His first EP, Spiritual Machete (2012), felt like catching Justin Timberlake and Prince fucking in a dumpster full of broken synthesizers. Equal parts electro funk and sleaze, his follow up EP Spectrophilia(2014) further expanded this sound, incorporating the influences of trashy disco, experimental hiphop production sensibilities, and 80’s synth drenched R&B classics to create a one of a kind maximalist assault. Recently relocating from Minneapolis to Los Angeles, one man producer, composer, engineer Elliott Kozel has just completed his debut full length LP Lovequake, which explores not just the giddy peaks of modern nightlife, but also the inherent sadness in the 4 am aftermath. Over the 3 years of writing and production, Kozel gathered his influences of early 80’s Chicago-House 12 inches, Egyptian Lover’s sleazed out electro-funk and Prince’s Purple Rain-era balladry into the kaleidoscopic record.
Tickle Torture’s legendary live shows are an intense stage production: half party, half performance art, with a cavalcade of back up dancers, confetti cannons, and video projections intent on enveloping the audience in a Studio 54-esque decadent fantasy. Tickle Torture’s ever evolving aesthetics and songwriting continue the hunt for emotional and spiritual deliverance in the darkest corners of the club, when the throbbing bass from the speakers reverberating in your chest and your own heartbeat feel like they are beating totally in sync.