EDM outfit Thievery Corporation bring sick mixes to Phoenix this weekend

Whether it’s the musical menagerie of electronic stylings, or its multicultural diversity of its band lineup, Thievery Corporation have been a magical and mysterious mainstay on the Billboard U.S. dance charts since their first album, "Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi," which was released in 1996. Since that breakthrough debut and over the past two-plus decades now, seven Thievery Corporation albums have made it to the U.S. dance chart.

EDM masters Rob Garza and Eric Hilton saw their popularity make a huge boost forward when the band’s break-through1998 hit, “Lebanese Blonde,” found its way onto the "Garden State" movie soundtrack in 2004. Garza and Hilton have been consistently innovative in their approach. Because of their rebellious nature, the dynamic duo have built a worldwide reputation for creating a kaleidoscope of genre-bending music.

No stranger to performing live, the band, like many, took time off from touring during the COVID years, and over the past three years have gradually returned to touring.

And while Garza thrills at being on the tour road when not creating, Hilton has been content to simply create new music and step back from the often-tiresome road travels. Both Garza and Hilton are avid solo artists as well.

Thievery Corporation will make their third stop in the Valley on Saturday night at The Van Buren. And to what do we owe the 2024 tour’s long list of dates?

“It really is a robust year (in terms of travel). Coming out of COVID, we toured a little bit and wanted to hit the road harder,” Garza says.

“Audiences have been bigger than ever, and of course playing now 30 years is pretty inspiring. We have audiences on every corner of the world.”

Beyond the regular diet of TC classics, the show is set to add a few twists for the diehard fans with a few medley mixes to add to the dance vibes on the current tour.

As for the band’s lineup, members have come and gone, but Garza has a deep catalog of talent in his contact list.

As mainstay vocalists Natalia Clavier and Loulou are not on this particular tour, but Jamaican rapper Racquel Jones will be joined by the latest recruit, Laura Vall of Barcelona, Spain, and leader of the bossa nova and jazz band Baila Nova will grace the TC stage this time around.

“She’s an amazing singer and has a great stage presence, and we’re really excited about having her on tour,” Garza says.

TC regulars bass player Dan Africano, hip-hop mainstays Puma and Mr. Lif, percussionist Frank Orrall, veteran sitar/guitarist specialist Rob Myers, and drummer Jeff Franca will also be on hand at the Phoenix show.

With multiple other collaborative projects recorded by Garza and Hilton solo projects having been released, and Garza working on new TC numbers, how does Garza plan out new material?

“I think a lot of times it just comes from sitting down with instruments and just playing, tinkering around, and seeing where the music takes you,” he says.

What makes Garza such a welcome enigma among artists is his way of not forcing new music, but letting inspiration come to him. While some artists feel the pressure of topping previous successful albums and try to force a constant climb of creative success, Garza doesn't and yet is always seemingly in the song-creating process.

“I think with electronic music, you’re only limited by your imagination, you know, and there’s still a whole lot more to imagine,” he says.

With TC celebrating 30 years in business next year, where do the band go from here and why have they endured?

“It’s a true and genuine love of music,” Garza says. “We both have really been motivated by that. And to create something different, and with me and Eric, we have our own unique fingerprint, and it’s compelling for us to create more music and perform with different musicians as a part of this whole cosmos of making music.”

In their three decades in the music world, the list of genres and styles touched on by TC extends to acid jazz, Brazilian samba and bossa nova, chillout, dub, electronic/EDM, hi-hop, trip hop, manipulated disco, Indian sitar, Middle Eastern, lounge, downbeat and future bossa nova reggae. One thing is for certain, they are never bored — or boring.

Garza says, “I think that is what of the things when we started off making music with Thievery Corporation, we didn’t want to do anything that was done in the past but had a sound of the future.”

Thievery Corporation. 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31. The Van Buren, 401 W. Van Buren St. Tickets are $57.