Change of pace
El Ten Eleven glad for outside producer on 10th album
Kristian Dunn has a rare day off on tour.
He’s in Bend, Ore., and he’s going to take a hike later.
“It’s an opportunity to get out into nature,” he says with a laugh. “This never happens, and we’re going to make the most of the opportunity.”
Dunn is one-half of the instrumental rock duo El Ten Eleven. Tim Fogarty is the other member.
Since the band’s inception in 2002, Dunn and Fogarty have always been just two people who produce their own records.
That attitude of self-reliance led to the band launching its own Fake Record Label.
But a change was coming.
For its latest album, “Banker’s Hill,” Dunn and Fogarty brought producer Sonny Diperri into the fold and moved to the beautiful Panoramic House studios in Stinson Beach, Calif., to create the album.
The album is also the band’s 10th. “We’ve never had a producer before, and it was helpful to have Sonny with us,” Dunn says. “I really wanted to have a producer, and we found the right guy in Sonny. We were talking with another artist who was working with him, and he pleaded with us to work with Sonny. I met him in Los Angeles and immediately knew he was the guy.”
Looking back, Dunn says, he would have loved to work with a producer before “Banker’s Hill.”
“Our first record is fine,” he says. “Looking back at all the rest of them, we could have used another editor. Right now, working with Sonny, I think we’ve ended up with the best record that we’ve ever had.”
Over the course of more than a decade, Dunn says, the writing process hasn’t changed much between the two.
Usually Dunn is at home by himself recording and coming up with ideas.
“If I come up with something I think is good, I’ll send it to Tim,” he says. “We do a lot of improvising as well when we’re together. It’s pretty standard and a process we’ve been doing for a long time.”
Part of El Ten Eleven’s success has come from tasteful licensing to film and TV. Its music has been used in everything from Lexus commercials to the MTV Video Music Awards, but the most recognition has come from licensing partnerships with Gary Hustwit’s award-winning design documentary trilogy, “Helvetica,” “Objectified” and “Urbanized.”
Another reason the band has lasted so long is that Dunn and Fogarty don’t fight.
“Tim and I have never had a fight,” he says. “We’ve gotten annoyed with each other. Musically, we’re on the same page, and a lot of things come together because of that. It seems very easy to be a part of this band. I have one of the best creators with me.”