The time is now for Los Angeles-based The Glitch Mob. A lot has changed for the trio of Josh Mayer (Ooah), Ed Ma (edIT) and Justin (Boreta) since they released their heralded underground anthem, “Crush Mode” a year and a half ago. Then, they were known for bringing the heavy, glitched-out bass bombs to the Low End Theory crowd, West Coast clubs and opening stints for the likes of STS9. As a group, their success has been rather viral, seemingly with each passing show a new set of fans would arise. It was their high energy; epic live performances that garnered them attention, as crowds from coast to coast attended their shows in awe of the triple tag team approach. Today, The Glitch Mob has come full circle, comprised of three forward-leaning producers and musicians who have risen from the relatively unknown to the forefront of a burgeoning world of live electronic music played, well, live. They have become much more than an explosively loud live show and they’ve done it their way.
After releasing their debut album, Drink the Sea in late May, Ooah, edIT and Boreta have unleashed an unwieldy and unique auditory assault on the music world. In its 10 tracks, Drink the Sea defies categorization and in the process, blurs the boundaries of what an electronic album can be expected to be. This uniqueness comes in deconstructing their sound and as a result, creating a new brand, a 2.0, of The Glitch Mob. Sure, the dirty, hip hop-based appeal is still there, along with the various booms, blaps and manipulated soundscapes. But today’s Glitch Mob focuses much more on concise songwriting and adept live instrumentation, centered around the meshing of Lemur-led electro and glitch coupled with bass, guitar and V drums performed live, warts and all. The era of preprogramming an act’s entire set may be over, and they are on the forefront of envelope pushers in the post-modern electronic age. Capably and effortlessly combining the best of the DJ/Producer world with that of a live band, they have forged new territory in their new release and ensuing live shows, resulting in a refreshing concoction of sonic satisfaction and stimulation.
Jambands.com had the opportunity to catch up with The Glitch Mob’s edIT after the group had just concluded their 25-date national leg of the Drink the Sea tour, and just before heading out to begin a plethora of European club dates. We touched upon the making of the new album, the thought process behind such a large sound evolution and where they will take it from here.
Moving from “Crush Mode” to Drink the Sea, some listeners might be hard-pressed to realize that its the same band. Can you talk about hoe that growth and transition came about?
Drink The Sea is merely the story we’re telling at this point in time in our lives. When we put out the “Crush Mode” mix tape we were telling a slightly different story. We don’t necessarily look at this album as a conscious effort to push ourselves in any way. To us, it’s just the natural evolution of us as human beings and what we’re trying to say.
A year or two ago, would you have thought that the three of you would be incorporating live drums, bass and guitar to your live shows along with all the electronics?
A year ago? Yes. We had the foresight to know that our live performance would evolve to how we currently perform the album. If you had asked us three years ago, we probably wouldn’t have guessed we’d be performing our music like this.
Have you guys faced any backlash from your old fans wondering what happened to the Glitch barrage?
There have been some fans who like the “Crush Mode” era of The Glitch Mob over our current album. That’s fine. We still have a lot of love for fans whether they like our old stuff or our new stuff.
To me, this seems to be a collection of songs with a real, emotional feel to them…
It’s a very personal and sentimental record to us. There was a lot happening while we were writing the album and we definitely weren’t afraid to be vulnerable and convey that through the music.
The entire album and all the samples and extraneous sounds were recorded by the three of you. How did that extra layer of love result in a more cohesive finished product? And conversely, from the point of the beginning the recording process to the finished album, how did your perception of what you created evolve?
The three of us are real close. We shared a lot of the same highs and the same lows in the album writing process. As a result, that was funneled into this record. During the album writing process the record takes on a life of its own. You might think it’s going to end up a certain way and it never does. We just let the album be what it was meant to be. Nothing more, nothing less.
New album and new stage set up leads to new gear. Tell me about some of your new technology and how it’s enabled The Glitch Mob to take their sound beyond the boundaries of what was expected.
We have used a laptop as the brains for the live set and that hasn’t changed. We’ve used Jazzmutant Lemurs for close to two years now, so that hasn’t changed either. For this new album we’ve introduced a guitar, a bass and V-Drums. One of the newest pieces of equipment that have really helped us is our Line 6 POD X3 Live foot pedals. These allow us to save guitar and bass setups for each song, and they can be recalled instantly by stepping on a foot switch. This is great for songs where there’s three or four different guitar or bass sounds in the song. Also they eliminate the need to use guitar or bass plug-ins like Amplitube or Guitar Rig. This frees up our laptop’s CPU so it’s less likely to fail.
As I’m sure you guys noticed, many of the Low End Theory guys and your peers were much quicker to the draw with getting an album out to the public. Why did it take so long?
Music is not a competition to us. We honestly did not realize this until a lot of press began pointing it out. For us, the record is done when it’s done. We do not let social trends dictate when should release our music.
I just attended Lightning in a Bottle and saw your festival-closing set. That was undoubtedly the loudest concert I’ve ever seen. Did you guys just go up there and say, ‘Let’s just straight out murder this crowd?’
Hah! No, definitely not. Our normal sound guy was not there.
Songs like “We Swarm” off Drink the Sea still have that gritty; old school The Glitch Mob vibe of years past while incorporated much of the new school live instrumentation sound not seen before. How do you think these songs will progress/evolve through more playing?
We’ve got lots of ideas as to how we evolve these songs once they become a little more familiar. For the time being that’s top secret.
At LIB, you still played “West Coast Rocks” and “Red Dress,” both of which had the entire place getting low. As your new sound and configuration continues, will you continue to incorporate older material in with your new stuff?
We’re artists first and entertainers second. Although our music is not made to order pizza, it’s still good to throw the crowd some classics. We love our fans and throwing in some of our older jams is just a way to give back to them.
Speaking of “Red Dress,” have any of the guys have TV on the Radio ever caught your remix? I bet it would blow their minds.
They’ve heard it. They’re great guys and we’ve been in constant email contact since. More TVOTR / TGM goodness to come in the future.
“Drive it Like You Stole It” will be a Glitch Mob classic for years to come. I can also envision it as being the track that reaches the ears of a much wider listening audience then you’ve seen in the past. Where do you take that sound and momentum from here?
It’s the journey not the destination. We have the best jobs in the world and we’re just thankful that we get to make music every day. Only time will tell where our music takes us.
Lastly, I’m pretty sure I heard it on a “Biggest Loser” preview. Are you guys reaching out to the mainstream to start utilizing Glitch Mob tracks in TV, radio and beyond?
The Glitch Mob is not necessarily consciously reaching out to the mainstream. We think the “music” just finds its way out into the world. And that’s a beautiful thing.
