published on
About The Band:
El Ten Eleven is a Los Angeles-based instrumental indie rock duo consisting of Kristian Dunn and Tim Fogarty. What separates El Ten Eleven from their peers is that they are only two musicians on stage creating pounding landscapes of sound with no laptops or sequencers. Dunn switches off (sometimes mid-song) between a double-neck bass/guitar and a fretless bass, while his feet dance on an extensive floorboard of looping devices and effects pedals. He plays everything live, loops himself and juggles all the layers of tracks on top of each other. Fogarty switches between traditional acoustic drums, roto toms and electronic drum pads, usually within each song. To add to the insanity, Fogarty will occasionally loop himself as well. The densely textured, atmospheric instrumental sounds of their first two full-length albums (the self-titled debut El Ten Eleven and their follow-up Every Direction Is North) have been praised alongside the work of such post-rock elite as Tortoise, Explosions in the Sky, and Sigur Rós. With their third album, These Promises Are Being Videotaped, the duo took a leap in a new direction more akin to dance-rock envelope pushers Ratatat and Soulwax.
About The Album:
While there isn’t a note of singing to be found on the album, the band’s song titles reveal the breadth of emotions and playfulness found within. “The Sycophants Are Coming! The Sycophants Are Coming!” bursts forth with a nervous tension while the humorlessly named “Marriage Is The New Going Steady” illustrates that an inspired guitar lick can say just as much as words in a love song. Then there’s the aptly titled “Ian Mackaye Was Right,” a nod to the DIY pioneer of Minor Threat and Fugazi fame. "I've had seven record deals, major and indie, it never seemed to work,” bassist Dunn reveals. “As soon as we started doing things on our own is when we found success. That's what that song is about." Like the last two, this LP will be out on their Fake Record Label imprint.
Music video for “The Sycophants Are Coming! The Sycophants Are Coming!” is to be released in early November and then the video for “Falling” will be out in January.
Recent touring includes a 37-show headlining tour across the US through this past September and October. They were supported on the entire tour by Anticon youngster Baths and then also regionally by Dosh (Anticon) and Sister Crayon (Manimal). They sold out shows in NYC, Seattle, SF, DC, Philly, Austin, and San Diego – and then also had very strong (near sell-out shows) in Denver, Chicago, Boston, Portland, and Boise.
Upcoming touring includes New Year’s Eve in Dallas at Trees and a tour of secondary markets in the southwest in January, and then another national tour in the spring.
Upcoming film score to be composed and performed by El Ten Eleven for Urbanized, which is the final installment of Gary Hustwit’s design documentary trilogy. They also did the original score for the first two films of the series (Helvetica and Objectified), both of which prominently featured the music of El Ten Eleven.
Past press includes features/reviews from Spin, Filter, Flaunt, LA Times, Denver Post, The Onion, LA Weekly, The Stranger, SD City Beat, Entertainment Weekly, and more.
- Genre
- Instrumental Dance-Rock