With the words from an elderly woman, “You’re an electric guest of the universe,” a band name was born.
Electric Guest is scheduled to perform 7 p.m. Thursday at Newport Music Hall.
Getting its footing in Los Angeles in 2005, the duo is comprised of drummer Matthew Compton and lead vocalist Asa Taccone.
Compton said while the band’s name might seem outlandish, there’s a story behind it.
“In high school, Asa left California for the East Coast to go to a kind of camp or school to get his grades up. On the weekends he would go to a donut shop and there was always a kind of weird woman there that he would talk to,” Compton said. “One day, the woman told him, ‘You’re an electric guest of the universe,’ and he decided that comment (was) interesting enough to be the band name.”
Taccone found reason to use the name after meeting Compton through mutual friends.
“About eight years ago, I met Asa when I was going over to record with a roommate of his,” Compton said. “Asa was there and we just started recording. He later met the producer of our first album and from there we started working on it full time.”
The duo released its debut album “Mondo” in April.
Since that release, Compton said Electric Guest’s sound has evolved into something different.
“Our band is really just kind of a pop band. We have a lot of influences from indie and air pop,” Compton said. “Each album is kind of different, which we were scared of at first, but it has worked out nicely.”
The duo released its new EP “Electric Guest Holiday EP” Monday, which is only available at digital retailers, such as Amazon and iTunes, until Nov. 6, then slated to be released in 7″ vinyl.
Physical copies of the EP are available only at the band’s live shows, Compton said.
“Live is obviously different from recorded,” Compton said. “We don’t sample music a lot. A lot of the songs were meant to be played with acoustic and voice. We don’t have a lot of major stuff going on, but we make do. It’ll be a good show.”
Leah DiVito, a second-year in Chinese, said she’s been listening to Electric Guest for a while and plans to see the band live for the first time Thursday.
“I just got hooked on their hit (‘This Head I Hold’) from the album (‘Electric Guest Holiday EP’) which also has a really interesting video,” Divito said. “It got me to listen to the whole album, which is just as awesome. I have never seen them live, but I plan on going to their concert coming up here at the Newport. It’s sure to be a really fun, upbeat concert, and I’m ready to dance until forever.”
Grace Bowen, a second-year in pre-industrial design, said she is also excited for the show.
“I’m definitely planning on going to the show,” Bowen said. “I haven’t seen them, but my friend did in Boston. She said the show was awesome and the lead singer is a great performer.”
Thursday won’t mark the first time Electric Guest has visited Columbus or played at the Newport.
“We’ve played at the Newport before. The crowd was awesome,” Compton said. “It’s kind of hard to judge how crowds are going to be when traveling across states, but this one will be good.”
Tickets are $15 in advance and $17 at the door, and are available at the Newport’s box office and through Ticketmaster.
