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By: Chris Clark
 The Glitch Mob by David Myrick |
Success is a tricky thing. Once it’s achieved, there’s no turning back, no temporary pauses to catch your breath or evaluate. With success come the spoils of the achievement but also the perceived responsibility, accountability and inherent culpability of surpassing the original success and creating a product ultimately better than before. Nowhere does this hold truer than in the music world, where the microscopic lens zeroes in so closely that even the most ubiquitous success story can be followed by an even greater fall from grace. Just envision all those one hit wonders, sophomore album deluges into the abyss and the vast plethora of has-beens that VH1 so eloquently displays on their myriad made-for-TV specials.
For The Glitch Mob, success is an ever-evolving continuum of sound and substance that continues to develop and progress with each passing day. Since last year’s much heralded debut album, Drink the Sea, the Los Angeles-based trio of Ed Ma, Justin Boreta and Joshua Mayer have not only built upon their burgeoning success but also created from it one of the most distinguishable and creative outfits around today. A few years ago, few outside the West Coast had yet to join the party. Back then, the common perception of The Glitch Mob was one solely of the party starter DJs from the Bay (before the eventual move to L.A.) whose hip hop infused glitch beats could make you bob your head. Today, the trio’s relevance and artistic aptitude have taken their success as live DJs and grown that achievement exponentially. Nowadays, this electronic-rock hybrid of Lemur-fueled live production meets drums and improvisation has now paved their own decadent foray into the future of music.
While just wrapping a massive North American tour that transversed the continent in support of their new EP, We Can Make the World Stop, JamBase had the opportunity to chat with Ed Ma while in Atlanta and again in Canada to discuss the success of Drink The Sea, the changing perception of what a DJ and band are and what lies ahead on the musical horizon.
 New EP |
JamBase: I saw you guys at your tour opener in SF and it was unadulterated, sold out mayhem. How’s the rest of tour been?
Ed Ma: Thanks! Oh man, it’s been amazing. This tour has been really incredible; we are really thankful. It’s been crazy packed every night, either sold out or close to sold out. Most of the crowds have been on par with SF or have even topped that show.
JamBase: I have to say, the debut of We Can Make the World Stop live was a thoroughly amazing live experience. The crowd absolutely blew up. How does is make you feel to take the studio sound to the live audience?
Ed Ma: We started out being more of DJs playing our music. What’s really important to us is creating an all-encompassing experience-both audio and visual. With The Glitch Mob live experience there’s something magic to that, night in and night out.
The Glitch Mob live is certainly an interactive affair. The SF opener showcased the emphasis the three of you put on engaging your audience and playing to the crowd. Discuss the impact a hype crowd has on your performance and enjoyment level for what you do.
The Glitch Mob experience is nothing without the crowd. Without the crowd, it's just three guys playing music. The fans are the magic that brings the experience to life. They are the ones that make it so that you had to have been there.
What went into the decision to begin incorporating live drumming (and previously, bass and guitar) into the live performance? Also, will we see a return to the live guitar and bass or was that just a 2010 thing?
 The Glitch Mob |
Drumming is just fun. Nothing is more exciting than seeing someone go absolutely ballistic on a drum set. We just figured it would be a very fun thing to play, and from an audience perspective, it would be fun to watch. We might revisit the guitar and bass again at some point. During the first Drink The Sea tour, most venues still thought we were just DJ's on foldout tables. They simply were not equipped to handle a band format. That was especially evident when we went to Europe. In order to put on the best show, we decided to do away with the guitars and bass until we are at the level where the presentation of a live guitar and bass is done properly. Also, a lot of the guitar and bass parts on Drink The Sea are pretty mellow, which doesn't always translate that well in a live setting. After this current tour, I think we could potentially bring back the guitar and bass. It's all going to depend on the songwriting.
I’d like to talk a bit about the new live show, which is very Daft Punk inspiring. How did all that come about with the video screen and massive neon light fixtures surrounding the three of you?
It’s great. It would be a lot cheaper for us to just set up three Lemurs and just DJ! But The Glitch Mob live experience is something we take a lot of pride in and put a lot of work into.
Let's delve into the new EP, We Can Make the World Stop. To me, this is The Glitch Mob continuing the auditory expansion from Drink The Sea. Will this be an indication of what the new album’s direction will be?
I think you’re right on track with that. The new EP is really kind of a continuation or next steps, an evolution of what The Glitch Mob is all about. After Joshua Tree, we’ll lay down the demos for all the new tracks and spend the next however many months fine tuning. I have no idea what the next album will sound like.
Drink The Sea showcased a hybrid sound that was both a look to the future and a blast to your past. Tell me how that all came about.
 Drink The Sea |
Well, first and foremost, from the songwriting standpoint, Drink The Sea showed an evolution. In the early days, there was a lot of bass tweaking and our song writing was built around sound design with a dance floor sensibility-dance tracks under The Glitch Mob model-tweaking bass and sound effects.
When we got around to writing Drink The Sea it was a significant time for all of us personally. We all had a lot of personal stuff going on. So it was like, “What are we trying to say?” and “What’s the story? What is it that we’re really trying to say in these tracks?”
As far as the new Glitch Mob sound goes, how has the story changed for new EP and moving into the new album?
It is more cinematic and episodic. We are moving away from the traditional DJ template into a more hybrid dance format. After so many years of DJing you want to explore and try new things, you know, stepping out of your comfort zone and play as many of these bass lines as possible. [And] lots of drums.
The three of you all contribute rather equally to the recording process. Tell me a bit more about how you go about the songwriting process. Are the three of you together in the studio or are you spending more time writing and recording on your own and sending tracks over to the other guys to get their impressions and add their touches to the product?
The songwriting process changes all of the time. For Drink The Sea, the three of us were in the room together for almost the entire process. For our current EP, there was a lot of sketching of ideas on our own and then coming together and piecing bits and pieces of everyone's ideas into a cohesive song.
Who are some of the artists you are digging these days, both in the electronic scene and out?
The Weeknd, Frank Ocean, Bon Iver, Mr. Little Jeans, Warpaint.
How has the perception of The Glitch Mob changed and evolved over the last year or so?
 The Glitch Mob |
I think at the core it’s still the three of us making music, but the whole thing has grown into something so much bigger than just the three of us making tunes. It encompasses so much more. To me, it’s just the three of us making music and the fan base helping to grow the live experience. For us, without the fans, so much of this isn’t possible.
When do you plan on the new album coming out and what can your fans and critics alike expect from The Glitch Mob?
I honestly have no idea and that’s the magic of this project. It’s the journey not the destination. That’s for you and the fans to determine. To us, we’re really just happy.
Tracks like “Drive It Like You Stole It” certainly thrive in both the studio and live settings, but live, it seems to grow an extra pair of legs and really explode. Discuss the evolution of your material and what it takes to truly fine tune your product.
When “Drive It” came out last year, there were a lot of people that just downright hated the record. The bottom line is it’s not going to please everybody. There were certainly a lot of mixed reviews, but that’s normal. But, Drink The Sea, in general, grew on people over time.
[“Drive It”] is definitely the song that brings closure to something, It closes out the album, too. I remember at one point thinking this song will be a great closer. Now, we encore with it and it’s been such an effective closer. When it comes on, [the crowd] is like, “Hell yeah!”
It’s great to see that you are still mixing in older tracks like “West Coast Rocks” and “Monday” along with your “Red Dress” (TV on the Radio) remix and the newer material.
 Drive It Single Cover |
Yeah, not saying anything negative about anyone, but I think in a lot of electronic music the shelf life is really short. Something that we’ve done a little differently is that we’ve had more of a traditional band approach. Quite frankly, the old songs are a lot the ones that a lot of fans know and want to hear live.
True. What has the result been?
When we get up there as The Glitch Mob, we’ve finally found a balance between being entertainers and being artists. We are growing as songwriters, growing as performers.
Where does The Glitch Mob thrive most, in the studio or live? Back a few years ago I would say unequivocally live but now the three of you have really become masters in the studio as well.
We never really think about that.
The three of you have produced an abundance of music together and in your various solo forms. What's been your crowning achievement musically thus far, and at the end of the day, what's the most endearing part of playing music for a living?
I guess our crowning achievement has been the fact that we have been able to share our music with the world, and through it, we've been able to put a smile on peoples' faces and create some great memories in their lives and in our lives. Sometimes we get fans that hit us up saying that our music has helped them get through tough times or has inspired them to do something good or creative. That's very touching and we are extremely humbled by the love from the fans. If The Glitch Mob were to cease to exist today, I would be content knowing that our music did something positive.
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