On The Verge

El Ten Eleven

Los Angeles, Calif.
Meditation But In Motion
www.elteneleven.com

“We pride ourselves on not using laptops or anything pre-recorded,” says Kristian Dunn (double-neck bass/guitar). “We frown on that.” El Ten Eleven —which he formed in 2002 with drummer Tim Fogarty—released its fourth LP It’s Still Like a Secret in November on its own Fake Record Label. “People tell us the live experience is better,” Dunn says, “so we’re trying to bring that to the recordings and jettison what we thought didn’t work. It’s like a best of record made of totally new material.” People that Dunn knows or admires often inspire his songs—like his favorite poet William Stafford (“My Only Swerving”)—and he’s also a self-proclaimed airplane nerd. The band’s name refers to a Lockheed passenger plane (L1011) and the “El” is a “nod to the Hispanic culture around us in LA.” Dunn says people have described the duo’s instrumental indie rock as “‘Justice meets Tortoise,’ ‘Kraftwerk in the sky,’ and ‘meditation but in motion.’” He also credits LA-based musician John Bryon’s looping techniques for propelling the band’s sound. “At first we thought we’d have to get another person,” Dunn laughs, “but instead we got a looping pedal.”