:: Fillmore Auditorium :: February 15 ::
By Karen Maye
EDM is all about the explosion. The buildup of beats, the rising tension, the peak excitement before the release which shatters the stratosphere.
The New York, by way of Boulder, electronic trio Savoy is in the midst of that release right now, both figuratively and literally.
The group, which started playing house parties at CU Boulder before relocating east, in mid-January released its debut full-length album Self Predator. Within its first week the free download was snatched up over 100,000 times. That comes on the heels of the last two years, which saw Savoy explode throughout the EDM scene with gigs at Lollapalooza, Electric Daisy Carnival and Made in America festivals, not to mention their return to Colorado for a gig at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
“We are really excited about the path we are on,” producer Gray Smith said during a recent interview with The Marquee. “Doing our own shows where we can make them how we want to, and bringing our full live setup to give people the full experience is what we’ve been working towards.”
That full experience starts with a mash-up of nearly every sub-genre of electronic music — glitch-hop, future bass, electro-house and dubstep — all blended together on Self Predator to create what the blog EARMILK called “a full on electronic journey to travel on.”
“It’s a style we have been cultivating for a while – all kinds of ideas we have been wanting to do for a long time” Smith said. “We didn’t try and restrain ourselves to genres or anything like that, we just tried to make a statement of Savoy music.”
In fact, ‘restraint’ might not be in Savoy’s vocabulary. Smith explained that the group named itself after a welcoming establishment that, by its very nature, sought to include everyone. Putting forth music that would appeal to those like-minded masses is the trio’s foremost priority.
“Savoy was inspired by the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem,” Smith said. “It was kind of the first dance club where people of all different races and backgrounds came together to just have a dance party. That is kind of what we wanted the concept for Savoy to be.”
In the band’s official bio, they proudly explain that their early gigs weren’t too different musically from where they are today, even if those house-party shows lacked some of the wizardry that their current productions include. “Take away the fog machines, insane laser show and monstrous speakers, add some cheap beer and push aside the furniture,” reads the bio. But with their exploding success, the group has been able to increase their production value every step along the way.
These days, the live Savoy experience includes lights by international award winning artist Eliav Kadosh, who has toured with Roger Waters, Jay-Z and Skrillex, and is an essential fourth member of the group for the Get Lazer’d tour.
“We are really happy to have him on tour,” said Smith. “He’s just the best at what he does. We’ve gotten to be really good friends and he just knows our music so well, now it just works.”
Upping their production value also meant upping their game on Self Predator, too. The group has released a slew of EPs, singles and various other wares over the years, but for this heaving 14-track full length, Savoy collaborated with many of their EDM peers, including Big Gigantic, Paper Diamond, Heather Bright and SOFI.
For Smith and his bandmates Mike Kelly (drums) and Ben Eberdt (guitar/bass/synth), the concept that began for an all-inclusive party — the dream of a few guys going to school in Colorado — the explosion, the release is underway, and it appears that even if folks didn’t immediately RSVP, the masses have certainly shown up for the party.
“Every time there has been a point like that [a big milestone], we’ve already got our sights set on the next point,” Smith said. “It’s a culmination — a bunch of small realizations put together.”
:: Savoy ::
:: Fillmore Auditorium :: February 15 ::
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