(Photo: Ralph Arvesen)
Justin Boreta is a founding member of The Glitch Mob. Their music has been featured in movies like Sin City II, Edge of Tomorrow, Captain America, and Spiderman.
In this post, we discuss The Glitch Mob’s path from unknown band to playing sold-out 90,000-person (!) arenas. We delve into war stories, and go deep into creative process, including never-before-heard “drafts” of blockbuster tracks! Even if you have zero interest in music, Justin discusses habits and strategies that can be applied to nearly anything. Meditation? Morning routines? We cover it all.
You can find the transcript of this episode here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
The Glitch Mob’s last album, Love Death Immortality, debuted on the Billboard charts at #1 Electronic Album, #1 Indie Label, and #4 Overall Digital Album. This is particularly impressive because The Glitch Mob is an artist-owned group. It’s a true self-made start-up.
- Listen to this episode on iTunes.
- Stream by clicking here.
- Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as”.
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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What music do you listen to when you work? When you really need to get in the zone? Please share in the comments.
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Scroll below for links and show notes…
Selected Links from the Episode
- Learn more about the Grant Korgan story
- This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin
- Learn more about Ableton music production software
- The Glitch Mob uses DropBox to sync up multiple machines
- Get Universal Audio Plug-ins to emulate outboard gear
- Check out the trailer for Sin City II featuring The Glitch Mob
- ZYNCMusic helps artists get paid for their music
- Check out this post about Kyle Maynard
- Listen to In the Dust of This Planet by Radiolab
- Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks
- Learn more about the UC Santa Cruz Electronic Music Program
- Selected Ambient Works by Aphex Twin
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
- Chemex & Aeropress coffee makers
- Follow the The Glitch Mob and Justin Boreta:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
Learn More about The Glitch Mob
Live
- Pick up your own Glitch Baby
- Playing to 90k people in Quebec with deadmau5
- Playing on the streets of SF
- On Attack of the Show
- On Carson Daly
- At Red Rocks produced by GoPro
Official
- Can’t Kill Us
- Becoming Harmonious (Description via Vice)
Movies
Commercial Work
Show Notes (Time Stamps Approximate)
- World-class attributes of Justin Boreta
- The Grant Korgan story
- Unique attributes of The Glitch Mob and the feeling of being on stage in front of 90,000+ people
- Defining “indie” and “artist owned”
- The makeup and evolution of The Glitch Mob team
- Tools and software of The Glitch Mob
- What exactly is “mastering”?
- Deconstructing audio engineering software and Ableton
- How to have your music featured in massive motion pictures
- The story of the Sin City II trailer
- Justin plays Animus Vox [approx 36:30]
- The fourth member, Kevin, and his role in the success of the business
- Developing the creative process as success comes into play
- Soliciting feedback, Justin Boreta-style
- Describing a day in the studio for The Glitch Mob
- Commonalities of the most successful songs
- The importance of traditional instrument skills when performing/producing music
- Justin plays the never before heard 6th version of Our Demons, followed by the finished product [57:30]
- A rapid learning program for music production
- The draft version of Fortune Days, followed by the finished product [1:03:15]
- How many separate tracks are running in a Glitch Mob song?
- What percentage of samples are custom vs. off-the-shelf?
- Current revenue streams for The Glitch Mob
- Favorite pastry, pre-show meditation, defining success, and advice for his 20-year old self
- What EDM show should the uninitiated go to first, morning rituals, meditation and morning workouts
- What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? [1:40:20]
- Justin plays us out with Can’t Kill Us [1:48:45]