Laura Les (born 1994 or 1995), previously known under the moniker osno1, is an American music producer, singer and songwriter best known as one half of experimental electronic duo

100 gecs 100 gecs () is an American musical duo formed in 2015 that consists of Dylan Brady and Laura Les. They self-released their debut album, '' 1000 gecs'', in 2019 to positive reviews, followed by a companion remix album, '' 1000 gecs and the Tre ...

, alongside

Dylan Brady Dylan Marshall Brady (born 1993 or 1994) is an American music producer, singer, and songwriter, best known for being one half of experimental electronic music duo 100 gecs, alongside Laura Les. Early life Dylan Marshall Brady grew up in suburb ...

Early life

Les grew up in a suburb of

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. As a teenager, she became interested in music while learning to play guitar. While attending Columbia College in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, where she earned a degree in

acoustic engineering Acoustical engineering (also known as acoustic engineering) is the branch of engineering dealing with sound and vibration. It includes the application of acoustics, the science of sound and vibration, in technology. Acoustical engineers are typical ...

, she began releasing music online under the moniker osno1.

Career

In 2016, Les released the EP, ''hello kitty skates to the fuckin CEMETARY,'' which she describes as "a bunch of songs about dead bodies." She subsequently released the 2017 EP, ''i just dont wanna name it anything with "beach" in the title.'' In 2018, Les stopped using the osno1 moniker and released a third EP, ''Big Summer Jams 2018,'' under her own name. ''Big Summer Jams 2018'' received positive reviews from music critics, praised as "debauched digital celebrations" by ''Vice'' and "a blender of fun” by ''

Tiny Mix Tapes ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' (also ''TMT'' or ''tinymixtapes'') is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, ...

''. Les participated in a

remix album A remix album is an album consisting of remixes or rerecorded versions of an artist's earlier released material. The first act who employed the format was American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson ('' Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'', 1971). As of 200 ...

of Katie Dey's album ''

Mydata The Presidential Innovation Fellows program is a competitive fellowship program that pairs top innovators from the private sector, non-profits, and academia with top innovators in government to collaborate on solutions that aim to deliver signifi ...

'' in early 2021. In March 2021, Les officially released her solo single "

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" following a positive reception from her fanbase after it was previously played during a virtual DJ set in 2020. The song was subsequently featured in season 2 of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series ''

Euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...

''.

Personal life

Les has cited being

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

as contributing to her exploration of different singing styles, including pitched-up "

nightcore A nightcore (also known as sped-up song, sped-up version, sped-up remix, or sped-up edit) is a version of a music track that increases the pitch and speeds up its source material by approximately 35%. This gives an effect identical to playing a ...

style" vocals, which she once used almost exclusively in her music due to her experiences with voice

dysphoria Dysphoria (; ) is a profound state of unease or dissatisfaction. It is the semantic opposite of euphoria. In a psychiatric context, dysphoria may accompany depression, anxiety, or agitation. In psychiatry Intense states of distress and uneas ...

. However, in a 2021 ''Pitchfork'' interview, she revealed she had begun taking vocal lessons and recording new 100 gecs music with unpitched vocals, saying, "As I've been exploring my voice more, I'm like, 'I can do this.'" She married illustrator and cartoonist Gabe Howell on October 13th, 2017. Les lived in Chicago from 2013 to 2020, then moved to Los Angeles with Howell to work more closely with Brady. As of July 2023, Les currently lives in rural Colorado with her girlfriend, May Leitz. On December 2nd, 2024, May Leitz posted on BlueSky that she and Les were engaged.

Discography

Extended plays

Compilation albums

Singles

Guest appearances

Songwriting and production credits

Remixes

As part of 100 gecs

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Les, Laura 1994 births Living people American women in electronic music Musicians from St. Louis LGBTQ people from Missouri American LGBTQ singers American LGBTQ songwriters Transgender songwriters Hyperpop musicians 100 gecs American transgender musicians Columbia College Chicago alumni American transgender women Transgender women singers Transgender women musicians