Ramps & Vamps

“Ramps and Vamps” is the ropes course in the playground of Reed Mathis’ brainchild Electric Beethoven. Based on the scherzo from Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony, there are two rules in the game of ramps & vamps: 1.) When it’s your turn, keep your solo short and succinct and pass the ball to another player 2.) Groove your asses off. The title is derived from the unofficial name Mathis and company have coined their style and how he has distilled Beethoven’s approach to timeless songwriting. Similar to musicals and jazz standards, the “vamp” refers to looping sections to stretch out and improvise. “Ramp” refers to a series of chords Beethoven would utilize to get to one section from another. Beyond bringing Beethoven’s melodies out of the museum case and re-releasing them into the wild, Electric Beethoven aspires to erase the part of the brain that divides music into genres and styles and create a clean slate to return to the emotional realm of Beethoven composing music of the moment.