Bloody Beetroots 'Romborama' album

From “Butter” (MP3) to “Cornelius” (MP3) to the Steve Aoki assisted “Warp 1.9" (video), The Bloody Beetroots have put out banger after banger in the past year, dominating clubs and inspiring countless remixes. These tracks, along with a heap of brand new gems will make up The Beetroots’ highly anticipated debut album, Romborama. out August 25th on Dim Mak Records. In addition to Aoki, the album also boasts guest appearances by as The Cool Kids, Justin Pearson (The Locust, Head Wound City), Ed Banger artist Vicarious Bliss, and many more.

Since bursting onto the scene in 2007, The Bloody Beetroots, a.k.a. Italian producer and polymath Bob Rifo, has brought a sense of danger to dance floors across the globe. Armed with an endless supply of infectious beats, Rifo injects his thunderous grooves with the chaos and larger-than-life persona of late 70’s British punk and Oi!

The juxtaposition of seemingly incompatible styles of music doesn’t end there. Rifo studied classical composers for years, and this influence is apparent on numerous tracks on Romborama. But make no mistake, whether Rifo is channeling the spirit of Beethoven, The Misfits, or something in between, The Beetroots’ primary objective is to incite a dancefloor riot, and each track is always driven by addictive, pulsating beats.

In conjunction with a signature sound, Rifo has created a distinct visual aesthetic as well. Taking cues from comic books, Rifo and his onstage partner, DJ Tommy Tea, wear masks while performing to create alter-egos for themselves. The controlled chaos that defines The Beetroots are embodied by the music videos for “Cornelius” and “’Warp 1.9.” The two clips shine a light into a world where mosh pits and general punk rock revelry collide with dance-all-night club culture. It’s a hell of a time, if you can make it out alive.

"...punk’s raw power, and the art-damaged futurism of New Wave."
- Bust '09

“…the hardest DJs on the planet…”
- BPM '09

“the electro outfit most likely to become the new Justice, putting the punk back in the Daft Punk formula.”
- Playboy '09

Bloody Beetroots biography
Imagine the love child of the Misfits and Daft Punk; the act of conception would be grisly, but what a mighty offspring their union would generate. A formidable force a la the Bloody Beetroots.

“I’m a grown child who enjoys reading comic books of the 1970s, who never stops dreaming, and listening to punk and classical music,” says the Bloody Beetroots’ Bob Rifo. And like the characters in Rifo’s beloved comic books, the Bloody Beetroots story teems with unholy alliances and eye-popping action, alter-egos and parallel universes.

Bob Rifo is the not-so-secret identity of the mortal behind the Bloody Beetroots. In the studio, it is he—and he alone—who is responsible for their myriad creations. In the last days of 2008, the Bloody Beetroots once again displayed their might via CORNELIUS. No ordinary record, CORNELIUS integrated fashion, film, music and literature. An homage to the English science fiction writer Michael Moorcock and his mercurial anti-hero Jerry Cornelius, fused with the musical energy of UK punk’s Oi! movement, CORNELIUS was one of the top 100 iTunes international downloads. The accompanying film clip, conceptualized by Rifo and directed by Born To Film’s Mathieu Danet, has been viewed over 500,000 times online. French brand Six Pack created a limited edition CORNELIUS T-shirt as part of this all-out assault. Tying it all together, CORNELIUS was unleashed on December 18: Moorcock and Rifo’s shared birthday.

When it comes time for the Bloody Beetroots to perform live they split into two: Bob Rifo and Tommy Tea. And throughout March and April 2009, as the Bloody Beetroots rampage across North America, audiences will see and hear first-hand their formidable powers. These are not a couple of guys twiddling knobs; this is the DJ set as primal punk rock show. “There’s an anarchy to it,” elaborates Rifo. “I mix electro, punk, acid house, and hip hop, because I want to have fun with all the people of the world. I’m changing the concept of what a club is.” Think CBGB, not just in its ‘70s art punk heyday, but during its hardcore ‘80s era, too. “For Bloody Beetroots, every club becomes CBGB.”

While Bloody Beetroots burst on to the scene in 2007, Bob Rifo did not spring forth from the godhead fully formed. Born in Italy, in 1977, our hero started young, studying classical music. But his imagination was fired by other sources: The raw energy of punk and rockabilly; the vibrant images and outrageous storylines of comics by Max Bunker, Benito Jacovitti, and especially Tanino Liberatore, creator of the cyberpunk RanXerox.

After years of studying Chopin, Beethoven, and Debussy, Rifo cast off the straightjacket of classical music—while still retaining its hard-earned lessons—and turned his attention to reconciling samplers and electronic music with punk and ‘80s new wave. Pushing himself as a budding producer, performer and multi-instrumentalist, he embarked on a decade of variegated projects he affectionately refers to today as “exercises.” Starting in 1997 debut, he tore through genres like a child shredding gift wrap on Christmas morning: Film soundtracks, hip-hop, house, drum and bass, and more. As the climax of this dizzying odyssey, he initiated his first genuine solo project, an electro-punk band with revolutionary visual style: Bob Rifo’s Gang.

Rifo then created Bloody Beetroots as artistic alter-ego that would draw on all his life experiences to date. Initially conceived as an all-inclusive way to package the live thrills of Bob Rifo’s Gang with the excitement of a dancing-till-dawn DJ after-party, the producer set to quickly establishing the Bloody Beetroots as a electronic musical entity in its own right. Within a single year Rifo cranked out 28 Bloody Beetroots remixes. His goal? To work with artists around the world, and poise Bloody Beetroots as a truly international sound.

“I want to sit at the table with a Chinese person one day, and the next with an African, and the day after with a Vietnamese, and absorb their different cultures, to learn and to inspire myself and my music,” Rifo insists.

In 2007, a vigorous overhaul of the Flashdance favorite “Maniac,” and a futuristic disco redux of Timbaland’s “Miscommunication”—retitled “Discommunication”—pushed Bloody Beetroots to new heights. Peers like Justice, MSTRKRFT, Adam Freeland, and Martin Solveig were singing their praises in the press, and videogame and TV producers snapped up their tracks.

Dim Mak founder Steve Aoki was an early, and passionate, convert: “Bob Rifo my favorite producer right now. His remixes are some of my biggest bangers in my sets.” He lost no time in signing Bloody Beetroots to an American deal. Bloody Beetroots idiosyncratic EP ROMBO, a 21st century interpretation of the innovations of composer and theorist Luigi Russolo (author of the 1913 treatise The Art of Noises), soon followed.

And the Bloody Beetroots adventures continue throughout 2009. Already the WARP EP, featuring Steve Aoki, is blowing up on dance floors worldwide. Aoki and Rifo have also collaborated on a forthcoming hardcore punk project. Rifo (along with Mark Gardner of Ride) collaborated with Rinôçérôse for a cut on their forthcoming Futurino project, and his remix for Peaches appears on the digital version of her new album.

Most importantly, there is the Bloody Beetroots’ hotly anticipated debut album, featuring contributions by Peaches and Ed Banger fave Vicarious Bliss. “It incorporates all my musical components: Pop, Punk, Electro, Acid, Classical, Rave, Techno… I need that.” And bringing the Bloody Beetroots story full-circle, the cover art for the album is being created by none other than the aforementioned illustrator Tanino Liberatore. “That’s really important for me,” enthuses Rifo. “Tanino changed my perceptions when I was young. When I was 8 years-old, he destroyed my naivety.”

History has shown that the most provocative moments in art—the 1913 premiere of Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du primtemps, the notorious 1981 show by Public Image Ltd. at the Ritz in NYC—can provoke civil unrest. The Bloody Beetroots inspire that same brand of revolutionary fervor, yet with exuberance, not outrage. There’s a riot goin’ on, and you’re all invited.

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Bloody Beetroots - Romborama