Lamebot is the solo project of a local electronic musician, DJ, and producer who dresses in an outfit that’s a cross between an Image Comics vigilante and the Marvel supervillain Doctor Doom. Choosing to never take off the mask during shows, Lamebot prefers to hide his identity in an effort to keep listeners focused on the music. But don't let the spooky appearance fool you; it's hiding a humbling sense of humor. For example, he chose the self-deprecating name Lamebot as a sort of built-in disclaimer.
“I know this stuff is not everyone. I don’t make it for everybody. The people who get it really get it. But there are going to be a lot of other people who are like, ‘What is this?’ And that’s fine because I already said it; I already said it’s bad [laughs]. It’s in the name — it’s not for you.”
His is a difficult style to define and equally hard to fit into any one genre because it combines elements of
For example, his 2015 release “Amanda
“Future bass,” he calls it. “It’s bass-centric, stuff you haven’t heard before, and it’s just out there. It’ll be a couple of years before people go, ‘Oh, that’s what he was doing.’”
This weekend, Lamebot will spin his “future bass” at the monthly Strange Bass event at Churchill’s Pub, which will be part of an alternative goth night hosted by the Kitchen Club. The Kitchen Club Tribute to the Cure features performances by 16BIT,
Although his end of the show is named Strange Bass, and, yes, some of the music is a little weird, the title comes from a much more straightforward, more business-oriented origin. “The chunk of artists performing, including me and MadSavvy, are part of Strange Media, and in order to keep the name simple, we called it Strange Bass.”
It ties into his overall goal in reviving the Miami bass scene. “It’s not your average bass music,” Lamebot explains. “There’s actually a lot of complaints I hear when I’m out in Miami. People are complaining when they go to spots: DJs are playing the same songs, so they’re tired of hearing Top 40. This is everything you didn’t know you wanted to hear. It’s going to be a lot of underground artists, a lot of up-and-coming artists, and a lot of our own tracks as well... We’re just trying to make people vibe to some new sounds.”
Between booking gigs and creating in the studio, Lamebot is a busy man these days. He will release a new single soon and is working on a pair of EPs — followups to his 2016 record, Strain 2. Outside of his own music, Lamebot is also collaborating with several artists, including a teamup with Pittsburgh-based rapper Lexa Terrestrial.
If you try to chat with him during Saturday's show and he doesn’t respond, don’t take it as a personal slight or a sign that he’s too above it all. Like the music, it’s all part of the act.
“After the [first] Strange Bass show, the room was full and there was nowhere for me to go, so I had to stay in the mask for a bit. I was having interactions with people in the mask. I just never took it off until I was able to break free. When I’m DJing and people come up to me, I just stay quiet or stare at them [laughs]. They don’t know what to do with that, so they back off, and that’s my outlet.”
Lamebot
9 p.m. Saturday, February 4, at Churchill’s Pub, 5501 NE Second Ave., Miami; 305-757-1807; churchillspub.com; Tickets cost $5 to $10 at the door.
