Smash & Grab

We know you’re just dying for a little retro throwback. We know you can’t wait until you get lost in a funky, classic wareHouse style track, lose yourself and have way too many flashbacks. That’s why we’re posting this little gem. This track hits way too hard to be considered vintage in terms of aesthetic, and morphs into some pretty techy stuff as the beats roll on. The only problem is that at 3:58, it’s just not long enough. - house.net

Last year at Symbiosis, a festival in the Nevada desert, the best new music I heard came from a production duo named Smash & Grab. Based in the Bay Area, Smash & Grab went beyond just holding it down – they raised the ‘effing roof, as well as the bar. Their music was the perfect dancing potpourri – it had a little something for everyone to move to. Fusing practically every imaginable genre into their music, for me they bridged the channel between sound and movement. Using an Elektron Machinedrum, tracks and loops with on-point improvisation on stage, they are the groove-guarantee.

My crew loved what we heard, and I broke from dancing only when I beelined it to the stage to find out their name. Smash & Grab just came out with a new album, one.twenty.seven., (available on iTunes and Beatport). To celebrate the album release, they held a party at Monarch, performing along with some other Bay Area favorites of mine: Majitope, Christian Martin, and Nikola Baytala. Here is a little bit more about the duo…



[LiS] Who is “Smash” and who is “Grab?”

[S&G] Smash is Ribotto and Grab is Jerome.

How did Smash & Grab come into existence?

We were in a band together called The Flying Skulls for a few years, and as that came to an end, we branched off as a duo, then started producing and performing together. We also worked together in a digital music office in SF, frequently ate lunch and battled at the ping pong table during which times many great ideas have been brewed.

Please tell me about the etymology of the name “Smash & Grab.”

Basically, we were sitting around the office, trying to figure out what to call ourselves, and it kinda just fell out of the sky. It is definitely an extension of our personalities.

Did you play an instrument when you were younger?

Grab grew up playing the guitar and keys, and Smash has been playing the keys since age two.

How did you get into recording music?

Grab: The natural progression for me came from being a musician, to finding out what was behind the scenes. I started producing/recording music in high school and ended up going on to get a degree in recording and music business.

Smash: I’ve always been making music… Depending on someone else to record/produce it for me became both inhibiting and expensive so I got a 4-track in high school and developed from there.

What equipment and programs do you use?

We use Logic, Live, some software synths. Most of our music is recorded using hardware (Virus TI, Elektron Machinedrum, Nord Electro 3, Korg MS2000, Tempest, Moog Little Phatty) and we record organic instruments as well (Cello, Sax, Drums, Violin, Vocals, etc.).

What’s Moombahton?

We try to touch on as many genres as we can. We both became obsessed with the Moombahton craze, so we made nothing but Moombah for close to nine months. I describe Moombahton as slowed down house with a salsa vibe, garnished with big room rave noises. The emersion of a new set of “rules” that defined Moombah provided an exciting framework to compose and build within. It’s interesting how imposing restrictions and limitations on a creative process can actually induce innovation. Although none of the elements of moombah are essentially new (cumbia rhythms/old school rave sounds), it’s been really exciting to recreate and arrange them under this new perspective. For the live show, we break down the tracks into sections and loops. Jerome plays those via Ableton Live, as well as adds some flavor and effects, and Ribotto plays the Elektron Machinedrum and/or the Tempest, off the clock, for more flexibility and to create a more live feel to the performance.

As with any project, we could only play the one-show-pony show for so long before our rave induced ADHD kicked in, and we needed to start diversifying the BPM and vibe. We’ve been continuing to explore and revisit old school vibes with newer sounds, striving to produce and re-innovate fun energetic sounds that got everyone into EDM in the first place.

What are your three favorite venues to perform at?

We prefer concert venues and definitely love to play outdoor festivals. Clubs are fun if the drinks are cheap and strangers are your friends.

What three cities would you like to perform in next?

Montreal, Kazantip, Ibiza… anywhere there is a solar eclipse at the moment. Also, we’ve never played Chicago, Miami, or New Orleans.

Have you played internationally? What festivals have you performed at?

We’ve played Canada and Mexico. As for festivals – Symbiosis, Fractalize, Alchemy, Pulse, Raindance, a few more smaller ones.

What festivals do you want to perform at?

Detroit, WMC, Coachella, Glastonbury, EDC – you name it, we want to play it.

Which three artists (that you have not performed with yet) would you like to share a stage with?

Grab: Modeselektor, Diplo, Beats Antique, Holographic Jimi Hendrix.

What were you listening to in Junior High?

Grab: Punk rock, third wave ska, hip-hop. - LostinSound.org

We don’t normally post techno but that doesn’t mean we don’t like a few tracks up in here. Just like you don’t see us often with small booty hoes but now and then you might. Anyway, these are the good bros Smash & Grab who we met at SXSW and they fucking rock. They party hard and are just good dudes. They go all in in their sets. Anyway, here is a recent remix from them. You definitely can fucking hear the Ferris Bueller’s Day off shit in there. Track is driving at times and bouncy at others. Just like you. - Walmer Convenience

Normally I'm not too excited about vocal mixes of moombahton beats, sometimes it can just get too darn busy, but this track from Smash and Grab is an exception. Really diggin' the live instrument work - Metal Top Hat

these tunes get you in the mood for something big! - Moombah Thong

a new remix by San Francisco duo Smash & Grab that’s only a few hours old. This is a great continuation of their techy progressive moombahton style- definitely worth a listen or two. - 110 BPM

a new remix by San Francisco duo Smash & Grab that’s only a few hours old. This is a great continuation of their techy progressive moombahton style- definitely worth a listen or two. - 110 BPM

Ginger Shinobi has released some heavyweight business that’s sure to tip the scales further in the direction of UK dominance. - Moomba +

In my opinion one of the best Moombah-Compilations until now… - Global Libre

In my opinion one of the best Moombah-Compilations until now… - Global Libre

Ginger Shinobi Presents Moombahdeep - Generation Bass

Its Friday the 13 everyone! And this time I got a lot of really amazing tracks to share with everyone on this terrifying day. Starting things off we got a a bunch of new originals and remixes and a sick mix from the Queen on the other side of the pond, Feral Is Kinky. As I was going through my Soundcloud I was definitely hearing for a difference in sound and I think that many producers are now starting branch off and trying to do some different stuff. - Moomba +

Have any of you heard this new Smash and Grab remix? It starts out simple enough, but they seem to add a new element after every break and by the 2:20 mark I was taken aback at how they’d managed to keep the whole thing coherent. Not to mention the ominous drop at 3:50… what I’m trying to say is that I was really impressed by this remix. You’ll definitely want to have the volume up (way up) for this one. - 110 BPM

Smash & Grab are really on a roll with their progressive moombahdeep stuff so I thought I’d take some time to revisit a few of their old tracks and share their latest. They have a much bigger library of tracks now than when I first covered them, and I think it’s safe to say that they’ve firmly cemented themselves in their own unique area of the moombahton genre. When I’m thinking of producers putting out unique moombahton (or electronic music as a whole, really) these are some of the first guys that come to mind. - 110 BPM

If you didn't think that moombahton was just about the quickest moving genre on the planet, then this album is, in my humble opinion, defining proof that it is here to stay. This kind of awesome diversity in such short time shows that serious talent is afoot within the producers of this genre.

"Moombaluv" shows the more subltle sounds of moombahton, 17 carefully handselected tracks which relate to the emotion of being "in luv." The lighter, not-necessarily-club-listening, long summer nights and good times. Its so nice to see a new musical style flourish like this, if anything it makes me a little wet behind the ears with the excitement of the next little variation of this sound.

At the risk of sounding cheesy..to me it's a soundtrack which brings back many happy memories of good times and warm weather! :)

In the word's of GB's own DJ Umb..Moombahluv is: "to show that it’s a genre of music, not just for the clubs, but also for listening to at home or in the car, when you’re feeling down, in luv or heartbroken and in the mood for romance." - GuGu

Moombahluv. It’s the opposite of Moombahhate which is coming soon. Or is it? No, it’s not. Anyway, DJ UMB from the Generation Bass Blog of Global Music got all these fuckers to make this and it’s got some good ass tracks. Maybe you should download it and then if you live in Canada you can play it during Canadian Thanksgiving this coming weekend and the you can read the words of Neil Queen Jones (who made this amazing post for us) to your fucking kids since he wrote the liner notes. It will be the greatest Canadian Thanksgiving of all. Even if you live somewhere else like some weird country like Germany you can still celebrate by going out to the woods, stabbing a turkey in the face and painting your body with it’s blood. That’s what we do for Canadian Thanksgiving.

SAMPLE SOME FUCKING TRACKS AND READ NEIL QUEEN JONE’S OWN WORDS THAT WERE SENT DOWN FROM MOUNT OLYMPUS INTO HIS PEN:

Generation bass presents Moombahluv Volume One

You should never ask what Moombahton is, it’ll only be something new tomorrow. Moombahton is more than just a global bass genre, it’s a wide-eyed, infectious field project in EDM mechanics that relishes discovery. Dave Nada’s creation bears the bruises that come from repeatedly butting up against any limitation it comes up against: the tough bass rumble of moombahcore galvanised it, then moombahsoul proved that something deeper lurked beneath the playful exterior – and now Moombahluv Volume One shows what this thing is capable of – over 17 track, Moombahluv points the way forward. - Walmer Convenience

We all know DJ Umb doesn’t sleep, how else could he and the good people at Generation Bass keep up the continuous output not only on their blog, but with their new label as well. Just this last week they shared the laidback mixtape MoombahLuV and released the new EP from DJ Sabbo (Tel Aviv). Enjoy the music and check after the jump for tracklist and more info. - Six Degrees Records blog

Generation Bass just put out their new Moombahton Compilation titled MoombahLuV - Volume One and it's free! Check out the mini mix below or download it HERE. You can also preview some of the tracks HERE - Mad Decent

15. Goshen (Smash & Grab edit) – Beirut
This glorious edit shows how Moombahton is capable of more than throwing out bangers, it can also handle nuance, grace and sensitivity, as Smash & Grab show that melody and acoustics have no need to fear the dembow. - Generation Bass

This duo from San Franciso has been producing some really high quality tracks lately and unlike so many producers doing moombahton remixes of songs with lots of vocals, they’ve managed to avoid that drawn-out, slowed-down sound. I really can’t give them enough credit for that. Check out their SoundCloud for more tracks and if you like ‘em, give them some love on facebook. - 110BPM: Your source for moombahton

1am hour

Classixx – Into The Valley (feat. Karl Dixon) (Julio Bashmore remix)
Nero – Guilt
Amy Winehouse – Stronger Than Me (Daims remix)
Party Ben – California Clever (Katy Perry vs. Felguk mashup)
Little Dragon – My Step
Nick Monaco – Together (Original Mix)
Classixx – Cold Act III (Wolfgang Gartner remix)
Utah Saints – Something Good ’08 (High Contrast remix)
Fake Blood – Blood Splashing (Fake Blood Theme)
Radiohead – Lotus Flower
Manu Chao – King Of The Bongo (Smash & Grab remix)

Read more: Super spooky Subsonic playlist of doom! http://live105.radio.com/2011/09/04/super-spooky-subsonic-playlist-of-doom/#ixzz1ZBzOaFRc
- Live 105 FM

Hey cuntfuckers! We got two fucking stories we are working on.

#1 – New fucking free moombah track from Smash & Grab

#2 – New EP from Frank Lucano

CLICK AFTER THE FUCKING JUMP TO GET THE NEWS ASSWIPES! - Walmer Convenience

Smash & Grab finally got off their asses and made a mix for ihatefun, sheesh! Featuring several S&G original and remixes plus an array of moombahton heaters to get you all horned up and ready for some summer lovin’. - ihatefunRecordings

Missy be putting it down, I'm the hottest round
Is that Missy Elliot??


I turn around to see Smash & Grab killing the beat and remixing this new style of music that I hadn't heard before. I literally danced for the entire mix, which is not generally normal to do at an art festival and let's just say I wasn't the only one feeling the beat.


Smash & Gab is a two piece Moombahton project featuring Andrew Ribotto and Jerome Forney. Both individuals have extensive experience in the music industry, performing across the US in groups such as The Flying Skulls and Lasermoth.


So what is Moombahton music? Moombahton is an electronic dance style of music that was created by Dave Nada, an American Dj/Producer in 2009. According to Nada, he called it Moombahton for "Moombah," the Silvio Ecomo & Chuckie track whose remix, Afrojack, he contorted into 180 beats and for reggaeton, the popular Latin genre whose slow tempo he emulated.


With such strong electronics roots in their mixes, I was interested in delving deeper into understanding who Smash & Grab really is. Enjoy!


Me: How was the name "Smash & Grab" created?
Jerome: I've always been into classic punk rock, and for some reason, one day at work a couple years ago with Ribotto, we needed a name for a new Techno project we were working on, we researched it, and it worked!


Me: How would you both describe your music?
Ribotto: sexy / roomy, crispy / boomy, sultry / energetic, smooth / psychedelic, party time fun.

Original riffs overtop of timeless vocals make a callback to old school classics and are brought to life by the sonic depth of modern synthesizers. The songs themselves take on a more pop style structure - verse / chorus / verse / bridge / chorus / solo / and so forth. Sonically we started out as a minimal techno project and we still try to maintain a bit of that dubbed out crunchy robotic goodness. Certainly unafraid to delve into melody, harmony and even the occasional chord progression our tracks are often punctuated by live overdubs on sax, cello, guitar, keys, etc.

Lately we've been revisiting a lot of contemporary dancefloor classics within the new framework of moombahton. As with restricting yourself within the confines of any given genre (baroque, death metal, polka,) locking yourself into a given set of musical rules can actually facilitate musical creation rather than impede it. In the case of the Moombah scene, things are still relatively fresh and untouched so we are able to pioneer forth sonically while having a bounty of classic yet unpreviously moombahton'd samples to work with.



Me: After performing across the US in groups such as The Flying Skulls and Lasermoth, why did you both decide to create your own project?
Jerome: Our tenure with The Flying Skulls had come to an end, and during our time in the band, we realized that we made a great production and performance team, so it was really a natural next step. Once we started making minimal techno, and performing it, we found an exciting up and coming new genre, Moombahton, and we're both instantly hooked. Really I would say we are total addict freaks, or, Moobahtanistas.
Ribotto: We continue to perform together in Lasermoth but as a 5 piece instrumental electrofunk band it can be very expensive to get the show on the road. I also still take to the stage on my own frequently… but it just doesn't bring the same energy to the crowd as a live action duo. We are able to function as a team but since there is only 2 of us there ends up being plenty of room to stretch out the legs.

Me: What inspires your music?
Jerome: Music has always come first in my life. I started playing piano when I was 3, and was classically trained until the age of 16, when I started jazz training. I ended up dropping piano all together at 19, became obsessed with raving and electronic culture as a whole, got some turntables and started djing. I played in a few bands, moved to SF, met my people, and am very happy with how things are progressing. I guess most of the motivation I get for Smash & Grab comes from seeing smiling, happy faces on the dance floor shaking it.
Ribotto: Similarly I’ve been living and breathing music since a child… moving from piano to guitar and eventually into full on studio production. My influences grew along with my tastes evolving from punk into metal then psychedelic trance into minimal techno. For a while I was a street performer and my greatest source of inspiration at that time was the need for coffee (and eventually food / gas / etc.) For the time being I’m going to have to agree with Jerome that response from a crowd or even from Internet fans on soundcloud and facebook is what’s keeping me up late in the studio.





Me: How did the whole focus on using a Moombahton style of music come into place?
Jerome: I read an article about Dave Nada, who is touted as the creator of the genre. I got curious, so I started researching, Sou - Entertainment Chic

So much good shiit hitting the controversial Facebook Group that I just had to lay down this mini-round up!

1. MAGIC CITY

2. SABBO

3. MR9CARTER

4. GO BUCK

5. DJ MELO

6. BEN TACTIC

7. DJ JAVIER ESTRADA

8. DJ MADD OD

9. ELO FEAT FOKN BOIS

10. WALMER CONVENIENCE

11. SMASH & GRAB

MOOMBAHNISTA’S ARE GOOOOO! - Generation Bass