So I was flipping through the channels the other day and was mesmerized by a commercial for a GoPro HD camera.  To be more specific, I was not so much attracted to the product being marketed but rather the song playing in the background.  After some swift investigation I discovered the song was called “Animus Vox” performed by The Glitch Mob.  I found a link to the full song on YouTube (it’s embedded above) and instantly I became a fan of the three-piece electronic group known as The Glitch Mob.

The LA-based group was formed back in 2006 and today consists of Ed Ma (AKA edIT), Justin Boreta (AKA Boreta), and Josh Mayer (AKA Ooah).  They’ve been touring around the country carrying along equipment that makes tracks like “Animus Vox” sound so very awesome–laptops (with Ableton Live loaded), MIDI controllers, electronic drums and keyboards.  In an interview with Electronic Musician, the band shared their synth-making process.  Ma: “A day of songwriting, like from scratch, would generally start with us loading up a basic kick and snare at a tempo that we wanted, and then laying down a very basic kick and snare as the backbone of what the rhythm would be like. And then we’d just play everything in. Synth parts, bass parts.” … “Essentially, all the songs [on new album Drink the Sea] were written to a point where they were almost like demo tapes. The first phase of our album was like a 10-track album that all sounded like it was made in [Apple] GarageBand. And then when we were done with those 10 songs, we’d go back and redesign the songs. And once the redesigning was done, we went back and we mixed the entire album. So kind of in this multistep stage.”  Transitioning their sound from live performances to recorded music was an important step in the process.  “Almost every melody that you hear on the album has been sampled note for note [for the live show]. That was the only way that we could get the actual sounds of the record to translate live,” shares Ma.  “We really tried to reproduce the record, note for note and percussion sound for percussion sound, as close as humanly possible.”  The result?  Electronic Musician describes Drink the Sea as “mainly [an] instrumental electronic effort that features heavily layered synths, mixed with real bass and guitar, and bolstered by bombastic, cinematic-sounding drums and simple, yet effective melodies.”

There are a ton of electronic groups out there, but The Glitch Mob definitely stands out on its own and is worth a listen; it’s hard not to get hooked to their masterful and sophisticated synths and beats.

Since 2006 they’ve released a number of mixtapes and remixes.  Last summer they dropped their first full-length album; Drink the Sea contains 10 tracks, including “Animus Vox.”  You can preview the entire album, as well as listen to a bunch of their other releases and download free content, at their official website.  While you’re there, be sure to check out their Video section which includes music video remixes and a smattering of live performances.  After the break, I’ve posted two of my favorites: an experimental live performance called “Beyond Monday” that features the band using their equipment and the Tron: Legacy trailer infused with “Animus Vox.”

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