Telluride Fire Fest: Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation

07 Jan Telluride Fire Fest: Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation

If you come to the party, you won’t find Sinatra in the mix, but house, dub, new wave, disco, it will all be there and more in the sounds of Rob Garza, co-founder (with Eric Hilton) of Thievery Corporation and a pioneer of a flourishing electronic music movement.

For those slightly outside Garza’s demographic – and we know who we are – the term electronic dance music (EDM, club music or just dance) covers a broad range of percussive electronic music produced largely for nightclubs and festivals, including the upcoming Telluride Fire Festival, where Rob Garza is scheduled to create a seamless selection of booty-shaking sounds on Friday night, January 15. The rave takes place in the Great Room atop the Gondola in Mountain Village starting 8 p.m. Outside, in the lobby area, find purveyors of fun costumery selling fabulous fantasy clothing to add to the color of Garza’s ear candy.

Originally hailing from Washington, D.C., Rob’s evolving legacy includes a timeless music catalog that was born in the mid-1990s a and is still in rotation today. His electronic music, infused with the spice of dub, trip hop, reggae, and bossa nova, gave birth to a new era of sound that has attracted a growing cult following.

Since relocating to San Francisco, Rob’s latest experimentations take him to the far corners of the globe with solo DJ sets showcasing the best of Deep House and Nu-Disco. Ever the entrepreneur, the man has opened multiple restaurants and clubs in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and created Papa Diablo, a hand-crafted, top-shelf Mezcal made in Oaxaca. The March 2015 of his debut EP, Palace of Mirrors, was released on his own label, Magnetic Moon Records.

For Rob – who devoted much of his life to creating a richly-textured foundation that’s defined Thievery Corporation – solo appearances at more intimate venues (such as Telluride) inspire new creations based on the culture and styles encountered on his winding path. Whether opening for Paul McCartney with Thievery, DJing in Nepal for climbers tackling Mt. Everest, or occupying the stage of obscure clubs in remote corners of the globe, Rob’s unerring instinct for music styles that really resonates with the crowd, underlies and electrifies each and every one of his unique shows.

In other words, Rob Garza brings the heat.

“When I first came to San Francisco, I returned to my electronic roots in the dance community, while also spending a great amount of time in Mexico, where there is a great dance music scene” explains Garza. “There’s so much going on in terms of people taking influences from all these different genres—like house and dub and new wave and disco—and putting it all together in a way that’s very new and original and inspiring to my own music.”

How does Rob Garza put it together?

For a teaser of his Friday night Telluride show, go here for a riff from Palace of Mirrors:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWNOyO-0Q7s