Elektric Voodoo is an Afrobeat-inspired project launched by Goddard College alum Scott Tournet, formerly the guitarist for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, a band he spent nearly thirteen years with. Having moved to San Diego from Vermont in 2012, he first worked on solo releases like Ver La Luz, released in May 2013 and recorded and engineered by Mike Kamoo at his Earthling Studios in Chula Vista.
He tracked his first Elektric Voodoo numbers in late 2015 with Ben Moore (Styletones), drummer John Staten (Karl Denson, On the One), and percussionist Ty Kiernan (Bad Neighborz). The band played its first gig on March 9, 2016, at the Belly Up.
“The Nocturnals had their Rolling Stones-ish rock-and-roll sound, and we couldn’t explore many other avenues,” says Tournet, who studied jazz and Afrobeat in college. “Fela Kuti, I always loved that music.”
The debut self-titled Elektric Voodoo album was released in 2016. At the time, Tournet's backing band still included Ty Kiernan, as well as Mark Boyce (Blues Explosion, 3rd Borough), drummer Matt Bozzone, and bassist Evan Lucas, later replaced by Luke Henning.
A new single called “Wake Up” appeared in summer 2021, followed by “Telescope,” the latter also being the title track of an album released August 20. According to Scott Tournet, “I’ve been peering through a telescope, looking at the world up close, but never opening up both eyes. These lyrics from the title track summarize the plight of the main character through the first half of the record. On top of a heavy funk and afrobeat groove, this song stacks blissed-out synths and delayed guitars that drift along with a song that could work in a stripped down singer-songwriter setting. An amalgamation of genres and elements that are disparate but blend in a natural way...created and crafted with intent, Telescope is a concept album that presents a conscious shift from internal to external and intended to be listened straight through."
"The album is 9-songs deep that tells a story of a journey through self-reflection, evaluation of mortality, confrontation of death, and eventually dawns a new perspective.”
Regarding the single "Children Are the Revolution," “I was inspired by how the children from Stoneman Douglas High School responded by taking political action after the Parkland school shooting. It’s further inspired by Greta Thunberg and thousands of other kids who are trying to make the world a better place.”
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