Boom Bip

Boom Bip (born Bryan Charles Hollon) is an American hip hop producer and musician.

Style

Boom Bip's music is mostly instrumental. However, he has collaborated with several vocalists over the course of his career. He is currently signed to Lex Records, which was a division of Warp Records in the United Kingdom until 2005. He has also had releases on the U.S. based label Mush Records. Boom Bip is also known for the remix work that he has done for many artists on several different record labels. Some of those artists include Amon Tobin, Hot Hot Heat, Mogwai, Four Tet, M83, Danny Elfman, Pet and Super Furry Animals.

Boom Bip also played every instrument on Blue Eyed in the Red Room himself. He used absolutely no samples in the process. Explaining the reasons behind this, he said, "I wanted the listener to get a sense of what is going on inside my head and my environment as much as possible. Samples are a detour from that connection. Samples express what you like, but it's someone else's idea and product. To really connect with the listener it was essential that I play everything. While making the record I had the live show in mind the entire time. The new songs are 98% live instrumentation and have energy, structure, chord changes and dynamics. Not loop-based or beat-based like tracks in the past."

History

Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Bryan Hollon has relocated to the city of Los Angeles, California. His career began as a DJ on WAIF in Cincinnati. He also DJed at a small club Ripley's hosting an evening of jazz, hip hop and electronic music. He soon hooked up with New York producer DJ Osiris and Robert Curcio to produce The Low End Sequence EP, named after his evening at Ripley's. Not long after that, Boom Bip met rapper Doseone in the local clubs and open mic nights. They released the collaborative album Circle on Mush Records in 2000.^[1] It grabbed the attention of John Peel (who heralded Boom Bip as a "modern day Captain Beefheart" after his first Peel Session) and Gilles Peterson in the UK. Soon they were a name in the British underground hip hop and electronic scene. The name 'Boom Bip' may be a reference to the lyric - "The boom, the bip, the boom bip, indicates to the brothers that we be on the flip tip" - from "Push It Along", the first track on the debut album of alternative hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest

The attention eventually led to Tom Brown of Warp Records, asking Boom Bip to complete his first solo album for Lex Records. The album Seed to Sun was released in 2002. It features Buck 65 and Doseone on vocals.^[2] Boom Bip was invited back to record a second Peel Session, which was ultimately included on his next album, a remix compendium entitled Corymb (2004). The album also included a string of remixes by his contemporaries, including Boards of Canada, Mogwai and Four Tet.

Boom Bip then moved to Silver Lake, Los Angeles in order to work on his second solo album Blue Eyed in the Red Room (2005). The album features Gruff Rhys and Nina Nastasia on vocals.^[3] Concerning the album, Boom Bip said, "This album was started on a clean slate, in a new place, with new inspiration [...] You can hear that in the songs, the fear, excitement, loneliness and comfort that I've felt for the past year. With Seed To Sun I was in a rut and a lot of dreaming and sadness were expressed in that album."

In 2007, Boom Bip formed the duo Neon Neon with Gruff Rhys. Their debut single "Trick for Treat" was released in 2007. Their first album Stainless Style was released on Lex Records in 2008.^[4]

In 2011, Boom Bip released the third solo album Zig Zaj on Lex Records. The album features collaborations with Josh Klinghoffer, Alex Kapranos, Cate Le Bon, Money Mark among others.^[5]

Live performance

Boom Bip usually tours as a full four piece live band including drums, guitars, synths and different gadgets and machines. He has played many large festivals including Pukkelpop, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Glastonbury Festival, Transmusicales, Dedbeat Festival and Ether Festival. He has toured with Super Furry Animals, Mice Parade, Interpol and others in the United States. He has shared the stage with Sonic Youth, The Cure, Mogwai and others. Boom Bip and his touring bands have played venues such as Pompidou Centre, Sydney Opera House, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Fondation Vasarely and many others.

Discography

Albums

• Seed to Sun (2002)
• Corymb (2004)
• Blue Eyed in the Red Room (2005)
• Zig Zaj (2011)

EPs

• Doo Doo Breaks Volume 1 (2000)
• Doo Doo Tones Volume 1 (2002)
• Mannequin Hand Trapdoor I Reminder (2002)
• From Left To Right (2003)
• Doo Doo Breaks Volume 2 (2003)
• Morning & A Day (2004)
• Do's & Don'ts (2005)
• Sacchrilege (2007)

Collaborations

• The Low End Sequence EP (1998) with DJ Osiris
• Circle (2000) with Doseone
• 28:06:42:12 (2004) with Daedelus
• Stainless Style (2008) as Neon Neon
• Praxis Makes Perfect (2013) as Neon Neon

Productions

• "Want (featuring Slug)" on Ropeladder 12 (2000)
• "Kill Your Employer" "Sun Shower" "Kill Floor" "Dream Catcher's Mitt" by Busdriver on RoadKillOvercoat (2007)

Remixes

• "We Can Fake It" by Smyglyssna on We Can Fix It Remixes (2003)
• "Verbal" by Amon Tobin on Verbal Remixes & Collaborations (2003)
• "Father Father" by Super Furry Animals on Phantom Phorce (2004)
• "The Luxury Of Loneliness" by Her Space Holiday on The Young Machines Remixed (2004)
• "Micronomic" by Lali Puna on I Thought I Was Over That: Rare, Remixed And B-Sides (2005)
• "Don't Save Us From The Flames" by M83 on Don't Save Us From The Flames (2005)
• "Plane That Draws A White Line" by Alias & Tarsier on Plane That Draws A White Line (2006)
• "No More Mosquitoes" by Four Tet on Remixes (2006)

References

External links

• Official website
• Boom Bip on Mush Records
• Boom Bip on Lex Records
• Boom Bip on Discogs