never Met!" (100 gecs r3mix)[68] Cmten featuring Glitch Gum 2020
"One Step Closer" (100 gecs Reanimation) Linkin Park 2021

Other appearances
Title Year Other artist(s) Album
"Power Fantasy"[69] 2020 Health Disco4 :: Part I

Production and songwriting credits
YearArtistSongAlbumWritten with Produced with
2020 Rico Nasty
"Let It Out" Nightmare Vacation Rico Nasty, Malik Foxx Parker Sole producer
"Pussy Poppin"

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