"The Internet can be a blessing and a curse. Ultimately it changed my life for the better," states Roberto Ramone, one half of the LA-based house duo NEWBODY. The two met seven years ago on Myspace, and while that may sound like a classic musical connection from the golden age of dial-up networking, the duo's background is anything but typical. As kids, Roberto never missed a Sunday morning at church, and Jonathan never missed a Friday night out at the rave. In both venues they were constantly surrounded by the soulful sounds of gospel, R&B, garage, house, and pop, and they're mobilizing that mashup of influences for a string of EPs on labels like Body High and Rhonda International.Newbody is part of a movement of up-and-coming producers who are breathing songwriting, sexuality, and class back into the art of modern dance music. The duo has moved on from recording to eachothers' landline answering machines, and now Jonathan and Roberto are busy in the studio and behind the decks, collaborating with friends who are playing a revitalizing role in the dance music community as we know it.THUMP: Hey guys, how's it going?
Newbody: Hey, what's up?Tell us about a typical day in the life of Newbody.
Jonathan: Most of our days center around the Newbody project—answering emails, keeping up with social media stuff, working on music and finding new music to play out. We try to keep our focus on things that keep us inspired.You guys are currently based out of LA. Where are you from originally?
Roberto: I'm from Detroit but I moved to LA in 2008. Between then and now, I lived in New York for two years. But I'm happy to be back in LA.Jonathan: I'm originally from Long Beach, CA, but also lived in NYC for a while.Roberto, you come from a singer/songwriter background. Were the sounds of Detroit influential to you?
Roberto: There is so much good music that has come out of Detroit, but it's much more influential to me now than it was when I first started writing. I've been writing songs since long before I met Jonathan; I started to figure out that it was something that came naturally to me when I was about 15 years old and I've been doing it ever since.Can you talk about the influence of gospel, soul, and R&B growing up, and how those feelings are applied to the house music you make today?
Jonathan: Well, soulful music is what we were both brought up on, so it's hard for us to create music without those influences being present in our sound. I think even if we had to make a heavy metal album, we'd try to make it soulful. It's really just something you feel in your spirit.Tell me about the time you both spent out east. How did living in NY impact you?
Roberto: Living in New York was a great experience for us. It allowed us to really buckle down and focus on our craft. Some may think that sounds crazy because New York is such a fast paced city but it really was our "cabin in the woods."Jonathan: And New York has such a rich musical history, from jazz to hip-hop to house music. It was great to experience listening and creating in the context of being in NYC.
Roberto: Since I grew up in a very spiritual household, I definitely got my fare share of gospel. My father has pretty eclectic taste in music so I was also hearing a lot of jazz, R&B, pop, rock, and even country. Looking back, I do realize the impact that my parents have had on my musical tastes but I was also influenced by watching a lot of MTV. Before Napster, that was my way of discovering music that I wouldn't have been exposed to by my parents. I also think having a really diverse group of friends influenced my taste as well.Jonathan: Some of the first music I remember was my grandmother playing a lot of James Brown, Al Green, Bobby Womack and gospel records. My mother always allowed me to be very independent with my musical tastes. She'd always take me to the record store and let me pick what I wanted. I think the very first record I ever bought was the "Don't Be Cruel" single by Bobby Brown. I still have that record to this day.What's your earliest memory of dance music in any form? If you could name a few artists from when you were younger that provided a proper introduction to house, pop, and garage…
Jonathan: When I was in grade school in the mid-'90s, I would hang out at a classmate's house who had an older sister. She was only 13 years old at the time, but she was always going out clubbing. I remember her bedroom door was covered from top to bottom with crazy psychedelic club fliers with '70s fonts and cartoon mushrooms everywhere. I begged my mom to let me go but of course, the answer was always "no" because I was, like, 10 years old. She was always pumping house music and would let me borrow mix CDs—DJ Enrie, Bad Boy Bill and Richard Humpty Vission. That music was also more present on the radio at that time. Sometimes I stumble upon tracks from back then and it's nice to be able to remember when all that classic stuff was was happening without being too old to really enjoy it now.Roberto: Growing up, Detroit radio was really great for exposing people to dance music, whether they realized it or not. The R&B stations would really let their listeners have it around midnight or so. As a kid it was described to me as "booty music," but it was really techno. I didn't start getting into dance music until the early 2000's, when I started driving over the border every weekend with my friends from Detroit to Ontario so I could dance to house music all night long. There was a really cool hidden club that exposed me to Miguel Miggs and the stuff that was out on Naked Music. That, and Artful Dodger played a big part in my introduction to dance music.House is a feeling of course, but at what point did you realize that this music and its surrounding community was something you both wanted to forever be a part of? Can you recall any specific moments of inspiration at a show where you really felt moved by what was happening?
Roberto: There is one memory that really stands out in my mind. I remember going to The Detroit Electronic Music Festival in 2001, which is now called Movement. I remember hearing some of the best music I had ever heard in my life. I don't even remember who was DJing but I was dancing like a lunatic! It was raining like crazy but no one cared at all. We just kept dancing.Jonathan: I've made my rounds musically and enjoy many different genres, but I always seem to come back to house. I started going to raves in my teens, and after stints with happy hardcore and jungle, I ended up finding that I had the best time the house room. I loved the way people danced! I think house dancing is one of the coolest dance forms because not only does it look amazing, but it's such a melting pot of many different styles. It's a direct reflection of the music. I was also moved by how the music took over me to the point that I could not stop dancing for hours. Nothing had ever done that to me before.Who would you say are your biggest personal influences?
Jonathan: We love how Deee-Lite was able to bridge the gap between pop and underground while maintaining their integrity. They had such a strong visual aesthetic as well and that's rare in dance music. The stuff that Towa Tei branched off into when he went solo is really incredible. He was able to meld acid jazz, house, hip hop, techno and R&B together seamlessly. We've also been getting into a lot of jazz lately—Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk.You guys are also very fashion-forward. Would you agree that there's a direct relationship between fashion and music? Is that something you're also passionate about?
Roberto: As cliché as it may sound we use style as another way to express ourselves. The music is our top priority and the way we choose to present ourselves is just the icing on the cake. We have a very specific vision not only of how we sound but how we look. It's not enough for us to just put the music out there. When people listen to our music we want them to really have a sense of who Newbody is, so our style plays a pivotal role in that.Jonathan: A lot of movements in fashion have come out of music scenes. How do you know someone listens to punk rock? Because most likely, they look like it and so do the bands they listen to. Same with rave, grunge, and hip-hop. I really started getting into style around the time Daft Punk came out with Discovery. I loved it so much that I wanted to express it visually. So, I started going to vintage shops to try to get the look that I imagined went along with the music.Jonathan, were you producing for a while before joining forces with Roberto? When you guys first started making music together, did it seem like a natural thing right off the bat? Do you guys have established roles in the studio, or do you both handle everything?Jonathan: I was dabbling here and there, but nothing too serious. I didn't consider myself a producer back then.Roberto: For the most part, we have established roles when it comes to making music. Jonathan handles the production and I do all the vocals and writing. Of course it's always a collaborative effort so nothing is ruled out on either end. Jonathan will sometimes give input on lyrics or do some light vocals, or I'll play around on the keys or come up with a bassline.
Jonathan: Roberto saw a photo of me playing with my Juno 106 around '05 and sent me a request. We became fast friends and around 2007, after I made something that I felt was worth sharing, I sent him a track. He wrote to it and recorded it over my landline answering machine and it was history. He would record songs acapella that he had written on my machine and I'd make beats to them. After a few weeks, he flew out to LA for a week to record them in person.Would you both agree that the Internet has greater benefits for artists even if they're not actually selling much music through it?
Roberto: The Internet can be both a blessing and a curse. Ultimately it has changed my life for the better.While a lot of people tend to think negatively toward the future, I prefer to look on the bright side, as there are a ton of exciting fresh producers doing their thing, bringing back a classic sound with modern touch. Who are some of your favorite newer artists? What's your view on the circle of friends in LA making music?
Jonathan: It's a great time to be in Los Angeles right now. I think the underground dance scene in LA is becoming one of the best. There's so much talent. Velcro, Delroy Edwards, Cromie, Sage Caswell, James Del Barco, Pipes, Magic Touch, Weused2dance, Urulu, Whitney Fierce, Body High, 100% Silk, A Club Called Rhonda…all these guys are incredible. There's definitely something in the air and it's growing. We're just happy to be part of it.Roberto: Outside of LA, we're also obsessed with Shaun J. Wright, Kim Ann Foxman, Ricardo Baez, Emotion II Emotion, Madhouse Records and T. Williams.Alright so what's the latest as far as releases go? What are some things you're currently working on at the moment?
Jonathan: Well we just had our first official remix release for Ricardo Baez on Toy Tonics records called "The Language of Heaven." We're also working on a collab with Pipes and hopefully one with Velcro really soon. We're excited for our release on Body High. We just finished a remix for Emotion II Emotion and a remix for Velcro that's due out on Plant Music. We have some other things in the works as well that we'd prefer to keep quiet about for now.Roberto: We'll be DJing a party at the TriBeCa Grand Hotel in New York on June 29 so we're looking forward to that. We have our eyes set on Portland and the UK as well.If someone discovers Newbody today from this interview and went through your Soundcloud, what kind of message would you hope to get across to them?
Roberto: Newbody is all about fun and positivity, so we hope that's what people will take away from everything that we do.Any words of wisdom for young producers trying to come up? Any shout outs or final words?
Jonathan: My main advice for other producers is to know your history. You can't be a math teacher and not know that 1 + 1 = 2. Dig, dig, dig. Draw from other sources and don't just do what your contemporaries are doing.Roberto: We'd like to shout out Ross O'Carroll and the bar staff at The Lash, Trevor Tarczynski, Abdul & Yealang at Thang, Jose Rodriguez, Jessica Willis, Hassan Rahim, UpThere Apparel, Weltenbuerger Vintage, Luke Mertz (Old Gold), Henoch Moore, Lady Miss Kier, Shaper Image, $1 Bin, Kiddy Smile, Banjee Report, Zulu Nasty, and Rich Farrow.
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Newbody: Hey, what's up?Tell us about a typical day in the life of Newbody.
Jonathan: Most of our days center around the Newbody project—answering emails, keeping up with social media stuff, working on music and finding new music to play out. We try to keep our focus on things that keep us inspired.You guys are currently based out of LA. Where are you from originally?
Roberto: I'm from Detroit but I moved to LA in 2008. Between then and now, I lived in New York for two years. But I'm happy to be back in LA.Jonathan: I'm originally from Long Beach, CA, but also lived in NYC for a while.Roberto, you come from a singer/songwriter background. Were the sounds of Detroit influential to you?
Roberto: There is so much good music that has come out of Detroit, but it's much more influential to me now than it was when I first started writing. I've been writing songs since long before I met Jonathan; I started to figure out that it was something that came naturally to me when I was about 15 years old and I've been doing it ever since.
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Jonathan: Well, soulful music is what we were both brought up on, so it's hard for us to create music without those influences being present in our sound. I think even if we had to make a heavy metal album, we'd try to make it soulful. It's really just something you feel in your spirit.Tell me about the time you both spent out east. How did living in NY impact you?
Roberto: Living in New York was a great experience for us. It allowed us to really buckle down and focus on our craft. Some may think that sounds crazy because New York is such a fast paced city but it really was our "cabin in the woods."Jonathan: And New York has such a rich musical history, from jazz to hip-hop to house music. It was great to experience listening and creating in the context of being in NYC.
Tell me about your musical upbringing. What kinds of records were being played around the house when you were kids? Did your parents' taste have any influence in shaping your own?
Roberto: Since I grew up in a very spiritual household, I definitely got my fare share of gospel. My father has pretty eclectic taste in music so I was also hearing a lot of jazz, R&B, pop, rock, and even country. Looking back, I do realize the impact that my parents have had on my musical tastes but I was also influenced by watching a lot of MTV. Before Napster, that was my way of discovering music that I wouldn't have been exposed to by my parents. I also think having a really diverse group of friends influenced my taste as well.
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Jonathan: When I was in grade school in the mid-'90s, I would hang out at a classmate's house who had an older sister. She was only 13 years old at the time, but she was always going out clubbing. I remember her bedroom door was covered from top to bottom with crazy psychedelic club fliers with '70s fonts and cartoon mushrooms everywhere. I begged my mom to let me go but of course, the answer was always "no" because I was, like, 10 years old. She was always pumping house music and would let me borrow mix CDs—DJ Enrie, Bad Boy Bill and Richard Humpty Vission. That music was also more present on the radio at that time. Sometimes I stumble upon tracks from back then and it's nice to be able to remember when all that classic stuff was was happening without being too old to really enjoy it now.Roberto: Growing up, Detroit radio was really great for exposing people to dance music, whether they realized it or not. The R&B stations would really let their listeners have it around midnight or so. As a kid it was described to me as "booty music," but it was really techno. I didn't start getting into dance music until the early 2000's, when I started driving over the border every weekend with my friends from Detroit to Ontario so I could dance to house music all night long. There was a really cool hidden club that exposed me to Miguel Miggs and the stuff that was out on Naked Music. That, and Artful Dodger played a big part in my introduction to dance music.
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Roberto: There is one memory that really stands out in my mind. I remember going to The Detroit Electronic Music Festival in 2001, which is now called Movement. I remember hearing some of the best music I had ever heard in my life. I don't even remember who was DJing but I was dancing like a lunatic! It was raining like crazy but no one cared at all. We just kept dancing.Jonathan: I've made my rounds musically and enjoy many different genres, but I always seem to come back to house. I started going to raves in my teens, and after stints with happy hardcore and jungle, I ended up finding that I had the best time the house room. I loved the way people danced! I think house dancing is one of the coolest dance forms because not only does it look amazing, but it's such a melting pot of many different styles. It's a direct reflection of the music. I was also moved by how the music took over me to the point that I could not stop dancing for hours. Nothing had ever done that to me before.Who would you say are your biggest personal influences?
Jonathan: We love how Deee-Lite was able to bridge the gap between pop and underground while maintaining their integrity. They had such a strong visual aesthetic as well and that's rare in dance music. The stuff that Towa Tei branched off into when he went solo is really incredible. He was able to meld acid jazz, house, hip hop, techno and R&B together seamlessly. We've also been getting into a lot of jazz lately—Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk.
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Roberto: As cliché as it may sound we use style as another way to express ourselves. The music is our top priority and the way we choose to present ourselves is just the icing on the cake. We have a very specific vision not only of how we sound but how we look. It's not enough for us to just put the music out there. When people listen to our music we want them to really have a sense of who Newbody is, so our style plays a pivotal role in that.Jonathan: A lot of movements in fashion have come out of music scenes. How do you know someone listens to punk rock? Because most likely, they look like it and so do the bands they listen to. Same with rave, grunge, and hip-hop. I really started getting into style around the time Daft Punk came out with Discovery. I loved it so much that I wanted to express it visually. So, I started going to vintage shops to try to get the look that I imagined went along with the music.Jonathan, were you producing for a while before joining forces with Roberto? When you guys first started making music together, did it seem like a natural thing right off the bat? Do you guys have established roles in the studio, or do you both handle everything?Jonathan: I was dabbling here and there, but nothing too serious. I didn't consider myself a producer back then.
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The two of you come from slightly different backgrounds looking at your bio—Roberto in church and Jonathan at raves—only to be brought together by Myspace. How exactly did you two meet online and how were you able to relate with each other at first?
Jonathan: Roberto saw a photo of me playing with my Juno 106 around '05 and sent me a request. We became fast friends and around 2007, after I made something that I felt was worth sharing, I sent him a track. He wrote to it and recorded it over my landline answering machine and it was history. He would record songs acapella that he had written on my machine and I'd make beats to them. After a few weeks, he flew out to LA for a week to record them in person.Would you both agree that the Internet has greater benefits for artists even if they're not actually selling much music through it?
Roberto: The Internet can be both a blessing and a curse. Ultimately it has changed my life for the better.While a lot of people tend to think negatively toward the future, I prefer to look on the bright side, as there are a ton of exciting fresh producers doing their thing, bringing back a classic sound with modern touch. Who are some of your favorite newer artists? What's your view on the circle of friends in LA making music?
Jonathan: It's a great time to be in Los Angeles right now. I think the underground dance scene in LA is becoming one of the best. There's so much talent. Velcro, Delroy Edwards, Cromie, Sage Caswell, James Del Barco, Pipes, Magic Touch, Weused2dance, Urulu, Whitney Fierce, Body High, 100% Silk, A Club Called Rhonda…all these guys are incredible. There's definitely something in the air and it's growing. We're just happy to be part of it.
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Jonathan: Well we just had our first official remix release for Ricardo Baez on Toy Tonics records called "The Language of Heaven." We're also working on a collab with Pipes and hopefully one with Velcro really soon. We're excited for our release on Body High. We just finished a remix for Emotion II Emotion and a remix for Velcro that's due out on Plant Music. We have some other things in the works as well that we'd prefer to keep quiet about for now.Roberto: We'll be DJing a party at the TriBeCa Grand Hotel in New York on June 29 so we're looking forward to that. We have our eyes set on Portland and the UK as well.If someone discovers Newbody today from this interview and went through your Soundcloud, what kind of message would you hope to get across to them?
Roberto: Newbody is all about fun and positivity, so we hope that's what people will take away from everything that we do.Any words of wisdom for young producers trying to come up? Any shout outs or final words?
Jonathan: My main advice for other producers is to know your history. You can't be a math teacher and not know that 1 + 1 = 2. Dig, dig, dig. Draw from other sources and don't just do what your contemporaries are doing.Roberto: We'd like to shout out Ross O'Carroll and the bar staff at The Lash, Trevor Tarczynski, Abdul & Yealang at Thang, Jose Rodriguez, Jessica Willis, Hassan Rahim, UpThere Apparel, Weltenbuerger Vintage, Luke Mertz (Old Gold), Henoch Moore, Lady Miss Kier, Shaper Image, $1 Bin, Kiddy Smile, Banjee Report, Zulu Nasty, and Rich Farrow.