Today we’d like to introduce you to Maurice and Rachel Africh.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Maurice and Rachel. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Well, we met in high school and fell in love in a small town in west Texas. That’s really where it all began. We’ve always been creative people with a passion for performance and music, but we were in an area with limited opportunity. So, we started a communal art group, majored in theater at our community college, and married young, with the promise to never stop dreaming.
Adulthood came to us like a slap in the face. We were hit with medical tragedy in 2014 and had the proverbial rug ripped out from under us. It was hard and tested us in ways we never thought we’d have to face. It forced us to ask ourselves some really difficult questions; to really look at our lives and decipher what we were meant to do.
Music had always been the dream. The one that kept coming back, the one that always seemed too scary, too high-stakes to try, but isn’t that what life is supposed to be? We didn’t want to wake up one day and realize we’d missed our chance, or were too afraid to live. So, we decided to just do it.
And that’s when Still Electric was born. In the often-humid, summertime backyard of our home in North Dallas, we decided to take that leap. We started the band with virtually zero knowledge of the how-to, just the resounding feeling that we were walking in the right direction. We researched, bought equipment, saved money, wrote song after song, met our producer, and the shape of the band started to take form. We wrote over fifty songs to find our voice for our first album, We rented out a studio in Boston and recorded it. And today, we’re just days away from releasing it, and venturing into the vibrant live music scene that Dallas has to offer.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Oh geez, no. Smooth isn’t the adjective we’d use to describe the road so far. This journey has been a series of highs and lows, oftentimes in the same day. In a lot of ways it has been smooth, natural even. The music, writing, performance, and creative aspect of the process has been a lot easier than we thought it would be. It’s the other things that are hard.
Like balancing the band with our “real-life” jobs and responsibilities, or trying to figure out how to afford the next piece of gear or studio session. Like realizing we haven’t left our house in two solid weeks, or trying to figure out the last time we bought groceries, or did the dishes, or saw people face-to-face. There’s always something that we still need to learn, like, for instance, we legitimately spent thirteen hours watching tutorial videos for our home recording software, because we wanted to home record, but could still barely navigate it. Haha!
The business and marketing side of things is another big monster for us. Before starting the band, we were pretty private people on social media. So, we’ve had to really force ourselves outside of our comfort zones, put ourselves out there, relish in the virtual world and learn to navigate it.
Everyday we have an eight hour work day, followed by seven hours of band work, rinse and repeat, so it’s exhausting and difficult, sure, but, honestly, for all the struggles, the pure joy that we get out of doing what we love is totally and irrefutably worth it. It’s been a whole lot of taking it day by day and relishing in the moments that are easy and appreciating and growing from the moments that are difficult.
Still Electric – what should we know about the band?
We’re an alt-indie, alt-pop band, our music is full of weighted lyrics, upfront vocals, unexpected melody choices, tasteful harmonies, rhythmic and soulful acoustic guitar, intricate beats, heavy electronic infusion, and an “everything that works, goes” mentality, with additions like trumpet, synth, cajón, electric guitar, and beats made from an Allen wrench and a hammer. We try to blend the nostalgia of the music we love with unfamiliar combinations that exude something new and exciting.
Our music tackles themes like emotional healing, self-acceptance, and surviving while saving room for political and cultural commentary. We put a heavy emphasis on upbeat grooves with lyrics that matter, for those who want to hear the words.
We’re really proud of our first album, because we weren’t afraid to break music convention and experiment with sounds. We were uncompromising with our vision and our message, and we feel really proud of what we were able to create. We think our vibes and the fact that we cling to authenticity above all else, really sets us apart from a lot of musicians who are trying to be “the next whoever”. We really just want to be us, and hope that people respond to that.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
There have been so many highlights, from the early days of announcing that we were a band to our friends and family, to getting followed by Natasha Bedingfield on Twitter. Filming and posting our two music videos were really proud moments for us. But, the proudest moment so far was probably recording and finishing the album. It was two years of writing, planning, and learning, and really putting our heart and soul into something. Seeing it come to fruition is still really, really surreal, but so cool. We sit and listen to our album sometimes, and we just look at each other and ask, “Can you believe this is us? That we did this?!”
Pricing:
- Friend (our album) Digital – $9.99
- Friend (our album) Physical – $12.99
- Streaming – Free
- Album Release Show (May 11th) – Free
Contact Info:
- Website: www.stillelectricband.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stillelectricband/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stillelectricband
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/imstillelectric
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/c/StillElectric
Image Credit:
Photo Credits: Miguel Fernandez; Artist Credit (for album cover picture): Brandon Adams, Dani Kent, Hilda Lafleur, Joi Bailey, Katrina Rasmussen, Lock Murrell III, Mani Negarestan, Melarie Odelusi, Zachary Howell
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