Happiness is being around ‘people I love’
Thievery Corporation’s Rob Garza talks to Mike Alexander.
For the past 22 years United States DJs and producers Rob Garza and Eric Hilton have been at the forefront of modern electronica and mashing up the sounds of the world. When they set up their own label and lounge bar in Washington DC – Eighteenth St Lounge – they had no idea it would go global. We released an album last year called The Temple of I that we recorded in Port Antonio, Jamaica. Right now, we are releasing a companion piece called Treasures from the Temple. It’s a continuation and features some gems. Having peace of mind in whatever type of situation I’m in and being around the people I love, doing what I love. Probably my father. He never ceases to be a great sounding board. We have one bus we call the Holy Roller where the environment is a bit more, tame and calm. In the other bus, Liquor Wagon, only the strong survive. I usually sleep on the driver’s side of the Liquor Wagon and exit the bunk to my right.
One night I fell asleep across the aisle on the passenger side of the Holy Roller. When I woke up I tried to exit to the right and hit the bus wall. I was confused and thought I had been somehow trapped. I thought I’d been buried alive only I could hear all of my band mates laughing. Probably my laptop, because that’s where my music lives - and I haven’t backed it up in a little while. When I travelled with World Food Program in an old Russian helicopter visiting monasteries, villages and glaciers.
You always hear of these helicopter accidents up there where the weather can change at the drop of a dime. It was exhilarating and beautiful. The desire to transform negative situations into positive situations. I would probably go back to 1960s Rio de Janeiro because I’m influenced by the music and things were vibrant. To lead a life that’s soulful and to care for others. I don’t surf but when I see professionals surfing I’m like, ‘man that probably has to be one of the biggest rushes’.