Reed Mathis & Electric Beethoven Kick Off Monthly Release Series With ‘Ramps & Vamps’ Single

Reed Mathis and Electric Beethoven in conjunction with Color Red today launched a monthly release series that will culminate this summer with the arrival of the group’s new double album Hear No Evil. Up first is the track “Ramps & Vamps,” a song which takes its title from “the ropes course in the playground that is Electric Beethoven.”

Electric Beethoven was formed by Reed Mathis in 2016. Playing and recording what the Bay Area-based musician describes as “CDM,” (Classical Dance Music) the project reinvents Ludwig van Beethoven’s compositions. The band’s debut 2016 studio album Beathoven was followed by Maps We Found On The Ground in 2017 and a series of singles for Color Red in 2019.

Hear No Evil will feature tracks recorded with fellow Color Red artists and a full remix sets in which acclaimed producers reconfigure the band’s works. Electric Beethoven will follow “Ramps & Vamps” with “To Love The World” next Friday, February 4.

Mathis is accompanied on “Ramps & Vamps” by keyboardist Todd Stoops, guitarist Clay Welch and drummer Josh Raymer. Produced by Reed and Otis McDonald, Mathis both arranged the song and played bass on the track.

Read more on “Ramps & Vamps”:

Based on the scherzo from Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony, there are two rules in the game of ramps & vamps: 1.) When it’s your turn, keep your solo short and succinct and pass the ball to another player 2.) Groove your asses off. The title is derived from the unofficial name Mathis and company have coined their style and how he has distilled Beethoven’s approach to timeless songwriting. Similar to musicals and jazz standards, the “vamp” refers to looping sections to stretch out and improvise. “Ramp” refers to a series of chords Beethoven would utilize to get to one section from another. Beyond bringing Beethoven’s melodies out of the museum case and re-releasing them into the wild, Electric Beethoven aspires to erase the part of the brain that divides music into genres and styles and create a clean slate to return to the emotional realm of Beethoven composing music of the moment.

Stream Electric Beethoven’s “Ramps & Vamps” below: