Laura Les

Biography

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, alongside Dylan Brady.

Early life

Les grew up in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. As a teenager, she became interested in music while learning to play guitar. While attending Columbia College in Chicago, where she earned a degree in acoustic engineering, 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.
Les participated in a remix album of Katie Dey's album Mydata in early 2021. In March 2021, Les officially released her solo single "Haunted" 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 series Euphoria.

Personal life

Les has cited being transgender as contributing to her exploration of different singing styles and pitched-up "nightcore style" vocals, which she once used almost exclusively in her music due to her experiences with voice dysphoria. In "How to dress as human" from the album I just dont want to name it anything with "beach" in the title she speaks about her dysphoria and says “I’m never gonna pass, I should stay home, why did I make plans?" 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 13, 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 2, 2024, Leitz posted on Bluesky that she and Les were engaged.