Hello Desperate Electric, welcome to BuzzMusic and thank you for being here. You really brought the energy in your new single "For Me" - but when you listen to the lyrics it isn't a happy song. Give us more details on how you merged the two and your process?
Thanks for having us, and thanks for listening to the new single! That song was a pretty 50/50 effort… I (Kayti) wrote the lyrics, and Ben wrote pretty much all the music. We love the juxtaposition of high energy, a danceable song with more intense lyrical content. Writing about something sad, or angry or whatever can be a strange experience. You want to convey the feelings, but you also want people to feel the energy coming from those feelings. In this case, it was high energy. You almost don’t realize it’s not happy until you listen a few times, which I also really like.
What are some of your inspirations when it comes to songwriting and production?
We draw songwriting inspiration from our most raw emotions. In the case of this song, it was a bad breakup. Anything that can invoke a memorable emotion, can inspire us to write a song. Many of ours can be tied to a place, or experience that we’ve had. Whether it was a rowdy crowd at a show, a breathtaking mountain view, or a tender moment between two people, so many things can become song-worthy. Our production inspiration stems from a combination of our influences and the essence of the song. Sometimes we’ll want to capture the feel of a song, album or artist that inspires us, but we make sure the instruments, tones, and styles bring out the raw emotion that inspired us to write the song in the first place.
Tell us more about how the duo formed!
We actually started as a four-piece rock band two years ago. Ben and I met and started dating in college and I joined a band Ben was in upon graduation. We started writing songs together a few months later and pretty quickly realized we wanted to start our own project, with the goal of touring. We recorded an album as the band and went on our first tour in the first six months. It was shortly thereafter we started losing band members. After about 8 months of trying to piece our band back together, we just decided to say screw it and hit the road as the duo in June 2019. We had already recorded our EP ‘Desperate Electric’ as the duo and the timing happened to work out. We’ve been touring like that ever since and couldn’t be happier!
Your music can attract a wide variety of listeners across the globe, what do you think had the biggest impact on your overall sound and style as artists?
The exposure that we’ve had to live music throughout our lives has been paramount. We both grew up steeped in a large variety of genres. From Rock to Pop to Country, Jazz, Metal, Funk and Choral music, we’ve let all these things piece together our overall sound and style. A few years back we ran a venue in Bozeman called the Zebra Cocktail Lounge, where we were exposed to even more live music in a dingy, beautiful dive bar setting. We were entranced by crowds’ different reactions to all these different genres. It’s made me want to incorporate the danceable grooves of a funk show, with the energy of a metal show, wrapped up with the soulfulness of a lounge show.
What can we expect to see next from Desperate Electric?
Well, life is pretty uncertain right now for us, as it is for all musicians. We’ll definitely be releasing more music this year, including our full-length album, although the timeline may not quite look like it was planned! Our next single is coming on on March 27th though, and we’re super excited about it! You can pre-save it now on Spotify and Apple Music.
Where can fans hear the new single and find you on social media?
You can hear ‘For Me’ anywhere you stream music! Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon, the works! You can also stream it via our website, www.desperateelectric.com! You can find us on Facebook and Instagram, @desperateelectric!