Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Still Electric . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Still Electric , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?
After releasing our debut album in 2019, we were so excited to take advantage of the momentum we’d created. It was like everything leading up to our album worked out so beautifully, and then, right after it was released, we were just hit with an onslaught of issues.
First, we lost our primary stream of income. Then, Rachel’s chronic illness started acting up after several years of remission. Then, we lost Maurice’s mom unexpectedly. It was just one thing right after another. We were tired, broke, and so sad, but we were still working on writing our second album because we had plans to return to the studio in the summer of 2020. To be honest, it was the only thing keeping us going.
Then, as everyone knows, COVID hit. Within a week, we lost almost all of our clients for our freelancing work. Our debt started piling up, and the album started to seem less and less possible. Once the pandemic really started, we knew we’d have to shelf the album indefinitely for safety reasons.
By the time it was safe to record, we no longer had the financial means to make our album happen. It was so devastating to work so hard to build this momentum to just have it all fall apart. So, we did the only thing we could do. We mourned. Like, a lot.
Then, after giving ourselves a moment, we started to do some self-work. Honestly, we were tired. We needed the forced break to re-center and heal emotionally and physically. So, we shelved the album for a moment. We started meditating, quit smoking, got sober, and just focused on healing. And when we were finally feeling refreshed, we went back to the drawing board.
We started taking free online classes for music production because if we can’t afford to pay for it, we’re going to have to learn how to do it ourselves. We’ve just started to look for unique solutions to bring what we’ve written to life.
Admittedly, we’re still sort of in limbo with everything, but we’ve written a bunch of new music, and we’re going to start long-term traveling soon to help save money and give us some new inspiration. We’re hopeful for what’s to come, and we’re clinging to the belief that the trials of the last few years will make this second album even better than the first.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
We’re Still Electric, a bootstrapped alt-indie band. We’re also husband and wife. We pride ourselves on creating art that is meaningful, fun, and approachable. Our brand is personality-forward, and our priority as artists is to create a genuine connection with everyone who experiences us or our music.
For us, the path to our art hasn’t been easy. There were no handouts, no free passes. We had to create every opportunity and build every door. Despite a decade of hard-fought trials and near-constant limitations, we refused to take “no” for an answer. (Also, we’re super funny and hot, so there’s that, too.)
We’ve been writing and performing music since we were children, and decided to start a band together in 2016. We’ve since released our self-funded debut album, “Friend,” which is probably the project we’re most proud of. We traveled 3,537 miles, spent 180 hours in studio, 730 days of prep, nearly drowned ourselves in credit card debt, and drank way too much coffee to make that dream a reality.
In the end, we released two full-length music videos and had listeners in over 63 countries.
We are currently working on our second album.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
When we were growing up, there was this really singular view of what musicians and creatives could look like. There was this notion that you could only be successful if you fit certain boxes. Namely, you needed to be young, thin, super attractive, and if you had money or connections, even better.
We’ve never really fit those boxes, and for a lot of years, we let that stop us from making music and putting ourselves out there. We felt like we didn’t deserve those things because society said we didn’t and for a while, we just sort of stopped dreaming.
Then, we hit a point somewhere along the line where we realized that this isn’t our practice life, and while we may not fit the standards, we’re worthy and valuable. We realized that we needed to stop acting like side characters in our own story. We deserve the triumphant ending, and it was time to start acting like it.
It’s a lesson that took us too long to learn and one that we have to continue to remember because self-love and self-worth aren’t things you just learn once. It’s an ongoing process, but one that’s so, so worth it.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Connection. That’s the part of being an artist that is the most rewarding for us. And we don’t mean that in a superficial way. Connection is hard. When the world is shut down, you work from home, and all your social interactions take place through a screen, you lose a bit of the magic of talking, hanging out, and getting to know someone.
But when you create art, you’re able to connect with people in a way that is strangely intimate and super meaningful. We’ve been able to connect with people who live in different states and countries. People we never would’ve met had we not started Still Electric.
When you put pieces of yourself in your art, it becomes an extension of you. Since our music is just floating out there in cyberspace for anyone to stumble on at literally any moment, we don’t even have to be in the room for people to connect with us. We’ve gotten countless messages from people all over the world, sharing love and support. It’s truly amazing.
And it doesn’t stop with just the music, either. Music was just the bridge that brought us together. But we’ve been able to connect with people on our mutual love of board games, The Office, and trash reality TV. We’ve met people who think like us and act like us and dream like us. And there’s nothing else in the world (that we’ve discovered, anyway) that affords that kind of opportunity.
Our art has even brought us closer to the people we already had in our lives. When you share your art with the world, people, even people you know, get this new level of depth that they didn’t know existed. They learn that there’s more to you than they thought or connect to some sentiment they never knew you shared.
That’s one of the reasons we’ve dedicated our lives to this. It’s not just about the music or the fans. It’s about putting a piece of ourselves out there for others to find and connect with. It’s all connection.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://stillelectricband.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stillelectricband/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stillelectricband
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/imstillelectric
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzYUJiD_l5U8WtCgdyWEGRg
- Other: Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/1EaD9nOnwYeWyAeYLRlBXR Apple Music – https://music.apple.com/us/artist/still-electric/1450771617
Image Credits
Some of the photos were taken by @VQnSees