Bubble Boys

By Seth Combs
Photo by Jeff Corrigan

(Published in the August 2010 issue)

Earlier this year, they were just two producers/DJs who started a little passion project to make dance-floor-ready electro remixes of some of their favorite songs. So, when DJ Anthony Ross and DJ Groundfloor (working together under the name Bubblegum Sci- Fi) posted their remix of “The Reeling” from Massachusetts synth-poppers Passion Pit online, they had no idea how big the song would get. But the day after its debut, the song was everywhere-it climbed to the number one spot on the HypeM.com charts (a website that tracks a song’s popularity on thousands of music blogs, something like a Google for music) and the guys were suddenly inundated with calls from promoters and advertising execs.

“The blog world passed it on to every corner of the Internet,” says Ross. “The best part was when Sony contacted us to use it on commercials to market the UK TV show, The Skins.”

“A big ego booster was looking at the comments people posted on YouTube about the song,” adds Groundfloor, whose real name is Lee Schneider. “Thousands of people said nice things. One guy said he conceived while listening to it!”

Despite their now being considered a super-group on the local club scene, both Groundfloor and Ross already had a lot going on individually, even before the new collaboration. Between them, they have more than a decade of club experience-Ross plays almost every other weekend at Voyeur, while Groundfloor spins everywhere from Hard Rock to U-31. But together, Ross says, they produce a gritty, bass-heavy take on electro they couldn’t have made individually.

“I just think, as an artist, it’s impossible to stay in one spot for too long,” he says. “If the niche you’re in doesn’t expand, it’s just a black hole of talent. The music doesn’t go anywhere but to the same ears, and the scene doesn’t grow.”

While the guys seem content at the prospect of representing the San Diego scene (which Ross claims could be “the fastest growing electro scene in the country”), they remain selective on the shows they’ll play. An album of original material is in the works, and Groundfloor claims it will be filled with what is already the group’s signature sound.

“A blogger on a popular dance music blog described our Passion Pit remix as a ‘fist-pumping sing-a-long.’ I think that’s what we strive for,” he says, “minus the Jersey Shore connotation.”

myspace.com/bubblegumscifi