Music 24/7: A Conversation With Electric Bodega

In the world of internet remix kings there are few names more recognizable than Electric Bodega. The product of a collaboration between two music wizards, Mike Cash and DJ Klutch, Electric Bodega has been providing the world with club-ready remixes of music’s biggest hits for the better part of the last half decade. At the dawn of the new year, the group took their musical pursuits one step further by sharing their first original material, “Faded,” with the world. That single came with the announcement of the group’s debut EP, which will soon be available, and we knew we could not wait any longer to talk to the duo about their current projects and future musical ambitions. So, emails were sent, schedules exchanged, and right before the start of February we hopped on the phone and made this feature happen.

It’s hard to explain what it is about Electric Bodega’s music that we find so endless fascinating, but we know the recipe to their success begins with energy. The material Electric Bodega creates, be it a remix or an original, always carries enough energy to wake a coma patient, and we mean that in the best way possible. It is impossible to hear the music of Electric Bodega without immediately feeling your spirits life and your feet begin to move. They are a cure for the modern blues, and with their debut EP right around the corner they seemed poised to be everyone’s favorite DJ/production duo by the end of 2016. Take time now and get familiar with their story:

Haulix: Thank you both for taking time to speak with me today. How is New York handling the winter?

Electric Bodega: We’re in Staten Island right now. Its been crazy so far, but you never really know what is going to happen. They amp the weather up for weeks and then nothing happens, or it rains (laughs).

H: How has 2016 been treating you so far? Seems like you’ve been pretty busy since you dropped “Faded” right around the beginning of the new year.

EB: Yea, things have been good for us so far. We’ve been trying to get our debut EP together, which is pretty much done right now, but that has been taking a lot of our time. We have this other single, “Locked Up,” out right now. It’s also on the EP.

H: I was reading about that song. Can you tell me a little more about it?

EB: Yea, so with this record we linked up with Netousha Monroe, who is the featured guest, and we basically built the song around her performance. It’s a song that has been a favorite of ours for a minute now, and we are really excited to share it with the public. Compared to “Faded,” it’s still a club record, but I would say this is more of a song for the ladies. It’s on more of an RnB vibe where “Faded” was more of a turn-up record. We really want this record to showcases everything we are capable of.

H: Let’s talk about the EP a bit more. You said the record is basically finished at this point?

EB: Yea, we were just in the studio doing some mixing, but everything else is pretty much complete. We were hoping to have the full EP out by the end of January, but “Faded” started to gain some traction and we didn’t want to rush out the record if we didn’t have to right away. We’re looking to have the record out by the end of February now, but its all for a good reason. “Faded” has been getting love from places like Hot97, so we feel we can spread everything out a bit.

H: Just to be clear, this is the first proper EP from Electric Bodega?

EB: Yes. This is the first EP from us, and it contains all original material.

H: Is this something you have been working towards for a long time? I know remixes have pretty much been your bread and butter for a few years, so I’m curious if original material is what you want to pursue more and more in the years ahead.

EB: Definitely. The remixes, for us, were more of a way to get our names on the map. It is way easier to get someone to take a chance on a remix of a popular song than it is to sell them on original ideas. That is how Electric Bodega came to be, in a way. We were both getting a bunch of love through remix work, that’s where we come from, and we eventually to combine our skills. This EP made sense now. People have been feeling our work for a bit, and sometime last year we really felt like we reached a point where focusing on our original material was what we had to do in order to grow. We want to collaborate with artists, and it can be hard to get people on your remix. We’ve had a few big names, like French Montana, but with original material we’re hoping to do even more collaborations moving forward.

H: I’m sure remixes will stay play a part in your career, right?

EB: Of course. We’re working on two big remixes while we speak.

H: Can you tell me the songs?

EB: One is a Hopsin track, and then the other is The Weeknd’s “Might Not Make It.”

H: What is the usual turnaround time for a remix?

EB: I think we’re pretty quick. We basically decide to work on something and we do 90% of the record in one night, then it takes up to a week for us to do the other 10% (laughs). It’s a really fast process for us now, but after that first big push it can take us a couple days to finish things up and make sure everything is just how we want it to be.

H: With everything you have planned material wise for 2016, can we expect to see Electric Bodega hitting the road as well?

EB: We’re definitely trying to take our show on the road. We have been in talks with people from Arizona, California, and everywhere else. We will get out there eventually.

H: What would you say are your main goals for the year ahead?

EB: Touring, Grammys. We’re really trying to spread our brand and push more original material. As a group we have been known for our remixes, so we’re excited to see how people react to us once they hear our EP. I don’t think it sounds like anything we’ve done, and as a result it’s going to take people by surprise. We’re more than remix artists, and that will be clear once we get this material out there.

H: One more thing before you go. When we started promoting the fact we were having this chat with you people begged us to ask whatever became of the Electric Bodega Soundcloud account. You had a thriving page once, but it’s no longer available?

EB: [in unison] They’re the worst. A lot of people are going through this right now, a lot of producers, but they just pulled it. They pulled everything from our page in one big move. We do have a meeting with them about getting it back up soon, but yea – they took it down like they have many other pages.

We are on Audiomack, and while it isn’t as big as Soundcloud it is a very dope platform and company that we have been able to work with a lot so far. If and when we have our Soundcloud back we will still keep our Audiomack page, and everything we have released to date is available there, as well as downloads. We probably won’t be allowed to post remixes on Soundcloud anyways, so using Audiomack might be a better option.

James Shotwell