The Glitch Mob
West Coast RocksThe Glitch Mob are much more than your regular turntable tagteam. Laurent Fintoni meets the Californian crew who sum up their musical approach in three words: dirty, fucking, bass.
When the term surfaced circa 2000, glitch-hop, like trip-hop before it, amounted to little more than a lazy tag used by journalists to separate new styles of music production from their hip hop origin. But if it wasn’t for glitch-hop, and the almost comical ring to it, perhaps the Glitch Mob wouldn’t have found their name. A collective of four producers and DJs based on the US west coast, they originally chose their title as a joke. Like most good jokes though, it stuck.
Composed of edIT, based in LA, Ooah, Kraddy, originally based in San Francisco but now in LA, and Boreta, still based in San Fran, the Mob formed through the connections between the four, namely their collective gigs and musical affinities. “It turned out to be a lot of fun playing with four people as it adds a dynamic that's not present from a one-person show,” Boreta explains while talking about their first shows together.
As Kraddy remarks though, “At first we were just a DJ collective but as we developed we tightened it and started operating as a band.” DJs or producers coming together as a band is nothing new, but the Mob have taken it a step further by working as one in the studio and on stage while continuing to develop and release as solo artists. With the success of edIT’s second album, released last year, a string of solo digital singles on their own imprint, and more live shows and mixes than most people get around to in an entire career, the Mob are primed to do much more than just “slay the crowds”, as they like to put it.
A unifying element of their music is bass. The three San Francisco members have a thorough understanding of bass-led music following years of producing for and playing on big systems — something that took edIT by surprise at first, leading him to “put the bass back” into his album after hooking up with them a few years back. “Ridiculous bass is very important; our music is made for large sound systems,” Boreta says. “We spend a lot of time shaping frequencies to optimize the experience of people coming to our shows.” For Kraddy the Mob’s music and production approach is easily summed up in three words: “dirty, fucking, bass”.
The other defining element of their music is its dancefloor appeal, but to fully get it you really need to hear them live. Armed with laptops, records, turntables and controllers, they fuse their musical influences into a melting pot brimming with face-twitching drum hits and chest-rattling bass. The mix of styles united by massive bottom end has not only earned them an army of fans but also come to represent part of a new hip hop ideal, a style centered on the dancefloor and with deep-rooted electronic influences.
With their reputation firmly in place following the past few years of gigging and producing together, they’re now back in the studio laying the foundations for their debut album. But producing as a collective is wholly different to playing gigs together, especially when each member is active as an accomplished solo artist. It seems, however, that what might be a hindrance is actually proving a catalyst for creativity. “We’ve worked out a good system to collaborate,” explains Kraddy. “It’s exciting working together because we all throw in ideas and what comes out is something none of us could have done on our own.”
As for what it might sound like, they joke but also hint at a sound that will be different to the live experience but still close to what fans might expect. “The live show is high energy and extreme, but the full listening experience is most important when working on the album. We want the listener to be enveloped in sound and taken on a high octane journey through sound and emotion,” says Boreta.
While the album takes shape the Mob continues its all-out assault on the world with shows (a European tour is looming) and releases that should see their name cemented into the public consciousness in time for them to hit us with their debut, and to show us just how the west coast rocks.
Composed of edIT, based in LA, Ooah, Kraddy, originally based in San Francisco but now in LA, and Boreta, still based in San Fran, the Mob formed through the connections between the four, namely their collective gigs and musical affinities. “It turned out to be a lot of fun playing with four people as it adds a dynamic that's not present from a one-person show,” Boreta explains while talking about their first shows together.
As Kraddy remarks though, “At first we were just a DJ collective but as we developed we tightened it and started operating as a band.” DJs or producers coming together as a band is nothing new, but the Mob have taken it a step further by working as one in the studio and on stage while continuing to develop and release as solo artists. With the success of edIT’s second album, released last year, a string of solo digital singles on their own imprint, and more live shows and mixes than most people get around to in an entire career, the Mob are primed to do much more than just “slay the crowds”, as they like to put it.
A unifying element of their music is bass. The three San Francisco members have a thorough understanding of bass-led music following years of producing for and playing on big systems — something that took edIT by surprise at first, leading him to “put the bass back” into his album after hooking up with them a few years back. “Ridiculous bass is very important; our music is made for large sound systems,” Boreta says. “We spend a lot of time shaping frequencies to optimize the experience of people coming to our shows.” For Kraddy the Mob’s music and production approach is easily summed up in three words: “dirty, fucking, bass”.
The other defining element of their music is its dancefloor appeal, but to fully get it you really need to hear them live. Armed with laptops, records, turntables and controllers, they fuse their musical influences into a melting pot brimming with face-twitching drum hits and chest-rattling bass. The mix of styles united by massive bottom end has not only earned them an army of fans but also come to represent part of a new hip hop ideal, a style centered on the dancefloor and with deep-rooted electronic influences.
With their reputation firmly in place following the past few years of gigging and producing together, they’re now back in the studio laying the foundations for their debut album. But producing as a collective is wholly different to playing gigs together, especially when each member is active as an accomplished solo artist. It seems, however, that what might be a hindrance is actually proving a catalyst for creativity. “We’ve worked out a good system to collaborate,” explains Kraddy. “It’s exciting working together because we all throw in ideas and what comes out is something none of us could have done on our own.”
As for what it might sound like, they joke but also hint at a sound that will be different to the live experience but still close to what fans might expect. “The live show is high energy and extreme, but the full listening experience is most important when working on the album. We want the listener to be enveloped in sound and taken on a high octane journey through sound and emotion,” says Boreta.
While the album takes shape the Mob continues its all-out assault on the world with shows (a European tour is looming) and releases that should see their name cemented into the public consciousness in time for them to hit us with their debut, and to show us just how the west coast rocks.
The Glitch Mob tour Europe in November A Spanish version of this article originally appeared in Serie B magazine
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