Monday night was a long awaited experience when I drove 200 miles down to Ft. Lauderdale to check out Glitch Mob. But, before I explain the complexity of their set, I have to mention the opening act, Marty Party. This glitchy dubstep half of the group PantyRaid was trying to blow the speakers throwing an awesome blend of original and mixed content. The hurt my chest but soothed my soul, a great surprise for me, since I was not familiar with the artist.
As for The Glitch Mob….WOW. An amazing performance of their new album, Drink the Sea, accented by a killer light show and a loving crowd. The group was also selling double vinyl versions of their album at the show and hung out for quite some time after wards to sign autographs and meet the fans. All three members of the group, eDit, Ooah(also the other half of PantyRaid), and Boreta, are some of the most down to earth artists I’ve ever encountered. I was even able to snag an interview with Boreta.
Me:So, how did you guys get started as a group,because originally you were all individual artists?
Boreta: Yeah, we were all individual artists and DJs and decided to do it as a group one time and it was amazing. We really felt it was a good way to perform and we just continued doing it like that.
Me: What about the name Glitch Mob, how did that come around? Wasn’t it like a joke or something?
Boreta: Honestly, we started playing shows before we had a name. We were just like edIT, Ooah, and Boreta and the promoter booked us for a show and told us we needed a name. So, a friend of ours said “Glitch Mob”, and we were like…”Okay.”
Me: Since you guys play a wide variety of tones and effects, what would you categorize you music as, or would you even care to?
Boreta: A lot of people consider the word “glitch” to be a genre of music and it is, but at the time we thought of it we weren’t tying it to a genre of music. Honestly, it’s more like electronic music, any further we traverse down the ladder of sub-genres doesn’t really apply because we have so many different tempos.
Me: Is it true that you guys are like an electronic Jam Band and that you know your opening song and your ending song and that everything in between is just freestyle?
Boreta: We use to actually play like before we had an album, but now we have a setlist just like a regular band. There’s tons of improvisation, where we will improvise notes, but for the most part we follow the set list. It used to be like a DJ set, where you had a bunch of tracks and you just played what the crowd was feeling.
Me: Awesome. How did you guys come about using the touchscreen controllers and could you elaborate more on what they are for you as opposed to any other type of pad or keyboard?
Boreta: We wanted a way to show the crowd what is it that we’re doing. They’re called Lemurs, like the monkey. A typical DJ is sitting behind decks or a laptop, and you can’t really see what they’re doing. And we did that for years, and we wanted to figure out a way to show the people what was going on create visual effects to go with the rhythms and stuff.
Me: Is that way you setup so they face the crowd?
Boreta: Exactly, just another way to get the crowd involved in the show.
Me: I’m not sure about you and Ooah, but I know that edIT used to compose everything in ProTools, is that what is still being used?
Boreta: Yeah man, we use all kinds of stuff. I know how to use ProTools, I’ve also made a lot of my earlier stuff in Logic. Now, we use Cubase and we’re in Ableton when we are live. We don’t really stick to one thing, it’s more about whatever works at the time.
Me: Who are some of your influences musically?
Boreta: It changes constantly. I like Jack White and the White Stripes, Dead Weather, and I like all kind of electronic stuff, I’m a big Aphex Twin fan.
Me: So what do you think the future holds for Dubstep and Glitch and the Glitch Mob?
Boreta: For a genre of music versus us, it’s kinda different things. People are being really creative and technology is allowing a lot of progression and a lot of new things to happen. It’s going to keep getting more and more interactive and fun and crazy, and more people will embrace it.
Me: Thanks for your time.
Boreta: Cool man, thanks for coming out.
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Be sure to check out their new album “Drink the Sea” and the associated mix-tape that’s floating around.
http://www.theglitchmob.com/music/
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