The process of sampling and remixing has long been a topic of debate among dedicated audiophiles. It's a question of whether sampling and/or remixing is an art form, or just plain theft. Though I don't know the answer, I certainly have been intrigued by the question. I've also been intrigued by the band name Thievery Corporation and have long wondered if they took that name so as to take ownership of the concept. In much the same way rappers retook ownership of the word "nigger," perhaps Thievery Corp adopted the name Thievery as if to say, "That's right nigga, we're stealing the music. Whatcha gonna do about it?!"
On their latest album, Versions, nearly the entire disc is of songs stolen, er, remixed, from other artists. Songs such as, "This is Not a Love Song," by Nouvelle Vague, "Lemon Tree," by Herb Alpert, "Dirty Little Secret" by Sarah McLachlan, "Strange Days," by The Doors, and "Beloved" by Anoushka Shankar have all been, um, reconfigured by Thievery Corporation.
"These are remixes we've been doing over the past few years and they just sort of collected in the corner," says Rob Garza during our conversation over the phone. Garza is one half of that which we know to be Thievery Corporation. He and his partner, Eric Hilton have been working together for over a decade from their studio in Washington D.C. In a sentence, Thievery is an electronica outfit that infuses all the electronica-related elements (such as trance, ambient, dub-groove, techno, trip-hop and flaccid jazz) into their remixes.
"Explain how it works in the world of remix albums," I asked Garza. "Are you getting permission to use these tunes? How do you decide what songs you are going to tackle?
"Usually, they contact us," said Garza. "For instance somebody like Sarah McLachlan will commission us to do a remix. She'll send us multiple tracks. Then we'll listen through and pick out the parts that appeal to us. Then we're strip down elements, create our own beats, and start adding layers of different sounds to try and give it a feeling the original version didn't have."
"Why do these artists even want remixes?"
"A lot of times it can be for artistic reasons. For some record labels it's about marketing and reaching a new audience. Take the Herb Alpert song for instance. "Lemon Tree" was originally recorded in the late 60's and had a certain sound to it. Herb Alpert wanted a remix because he wants to incorporate his sounds with something a bit more modern. . . . "
"Do you have to pay to use the songs on the CD?"
"Yeah, because in the end, they own the song. . . . However with some of the artists we worked out a trade agreement. For instance, when they asked us to remix the song originally we told them that we would do it for a lot less than what we normally charge and in return, they would let us use it on a compilation remix album such as Versions."
"So it's definitely not stealing. Why then did you name yourself Thievery Corporation?"
"The name Thievery Corporation could be so many things. It doesn't necessarily have to do with sampling. When we started we used to be more sample-heavy. But there were too many issues of having to deal with copyrights ... so we began recording with live instruments, and picking up instruments ourselves, and putting them into the computer and making it more about a live, warm, organic sound - within the electronic sound as well. I think the name is just something that makes people wonder about it a little bit."
"So what's your take on the whole "sampling is theft" debate?"
"I think it's hard to make a clear line as to what is art and what is stealing. The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, in a way, stole from American black blues artists. It's a fuzzy line and with the artists of today, you don't know where art ends and stealing begins and that's what makes it exciting."
Ed Decker
Circa Feb 2006