Our coverage for Sasquatch! 2011 continues today through an interview with Justin Boreta of Los Angeles’ Glitch Mob. The electronic music trio turned heads and moved feet in the LA area before earning acclaim the West Coast. With the group’s 2010 release Drink The Sea and touring efforts thereafter, Glitch Mob has caught the attention of music fans across the world. On the eve of a massive North American tour, Justin Boreta took some time to answer our questions about the group’s dynamics, their musical roots and electronic music in America.
Apes On Tape: I’m catching you guys on the cusp of a very lengthy North American tour (tour dates listed below). Is there any particular material you’re focusing on with this tour? Are you still primarily working with Drink the Sea, new material, or a mix?
Justin Boreta: We spent some time rethinking songs from Drink The Sea for this next evolution of the show. The idea was to take the album, which is predominantly a listening album, and have it make sense in a live setting. There’s a also a lot of new music from our upcoming release, a handful of remixes, and some other surprises.
In addition to Sasquatch at the Gorge, you also have a show at Red Rocks. Are you guys pretty jazzed about playing such beautiful outdoor venues? And do you enjoy taking on the challenge of such large venues as well?
It’s almost too awesome to comprehend. Getting to play at Red Rocks is always an honor, and there’s something about electronic music that just sounds right outside. The Gorge is another place we have been wanting to play for years, so it’s exciting. Making our show scale from 300 person rooms in small towns to 10,000 person venues is quite a fun challenge.
Any other particular dates/locations you’re especially looking forward too? I know you mentioned smaller towns like Mobile, AL and Ashville, NC were surprisingly awesome during past tours.
We’re really excited to go back to Montreal on this tour, it’s such a cool town. In general though, it’s exciting to think of getting to revisit so many awesome places with a brand new visual show. Actually we haven’t had much of a visual show at all in the past, so I should say it’s exciting to return to this places with a visual show.
You’re not set to play EDC this year, though it looks like there’s still a possibility with your tour schedule. Anyhow, how do you guys feel about EDC’s move to Vegas given your history with LA’s electronic music scene?
EDC is such a psychedelic freakshow, I think it will actually make perfect sense in Vegas.
Speaking of which, while I imagine we both agree that America’s electronic scene is very much behind Europe’s, Los Angeles has most definitely been bridging that gap in the past decade. Care to share any thoughts on that development and how you’ve seen things change there?
When traveling around the world, there’s no doubt that when people think of American electronic music they think of LA. There’s so much good music happening here, so many new artists and genres popping up, it’s infectious. The cool thing is really that it feels very creative at the center of all of it. I think everyone learned from the way drum & bass hoarded it’s gems and choked itself out as an artform and a scene. Nowadays, we help each other out. Secrets are shared out in the open and I feel like there’s a lot more transparency which has helped this thing flourish. We hang out with our peers and geek out about new studio techniques all the time. There’s tons of plugin trading, sound trading, and a general sharing of resources.
You’re often mentioned together in that LA electronic scene with Flying Lotus, Nosaj Thing, Daedelus, etc. But do you maintain pretty close relationships with those guys? Is there an active intention to try and play or work with them?
Absolutely. We’re actually all super close friends and have been for a while — long before we were full-time musicians. Ed (edIT) went to college with Daedelus. Before Glitch Mob I had a full time desk job and would sit around all day bullshitting on iChat with Nosaj Thing who was also at a crappy desk job. We’d chat about how we wanted to quit and do music full time. It’s fun to have a group of friends and all be at similar stages of our musical adventures together.
In terms of exposure, obviously your live shows cannot be downplayed. But how much do yout think endeavors like the America’s Got Talent spot, the Captain America trailer, the GoPro commercial, that sort of stuff, affect your exposure?
It’s hard to say, but I don’t think it actually helps a lot. People don’t generally come out to a show because they saw a song on TV. Word of mouth still rules all.
I get a major, though subtle, hip-hop vibe from your music. Are there any particular influences there, certain albums that resonate?
We’re all huge golden era hip hop fans. The Black Album comes up a lot, as does Dr. Dre and Tribe Called Quest.
At the same time, looking at some of your prominent remixes, there’s a definite a harder rock vibe too; White Stripes, Linkin Park, Coheed. How does that play into the mix?
Rock is another big influence on us — we grew up listening to punk, metal, classic rock, psychedelic rock, etc. We like to try to have the energy of a metal or rock show at an electronic show. I think that’s probably more present in our music than techno/breaks/etc. is. We just sort of stumbled on this electronic band thing, but in another lifetime we could be a hair metal band.
Concerning selecting the songs that will ultimately be remixed, do you have a particular process for that? Is that democratic or what?
We get a lot of suggestions and offers for remixes, which is awesome. At this point we’re so busy in the studio we can only pick one from time to time so whichever we pick, we all have to be on board with 100% and it’s music that we really stand behind.
Concerning your live shows, it almost seems that with a number of DJ’s there’s almost an apathy on stage. But watching you guys, you legitimately get into it. Perhaps it’s apart of that “we slay crowds” mentality. But do you make it a priority to get into it live?
I think it goes back to the rock thing. We all grew up in dingy punk and hardcore clubs, backpack hip hop shows, mosh pits, etc. So it’s really natural for us to really go there with it and get into the music. Even though it’s sort of a new thing to “rock” computers, we just run with it. It’s a true honor to be on stage playing our music for people that want to hear it, and we want to make the most of it. It’s definitely a priority for us to get into it. Our goal is to have the music grab you by the scruff of the neck and take you on a journey, and we are completely on that journey with you.
I also heard you only select the first and last song of each set before hand. Do you have a similar set of songs to freestyle from that you’ve practiced together before, or is it just all completely off the cusp?
We used to play like that before Drink The Sea — there was a lot of improv and freestyle mixing. We’d riff off of each other and we were touring so much that it become a sort of electronic DJ jam thing. However after we wrote the album, we have moved towards more of a traditional set list. There’s still improv in the set, but it happens now in more of a jazz sense where there’s sections for improv, and then it goes back to the song. Not that we are anywhere near as skilled as jazz musicians, but it’s the easiest way for us to think of how to stick improv sections in a planned set.
Coming in, you all did solo work, and I imagine you still do. But is that process of melding everyone’s work together into a cohesive “Glitch Mob” sound a completely fluid, ongoing process or do you each sort of tailor your own stuff so it’s easier to match with one another?
At this point our solo projects are on the back burner, so Glitch Mob production has become very fluid. It’s a very open-minded, open-hearted process that we’ve worked hard to get to flow freely. Stylistically we each bring our own slant to the table, definitely. At this point though I think we are just working towards the greater vision. It’s bigger than each one of us now so more than anything we feel like we’re just steering the ship.
| CITY | VENUE | DATE | TICKETS | |
| George, WA | The Gorge | Sat | May 28 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| North Plains, OR | Horning’s Hideout | Thu | Jun 23 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| San Francisco, CA | The Regency Ballroom | Fri | Jun 24 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Solana Beach, CA | Belly Up Tavern | Sun | Jun 26 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Tempe, AZ | Club Red | Tue | Jun 28 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Albuquerque, NM | Sunshine Theater | Wed | Jun 29 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Salt Lake City, UT | The Complex | Fri | Jul 01 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Morrison, CO | Red Rocks Amphitheatre | Sat | Jul 02 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| St. Louis, MO | 2720 Cherokee | Mon | Jul 04 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Dallas, TX | Trees | Wed | Jul 06 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Austin, TX | La Zona Rosa | Thu | Jul 07 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| New Orleans, LA | Republic New Orleans | Sat | Jul 09 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Fort Lauderdale, FL | Revolution Live | Tue | Jul 12 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Tampa, FL | Czar | Wed | Jul 13 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Orlando, FL | Beacham Theatre | Thu | Jul 14 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Atlanta, GA | King Plow Arts Center | Fri | Jul 15 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Nashville, TN | Exit/In | Sat | Jul 16 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Asheville, NC | Orange Peel | Sun | Jul 17 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Charlottesville, VA | Jefferson Theater | Tue | Jul 19 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Washington, DC | 9:30 Club | Wed | Jul 20 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Philadelphia, PA | Theatre of Living Arts (TLA) | Thu | Jul 21 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| New York, NY | Terminal 5 | Fri | Jul 22 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Boston, MA | Paradise Rock Club | Sat | Jul 23 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Northampton, MA | Pearl Street Nightclub | Sun | Jul 24 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Burlington, VT | Higher Ground (Ballroom) | Mon | Jul 25 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Montreal, QC | SAT | Wed | Jul 27 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Buffalo, NY | The Town Ballroom | Fri | Jul 29 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Pittsburgh, PA | Rex Theater | Sat | Jul 30 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Cleveland, OH | Grog Shop | Sun | Jul 31 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Cincinnati, OH | 20th Century Theatre | Mon | Aug 01 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Detroit, MI | Magic Stick | Wed | Aug 03 / 11 | Get Tickets |
| Grand Rapids, MI | The Intersection | Thu | Aug 04 / 11 | Get Tickets |