The Electric Sons are an Atlanta indie/electronic band founded by vocalist/guitarist, Andrew Miller and keyboardist/vocalist, Ben Richards.
The band formed in 2011 when Miller left his job as an illustrator for the FX Network series, “Archer,” to team up with Richards, an advertising graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design. Miller and Richards quickly gained a following of local fans after releasing a home-recorded EP under the name “AM83”. Energized by the grass roots success of the EP, the duo set their sights on releasing a follow-up EP. It was during those writing sessions that Miller and Richard’s shared love for electronic music began to influence their writing. The result is their latest self-produced,
Since the release of the EP last May, the guys have received a huge amount of attention and praise, so much so that The Electric Sons will be sharing the stage with Passion Pit, Ellie Goulding, GROUPLOVE and Yeasayer at Centennial Olympic Park’s Party in the Park May 18! Luckily, the duo spent some time chatting with us before the big festival. Take a look at what they had to say!
You both seemed to be going in different directions in life. What encouraged you to stop what you were doing and start making music together?
B- You do the day job thing, you go to college and stuff like that. I always kind of felt like it didn’t fit.
A- We’re both very passionate about what we went to school for. We were definitely into it. When he and I met [at SCAD] it just sort of sparked this new musical world for me, personally, because he has a great mind for creativity and us collaborating really inspired me to really start focusing on music a lot more.
B- I’m flattered.
When did you have your “AH-HA” moment?
A- I think this Passion Pit show. I think once we get on that stage that’ll probably be the moment for me. From my perspective, I don’t really think, ‘Is this really happening?’ You just have to live in that moment and keep going.
B- The reception has been cool, people seem to really like what we’re up to. It’s humbling. It’s really encouraging.
A- Something that we are really proud of was our first show at Vinyl because we had a lot of our friends and fans come out. I just never expected people to be that encouraging and that supportive.
B- I’m still dumbfounded to be on this show with Passion Pit, Ellie Goulding, Grouplove and Yeasayer. I feel a little bit like, ‘Really?’ If y’all think so, we’ll play it!
What makes you most excited about playing at Party in the Park?
A- Obviously, I’m excited to play! Honestly, I would love to meet them and just thank them for being so amazing. It’s one of those things where we’ve listened to them for so long and we’ve really been influenced by them and inspired by them and to just be included and to be on a bill with them is so out of this world. If I could do anything, it would just be to thank them for creating a world that inspired me, personally, and our music.
B- I just want to get back there and make them drink a whole bunch of beer. If Passion Pit goes on fifteen minutes late, you can blame us.
Who are your greatest musical influences?
B- The more music you listen to, the more of a wider range the music you produce is. We listen to as much as we can and filter it and it comes out as our stuff.
A- In one of our songs, the Nelly Fertado melody worked its way in. That’s how insane our brains are. It’s really interesting to see what comes out.
B- I’m going to have to buy the new Daft Punk album.
A- For me, I’ve been personally inspired by bands like Gorillaz, you know, I love the imagery in the stories. It’s really well done and very colorful. I was really inspired by John Mayer early on, which really sparked my love for songwriting. Coldplay, I love the song writing that band puts together. I’d say Gorillaz, John Mayer and Coldplay for me. It sounds so lame to me, but it’s cool, I like it.
What is your dream gig?
B- I’d love to do the O2 arena. I’d love to do some of the places in L.A. or Red Rocks, it’s the coolest!
A- The Hollywood Bowl.
B- Who would we like to play with? U2 or Coldplay. Phoenix would be pretty awesome.
A- Opening for a band that’s got this arena-rock feel. That would be so much fun to be in an environment where people are ready for you. Everyone’s singing, everyone’s ready for that kind of show.
How do you connect with a crowd when playing a show?
B- You have to take their hand a little bit. Sometimes it’s up to you to get the crowd going, but sometimes the crowd gets you going. That’s always the best. The other thing is we would take our shirts off which is usually a good way to get people going, we have pretty chiseled bodies.
A- I think it’s just more shocking to the audience than energetic but it’s what we do.
What do you think of the Atlanta music scene?
B- I think that there’s a lot of potential here, because there are so many great bands that play here, but I don’t think the city gets enough attention. It’s interesting.
A- We just got back from California and we met with a few companies and people and all of their questions were, ‘What is the music scene like in Atlanta?’ I figured they would know. I feel like people don’t necessarily know what kind of talent there is.
B- It’s been the hip hop capital for so long and I think that’s sliding off a little bit and there are all these other acts, that maybe didn’t get attention before, that I hope people start paying attention to.
What are your upcoming plans?
B- We’d like to have a new EP sometime in the summer, maybe late summer.
A- We’re writing new stuff!
Make sure to catch The Electric Sons playing at Party in the Park Saturday, May 18! Tickets below!
