your greedbagThievery Corporation
profiles
On a spring evening in 1995, over a drink at Washington, DC's Eighteenth Street Lounge, Rob Garza and Eric Hilton decided to combine their production efforts and form Thievery Corporation. After discussing their mutual admiration for Brazilian composers Antonio Carlos Jobim and Joao Gilberto, and their overall disdain for the majority of modern music, the duo embarked on a musical journey.
While neither considers himself a musician, both members have musical backgrounds. Hilton was playing in a neighbourhood garage rock band at the age of 11. "I think we sounded a bit like the Ramones meet Deep Purple; we were very bad, but the kids who lived around us always asked us to play." Later, in his teens. Hilton became in awe of early punk rock groups like The Clash, The Jam, and The Sex Pistols. But it was the discovery of the local DC hardcore sound that he thinks changed him forever. "I was so impressed by groups like The Teen Idles, SOA and Minor Threat. Not only did I love the sound but I couldn't get over the fact that these groups were from my neighbourhood. That was when I realised the power of doing-it-yourself."
After forming his own hardcore band in high school, Eric's tastes broadened to include the Two Tone and neo-mod sounds that were emerging in the UK. "I literally discovered my love of soul, jazz, bossa nova and Jamaican music through the revival groups of the new wave era. Groups like the Specials, Madness, Secret Affair, The Style Council et al inspired me to go back to the roots of their music."
In the late '80s, Eric became a house music DJ at the Fifth Column, DC's premier dance club at the time. "Rob's group actually played there once, but I was off that night. I don't know why I was digging house and hip-hop at that time; it seemed fresh, but not for long." Leaving his gig there, Hilton and friend Farid Ali (who now co-owns Eighteenth Street Lounge) began to throw warehouse parties and eventually started a weekly club night, Exodus. "That was a fantastic party and I dare say that it is a legend in DC," recalls Eric. "Our resident DJ was Dubfire [now half of Deep Dish], and our Jamaican friend Hutchy [heard on some Thievery cuts] was the MC. We played a deep mix of hip-hop, early acid jazz, dance hall and dub. People still lament the closing of Exodus."
Rob Garza was born outside Chicago and soon moved to Walkersville Maryland, a small town 40 miles from Washington, DC. He grew up listening to his parents record collection: Henry Mancini, Sam Cooke, Johnny Cash, The Drifters and The Beatles. At the age of 16, Rob moved to urban Connecticut and started making beats in his school's electronic music class. There he learned electronic sequencing, sampling and drum machine programming. After returning to Maryland for high school, Rob enrolled at a school for visual and performing arts. "It was very interesting because at the time I was really into the punk/hardcore scene and [then] started to learn about classical and jazz music," he recalls. "I became increasingly passionate about music when I heard bands like the Pixies, Renegade Soundwave, Hugo Largo, Meat Beat Manifesto, and My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult. The Pixies were probably the most influential. They sung in Spanish, their phrasing was so unique, and their lyrics talked about whores, insanity and mutilation - how could anyone not like them? And Hugo Largo really introduced me to the use of space and the organic feel of sound."
While working for a firm specialising in aviation security and counter terrorism ("stake outs, de-bugging - the usual spy thing"), Rob discovered jazz and bossa nova. "I had been aware of these sounds peripherally and finally just started to dive in. When Eric and I started working together, I just got deeper and deeper into the subtler side of music."
And so Thievery Corporation was born. There can be very few bands so perfectly named: the duo's magpie nature offers a perfect representation of the post-acid house sampling culture. Slipping through reggae dub plates, skimming around the edges of lounge muzak, taking in breaks, beats and bossanova along the way, Thievery Corporation’s bounty is an endless treasure chest of ideas old, new and borrowed.
"We believe in the idea that music is free for all to take and reinterpret," explains Rob. "With samplers, musicians are able to take from the entire history of recorded music and then create soothing new. The only thing you have to worry about is the lawyers."
Thievery Corporation's first single was "2001: A Spliff Odyssey", issued on their own Eighteenth Street Lounge (ESL) imprint in January 1996. That debut release brought instant recognition from the underground, its languid dub grooves turning up in DJ sets everywhere. Follow-up "Shaolin Satellite" was a suited and booted lounge-dub, soaked to the bone in ganja and dressed to the nines in underworld vibes.
Debut album Sounds From The Thievery Hi Fi emerged in the US in 1996. Laid back yet firing, it was a smoky homage to all things out on the dark side, a multi-textured transformation of rastafarianism, martial arts and fourth world beats. Although difficult to find in Europe it was an instant hit in Europe’s underground downtempo scenes, subsequently becoming the biggest selling album at London’s Rough Trade Shop that year. The album caught the ears of 4AD, who promptly signed the duo. Thievery Corporation's first release for the label was an expanded version of Sounds From The Thievery Hi Fi, issued in June 1998.
Released in August 2000, second album The Mirror Conspiracy found the duo taking a softer approach, inspired by late '60s movie soundtracks and rare library music from Italy and the UK.
"The subtlety of those compositions really opened our minds to new possibilities," explained Eric. "We've always been bossa nova, jazz, and dub enthusiasts and I now think that the common thread between those genres is the use of space." adds Hilton.
The result was a record which combined soft expression with powerful emotion. It was accompanied by a single, "Shadows Of Ourselves", which proved to be Thievery Corporation's last release on 4AD. The duo continue to record for their own ESL label.