As thick as thieves

By REBECCA BARRY

For a duo known for their exotic musical tastes, Washington DC seems a pretty conservative place to live. It's the city home to the White House, the Washington Monument, the Museum of Natural History and the National Gallery of Art. All that capital stuff.

It's also hugely inspirational, says Thievery Corporation's Eric Hilton.

Taking a stroll past their studio on 18th Street, he encountered an Afro-Cuban band, a jazz group and a tango session.

"It's never what anyone expects," he says on the phone to promote his New Zealand tour. "We had a Brazilian vocalist visiting us and she was pretty surprised because Washington represents pretty bad things to a lot of people - rightfully so. But the place itself is actually really pretty - there are a lot of trees, really interesting architecture, and it's very multicultural. Besides Toronto, I think Washington is the most diverse city I've ever been in, and I've been in hundreds of cities."

Their new mix CD The Outernational Sound attests to that, incorporating influences as far-flung as South America, India, the Middle East and Jamaica, and an array of styles from dub to jazz, reggae, bossa nova and soul.

"I'm always astounded at how much doing music forces you to travel, not that I really need to be forced," Hilton says. "It takes you to places that you never really believed you would see.

"We definitely pay attention to the music we hear on the road. In Europe you hear a lot of gypsy groups that play on the streets in Germany or Holland and they're always very interesting. Rob's been to Brazil and he's mentioned a lot of groups that play on the street."

Hilton and Thievery compatriot Rob Garza are "record-collector fiends" who spend a lot of time holed up in record stores, poring through old vinyl.

"It's sort of like falling into a black hole and you're there for hours and you feel like you're missing the sights. It's quite a trade-off."

They usually travel with up to six vocalists, a guitar and sitar player, two horn players, two percussionists and a bass player, with Hilton playing around with beats and Garza on keyboards. But it's an expensive business trying to create a live sound, and part of the reason they will perform a straight DJ set in New Zealand.

They will alternate on the decks, starting with old, oddball vinyl, and progressing into a funkier, beat-oriented affair.

"I have the technical part down, whereas Rob's background is he's completely a musician," says Hilton. "He's a great selector of music but the technical part's not quite as good so we complement each other. He bails me out and picks some great records when I'm coming up blank and I'll mix stuff for him."

The pair met in Washington in 1995, and hooked up out of their mutual admiration for the work of Antonio Carlos Jobim and the 60s bossa sound. Their first LP led to a string of high-profile remixes, including David Byrne, Pizzicato Five and Stereolab. Then came The Mirror Conspiracy (2000), which sold more than 350,000 copies. After the even bigger success of 2003's The Richest Man in Babylon they were invited to compile a mix album for K7's DJ Kicks series.

By the time Thievery Corporation had entrenched themselves as leading purveyors of suave, laidback grooves, another phenomenon was brewing. Suddenly guitars were back, volume was up and the garage rock revival had come screaming to mainstream attention. Hilton speaks of Thievery Corporation's heyday in the past tense, alongside electronic luminaries Kruder & Dorfmeister and Fila Brazilia.

"It's pretty dangerous when a genre of music becomes fashionable. I mean, if you look at the last few years - drum'n'bass, for instance ... a lot of people thought it was interesting for a short period of time. As a genre I didn't find it very interesting at all.

"It just seems like there's hype behind everything, whether it's drum'n'bass or trip-hop, downtempo, lounge, speed garage, electro-clash. I know this guy in New York who's a really nice guy but he jumps on each trend, y'know? It just seems kind of silly. There's good music within genres and there's some music that's not as good. I don't think the genres really matter that much.

"Rob and I really like a lot of different types of music and, yes, we produce our music electronically so it's kind of the eclectic, electronic category. I'd be happy and comfortable to be lumped into that. I see it as sort of a free category, where you can have an Afro-Cuban song and the next song is reggae and the next has Middle Eastern touches. It just seems a bit freer."

LOWDOWN

WHO: Thievery Corporation, purveyors of cool and exotic grooves

KEY RELEASES: Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi (1996), Abductions and Reconstructions (1998), The Mirror Conspiracy (2000), The Richest Man in Babylon (2003)

PLAYING: The Studio, Auckland, October 13; Sandwiches, Wellington, October 9; Winnebago, Christchurch, October 10