Asa Taccone

Asa Taccone
Asa Taccone of Electric Guest performing at Montreux Jazz Festival
Background information
Born	(1983-09-21) September 21, 1983 (age 33) Berkeley, California
Occupation(s)	Musician
Associated acts	Electric Guest The Lonely Island

Asa Taccone is a musician and the lead singer of the band Electric Guest.

Asa Taccone was born on September 21, 1983,the second son to Suellen and Tony Taccone (a theater director) in Berkeley, California. His brother's name is Jorma Taccone. He is of mixed Italian and Puerto Rican ancestry. His interest in music began playing trumpet in his elementary school choir during religious holidays; the choir director included a bongo section where he and other children could sing and play the drums. During high school, he became interested in jazz, continuing to play trumpet in the band. Taccone was eventually kicked out his high school, and sent to a boot camp that he could only leave on the weekends. While there, he began to frequent a local Dunkin Donuts. There, he met an elderly woman who remarked that he was "an electric guest of the universe."

Taccone had long been a fan of hip/hop music, and was influenced by Bay-area rappers like Souls Of Mischief, E-40, and Mac Dre. He moved on to synths and started producing hip/hop music. However, he began to grow weary of the "bullshit" of the hip-hop world, and one day—while visiting an incarcerated friend—another inmate recognized Taccone, requesting to work with him after his release. The incident rattled him, and he left the genre for good. His already budding interest in 1960s music took off, and he begin making music that stemmed from that era.

Taccone's older brother, Jorma, joined the writing staff of Saturday Night Live in 2005, and enlisted Asa in composing music for the show's Digital Shorts peformed by his comedy group The Lonely Island.

Jorma asked his friend Brian Burton (professionally known as Danger Mouse) to listen to some of Asa's music over the phone. Burton provided positive feedback, encouraging the younger Taccone to continue making music. At the age of 24, Asa made the move from his hometown to Los Angeles to pursue a music career. Burton recommended that Asa take his former room in a boarding house full of musicians.