100 Gecs

100 Gecs (stylized in all lowercase) is an American musical duo consisting of Dylan Brady and Laura Les, formed in 2015. They self-released their debut album, "1000 Gecs", in 2019 to critical acclaim, followed by a "companion" remix album, "1000 Gecs and the Tree of Clues", in July 2020. Their music has been noted for its often chaotic yet catchy mixture of various styles, and has been described as exemplifying the 2010s genre hyperpop.
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. However, they first had the idea to collaborate after meeting again at a house party in 2012, which Les left early. In the winter of 2015, Les and Brady first produced music together, recording in Chicago (Brady "thought it would be really cool if we did it somewhere really cold") 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.
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" DJ set together for the 2019 Minecraft Fire Festival. Following that collaboration, they continued to work on songs and released their debut album "1000 Gecs" on May 31, 2019 to positive reviews. According to Will Pritchard of "The Independent", the album helped to consolidate the eclectic 2010s "hyperpop" style by taking the genre "to its most extreme, and extremely catchy, conclusions: stadium-sized trap beats processed and distorted to near-destruction, overwrought emo vocals and cascades of ravey arpeggios." 
In September 2019, it was announced that 100 Gecs and Slowthai would support Brockhampton on their Heaven Belongs to You Tour later that year, 100 Gecs also headlined six additional shows of their own in various cities along the tour. 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. 100 Gecs were named an "Artist You Need to Know" by "Rolling Stone" in 2019. "New York Times" music critic Jon Caramanica called "1000 Gecs" the best album of 2019, and it was rated among the best albums of the year by "Crack Magazine", "Noisey", "Paper", "Pitchfork", and "Stereogum". Towards the end of 2019, Brady announced a remix album 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". "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. "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". In October 2020, 100 Gecs commenced an artist residency at New York University's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, they were scheduled to perform at Coachella in April 2020. 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. In June 2020, they stated in an interview with "The Forty Five" that they hoped to provide the soundtrack to a Disney movie. In August 2020, it was announced that 100 Gecs would perform at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2021.
Fandom.
Following the group's success, the pine tree depicted on the album covers of "1000 Gecs" and remix album "Tree of Clues" became popular among fans. Soon the ""1000 Gecs" tree" was found, revealed to be located in an Acuity Brands-owned office park in Des Plaines, Illinois 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, Illinois. The music video for their single "Money Machine" was filmed in the same office park just before the photo was taken.
Production style and influences.
The duo works on tracks by sending Logic Pro project files between the two, iterating songs each time—Les called the process "sort of an exquisite corpse type thing". Their music has been called an "anarchic assault on the ears" that "[pulls] conventional pop tropes in every direction possible", as well as "abrasive, maximalist pop" with "elements of pop punk, nightcore, ska, dubstep, deconstructed club, trance, metal, and happy hardcore all thrown into one big internet blender", resulting in "[s]ongs [that] shift gears dozens of times, in a way that recalls... Kid606, or Venetian Snares", also earning comparisons with label PC Music 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".
Brady has said 100 Gecs' style is influenced by Breathe Carolina, John Zorn, and I See Stars, among others. Les calls their musical process "[v]ery much almost an improv mentality" and has said that they "try to have fun and write songs that we would want to listen to", adding that "the whole idea of labeling genres is not super important to us". 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". She has cited Naked City, Playboi Carti, 3OH!3, Cannibal Corpse, and various PC Music artists as influences. Both of them were heavily inspired by Skrillex's song "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites".
Band members and solo work.
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.
He additionally produces and records music under his 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".
Studio albums
Extended plays
Laura Les.
Les now releases music under her own name. However, she formerly released music under the moniker 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. In Chicago, she worked at a "cross between a coffee shop and an empanada restaurant" and studied acoustical engineering before switching to engineering ("I'm just gonna do [music], and study something else", she said) in college. , she lives in Chicago with her husband Gabriel.
In March 2021, she released her solo debut single, "Haunted".
Extended plays
Compilation albums