As Dylan strums an electric guitar in his compact Downtown LA studio, a colorful painting entitled “Music” hangs above his head. Laura sits beside him on a blue couch, nestled into a corner of the room opposite a giant, wall-sized rainbow heart. Scattered across the space are various instruments: guitars, keyboards, amps, maracas. As we go over the different categories critics are attempting to put 100 gecs in — PC music, bubblegum bass, deconstructed club — the strumming eventually stops. “To be honest, the whole idea of labeling genres is not super important to us,” Laura explains; Dylan shakes his head in agreement. They both cite John Zorn, Cannibal Corpse, YouTube, and “nightcore as a concept” as some of their main influences. “It’s like a best of music compilation,” Dylan shares of 1000 gecs. “We’re both just fans of music, so that’s just what we put on it,” Laura affirms.

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Even though 100 gecs ostensibly came out of nowhere, both Dylan and Laura have been working together for years. Each grew up in rivaling towns on the sprawling outskirts of St. Louis, Missouri. “It was all very normal suburban-type shit,” Dylan says. “Neighbors, dogs, high school, football team — all of that.” The two first met in 2012 at a mutual friend’s house, where Dylan was playing songs he had just recently made. “I was so intimidated by how good he was,” Laura remembers of their first encounter. “I immediately left and worked on music as soon as I got home.” Around this time, Dylan had a “punk band via a laptop” side project, which he wanted Laura to get involved with. But before they could start, Laura left to go to college in Chicago, so the two stayed in touch while she was earning a degree in acoustic engineering.

Eventually, Dylan came to stay with Laura in the winter of 2015, where they worked on their first self-titled EP, 100 gecs. “We just wanted to do something together,” Laura says. “We had no idea what it was going to sound like.” Dylan adds: “We just looked at it as a one-off.” For a time, they both continued to work on their solo releases while also producing for others. As Osno1, Laura collaborated with Night Lovell, Lil West, Umru, and more. Dylan’s production credits include Bones, The Neighbourhood, Lil Aaron, and Charli XCX. But producing for other musicians can be constraining. “Artists already have their own style, so I have to fit into their world and bring something of mine into it,” Dylan says. “Yet that’s not the case with 100 gecs.” Laura concurs, “It’s sick being able to do everything we want to do with each other. There was never a point where we were like, ‘This is too crazy, I don’t think we can do this.’”