Originally formed in 2006 by edit, Boreta, Ooah, and Kraddy (born Mathew Kratz) and made a name for themselves under the name The Glitch Mob in the growing Los Angeles underground electronic music scene. Continuing to tour up and down the west coast, the band gained a large following, especially in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and releasing a series a singles and mix tapes. As they traveled they showcased their talent using laptops and MIDI controllers for their bass-driven electronica. Unfortunately in 2009, Kraddy left the group due to creative differences, but the group carried on as a trio and by 2010 they released their first full length album “Drink The Sea.”
“Drink The Sea” reached number 57 on the CMJ college radio Top 200 chart. Continuing to tour around the United States in 2014, The Glitch Mob developed a new musical element called The Blade, and had staging that included set pieces designed by movie set designers. The setting included extravagant paint jobs, and it holds both lighting and instruments. The Glitch Mob also released a second album entitled “Love Death Immortality.” The record featured various guest vocals from Metal Mother, Nico Vega’s AjaVolkman, and Sister Crayon’s Terra Lopez.
I saw The Glitch Mob at The Mid, which is a club venue. It was a DJ set rather than a live performance, but their energy and crowd interaction was great nonetheless. They played a fair amount of music from both Drink the Sea and Love Death Immortality as well as a couple of remixes, including their stellar remix of The White Stripe's "Seven Nation Army", which I was dying to hear.
The sound quality was great, in part because of the club size and the fact that it wasn't live. The three of them work so well with each other and it's easy to see how the energy bounces between them. The set itself was very fluent, and even after their set time was over they stayed up on stage and played a few songs off of iTunes and just had a good time up there instead of walking off right, which I appreciated. Even though it was "just press play" moment, it was nice to still have them up there as long as possible. This also gave them more time to really talk to the crowd and keep them hyped up. I watched most of the show from up close, and later moved up to the balcony. Even up there I definitely felt the love coming from the Mob. At first, I wasn't sure if watching a DJ set would be worth it, but they definitely brought all of the energy as a live show with The Blade would have had.