Josh Mayer and Marty Folb are some of the freshest producers on the grind right now. In addition to driving their own projects, Glitch Mob and MartyParty, the two hip-hop heads co-pilot PANTyRAiD together. Following the success of their first two releases, The Sauce and Superior, PANTyRAiD (due at the Fillmore tomorrow night, Saturday, March 2) is prepping for a new album release that will once again merge the worlds of hip-hop and heavy bass-infused electronic music.
See also: - The best EDM in Denver this weekend - Justin Boreta of Glitch Mob on the act's history and craft - Marty Folb of MartyParty on providing the soundtrack for the end of the world
Westword: So, tell me: Why is there so much time in between PANTyRAiD's albums and shows?
Josh Mayer: I'd say mainly because reason number one is that I've been so busy writing the next Glitch Mob record. It's a really time consuming process, and Marty has been focused on building his solo career. PANTyRAiD has always been a side project. It's been an amazing side project that found momentum and fans and uniqueness. You know it's hard to get together and write music.
Sometimes certain songs click really well via internet drop box kind of vibe. Some don't take shape until we are sitting in the studio together working multiple hours per day on songs. It's a process that finds it's own way. We are just busy guys. We don't need to write music in a couple days. Also, I am firm believer in taking time to write music. If you can come back to that session and you are still excited about, and you think its cool; I feel like for me that is always a good test for if it's ready to be put out.
Marty Folb: Sometimes I work on a song, and it comes together, and a week later, I don't really think it's my best work. I feel that way about The Sauce. It's really good, to me. I can still listen to it and think its really good music.
How long did it take to come together?
MF: The Sauce was a long process, maybe since 2005. We got together and worked them out in the studio, banged out some old. PANTyRAiD is a different project. When we started, we wanted to make a concept album. The whole album is good; you can play it from front to back.
We wanted to make timeless albums. It takes awhile, like Josh said, and the best way is to step away and come back. With the kind of producing I do, it's important to get tracks out there. Josh has the Glitch Mob, which is a great process, and PR. I have MartyParty and PR, so it's nice to have two voices and outlets. What comes out of PR is always different.
JM: There is no right or wrong way to do it. You can pump out a relevant track, but Superior was about making loud, heavy, in-your-face dubstep. We thought that was a cool thing. We can do that. We literally wrote Superior in three days. We didn't have time to write a full record. We needed a handful of tracks to hold people over, until we can start another record.
That's the thing about PANTyRAiD; we never claim to be one thing or another. We have hip-hop influence. I'm from NOLA, and Marty was big into booty hip-hop stuff, and so we never really claim to be this or that. We just make cool songs that we kind of like that have some element of hip-hopness too it, whether its 808 club music or the dubstep.
How did the two of you get started producing this exploratory style of music
MF: We started club hip-hop when we sat down and produce individually, and the drums tend to be hip-hop. The invention of club hip-hop has blown up, and trap is club hip-hop; we kind of started our own thing, and whatever we do has that voice. On the albums, we have slow sexy urban vibes. That's what makes PANTyRAiD. Who knows what's happening next? PANTyRAiD might be doing house music with a hip-hop vibe.
JM: We have made that. We have some more four-on-the-floor 120-130 BPM stuff. We are into that. I always like it because we end up doing our takes on genre x, or genre y, or genre z, whatever that may be.
What does that make Superior, then?
MP: Superior was really our take on dubstep. I think "Jailbreak" is one of the best songs I've ever heard. Superior, as well. I think it was well before it's time. Trap hasn't really got there yet. The Sauce was before its time, and Superior was before its time. Our next album is the next expression of the movement. I think we've done it.
What about the next album?
JM: I'd say a little bit in a way this next album is The Sauce part two. We explore different tempos that we like, whether its heavy, fast, or slow, or sexy. To me, it reminds me of The Sauce a lot and what we did with that, but now in 2013. It feels like the next step for us, and hopefully it will resonate in a way with people, like The Sauce did; you can put it in your car to cruise around a smoke a joint, or a play it in the club with some sexy bangin tunes.
We aren't making the next big trap album. It's all hip-hop based, and to me, the meat and the backbone is just another hip-hop album, but our version of it in 2013. It's hard to say. A lot of elements will be present in the song. I try to think, "let's just make some cool tunes, whether fast slow, hard soft, hip-hop or not." Its just the next thing for me and Marty.
MF: I think on the next album there are three or four that would be good for a trap set, some for downtempo set, and some for 90 BPM hip-hop set. Like The Sauce, it's variations of the genre with electronic basslines, instead of rapping. That's what we really like.
Are you going to be working with any vocalists?
JM: We have talked to people, but no one really delivered anything yet, so I can't drop names. In the process of the mixing and mastering. We hope before it's all said and done that we have some nailed down. We like instrumentals, and in the future, we'll make some for vocalists. We are open to it. I'm hoping get some back.
MF: I think on this album, it stands alone without vocals, but in the future, definitely after this album, our careers have evolved, and I believe that PANTyRAiD will be a hip-hop producer. We'll make beats for people. I think this album stands alone like The Sauce, which is a true hip-hop album. We'll attract hip-hop artists. I think that's how we are going to position ourselves. Bring new techniques, formula, mood and intention to hip-hop. It's all built up to the point.
JM: If the opportunity comes along, I think it would be great to work with hip-hop artists. You are not just making music because you can put whatever you want into any song. At that point, you are working a whole different angle. It's a challenge working with vocalists being producers. When you bring in a vocalist, you ask "how do I balance out that with instrumentals," or "how do I make this work with the vocalist?"
Is that what you want to do?
MF: Down the line, when those opportunities come, we'll be in a position. Like I said, it just goes toward your scheme. When we started, we had good management, good connections and people who want to work with relevant artists. I think the opportunities will come faster and more readily, and we'll pick the artists we want to work with
JM : We took that and ran with it. We can play once every couple months, and it will be a special thing. There are a lot of artist flooding the market, we tried a different approach.
Would you ever devote yourselves to PANTyRAiD full-time?
MF: Time will tell on that.
JM: I've been so deep in the Glitch Mob world, and once it starts happening this year, it's hard to push Glitch Mob aside and focus just on PANTyRAiD. We do get that time when Glitch Mob is off. Me and Marty are hitting the studio hard. When the focus on PANTyRAiD comes up, we are completely focused on it. Knowing that we have months to do PANTyRAiD, let's do it. Ok, cool..
What about the new album?
JM: We are in the last songs to mix and master, and then from there, it's just all the mechanical stuff to set up the record. If it were to come out in two weeks, that would be awesome. When it sounds the way we want it to sound, the team and mechanics are all in place.
New songs on the tour?
MF: We'll be playing the whole album.
JM: We'll be playing most of the album and some stuff we've made these past couple of months. Our hand in mix and master is here and there, so it gives us time to do other remixes. We'll be playing new random MartyParty solo tracks, random Ooah edits, little flips of other songs. That's one thing I love about working with MartyParty, he can take a track and cut it down, or add some vocal element, and we just want to find anyway to make everything stand out a little bit more, if there is a cool song, and people like it.
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