Interview: Colorado Bass Giants Oomah and Forrest Pump Join to Create New Single, "HAHAHA," Released Today
Photo by Carmen Housecat
The Colorado music scene is one of the most magical places for collaborations, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was amazing to see all of the artists who adapted and found creative ways to keep music alive during a time when live music was nearly nonexistant. The individuals who make up Oomah (Jake Hall) and Forrest Pump (Jeff Barlow, Rich Allison) exemplify that creativity, continuing to fuel the creative process by thinking outside of the box with their various projects, and increasing their digital footprint, leveraging technology to make new music possible. Today, these two projects released a new single, HAHAHA, available on all streaming platforms now. Of this new single, Jake Hall says, it’s “A grand orchestra of bass wobbles and arps conjured in a way that will blast you right out of your mask into outer space, it’s a weapon on the dance floor."
Once you’ve given HAHAHA a listen, I guarantee you’ll want to keep dancing. Luckily, Forrest Pump has two live shows tonight at Moe’s BBQ Englewood with Melody Lines so that you can do just that. Grab your tickets now - they’re going fast. Then, make sure to follow both Oohmah on Facebook, Instagram, and Bandcamp, and Forrest Pump on Facebook, Instagram, Soundcloud, Spotify, and wherever else you stream music.
I am so excited that I got to take a peek behind the curtain of the creative process and talk with Jake, Jeff, and Rich about their newest release, what they’ve learned from the pandemic, and what’s to come in 2021. Please enjoy these interviews with Oomah and Forrest Pump.
Oomah on HAHAHA, Musical Influences, and Industry Collaboration
Tell me a little bit about your project, Oomah - How long have you been playing music under this name? How did the project come to be?
So this project started about 6 years ago. I wanted to do something that was a bit more psychedelic and a little more non-mainstream than the stuff I was previously doing under the name Miniweapon, so I created the project Oomah.
What inspires you to make the music that you do?
Nature, Chaos, Entropy.
Which musicians have influenced the music that Oomah makes?
Photo by Carmen Housecat
How would you describe your musical brand?
Psychedelic Bass music. That touches on all
What have you accomplished in the last year that you’re most proud of?
Designed some killer shirts that are available.
What’s your favorite thing about the Colorado music scene?
The people and popularity of live music in general
If there’s one thing you want people to take away from your music, what is it?
Keep your mind open, sometimes we find magic in strange places - especially sonically.
Photo by Carmen Housecat
Tell me about your new single, HAHAHA. What inspired it? What does it mean to you?
HAHAHA is one of those tunes that kind of pulled itsef from the air. We were all hanging out, just playing around in the studio, then the theme of the song emerged and everything just happened to fall into place.
HAHAHA is described as the “alien child of Oomah and Forrest Pump.” How did the two projects come together on this track?
Alien was more in reference to the timbre and tone of many of the sounds used in the track, and it was a little different from the other songs that we have been working on in terms of groove and structure. A little more “out there.”
What was the recording process like for HAHAHA?
3 dudes and a computer.
What is something you have learned or taken away from the last year that you’ll apply to the rest of your life?
Be patient and work hard. There are a lot of things that are out of your control, so focus on the things that are in your control.
If you could give a piece of advice to musicians just starting out, what would it be?
Work hard and be prepared to make a lot of sacrifices if this is what you want to do professionally.
Photo by Carmen Housecat
Who are some of your favorite local Colorado musicians and bands?
Kll Smth, Keota, Resonant Language, Bricksquash, Evanoff, Lucid Vision, Homemade Spaceship, Nadasound, Colby Buckler, Todd Stoops, Melody Lines, Messea - To name a few, but there are so many more.
Where can fans catch your live shows in the coming months?
There will be more gigs once the pandemic settles
What are you looking forward to musically in 2021?
Getting on the road again!
Photo by Carmen Housecat
Jeff Barlow and Rich Allison on Forrest Pump’s Creation, New Collaboration HAHAHA, and What’s to Come in 2021
Photo by SharedViews Media (Nick Guzzo)
Tell me a little bit about your project, Forrest Pump - How did the project come to be? Who are the members? Is there instrumentation in the project?
Jeff: Hello! Forrest Pump is Jeff Barlow and Rich Allison. Rich and I met living in Steamboat Springs, CO in 2007. We became friends instantly, then started DJing together a couple years later. We have always enjoyed playing a variety of genres of electronic music within a set to keep the listeners engaged and guessing what will come next.
I moved to Denver in 2013 to pursue a different band I was in at the time. Rich moved to Denver in 2019. We jumped right into producing music in Ableton together as soon as we were living in the same town again. Once we thought of the name Forrest Pump, it sparked some creative motivation in both of us and the group was born!
We do play live instruments while making/recording the songs in our studio. Live, we use midi controllers and a DJ console. However, there are no live instruments during a live set at this point, but we do plan on adding instruments (and members) sooner than later.
What inspires you to make the music that you do?
Jeff: Life, interactions, friends, family, shows, festivals, good times.
Rich: and seeing the joy on faces while we are performing.
Which musicians have influenced the music that Forrest Pump makes?
J&R: Booka Shade, Pretty Lights, Opiuo, Shpongle, Clozee, Atmosphere, Kalya Scintilla, STS9. As well as Colorado and Denver's amazing music scene.
How would you describe your musical brand?
J&R: A blend of house, midtempo, bass music, trap, sprinkled with pop and classic rock vocals.
What have you accomplished in the last year that you’re most proud of?
J&R: We launched Forrest Pump!We have a year's worth of music created that will be released over the next many months as singles or EPs. Forrest Pump has played a handful of socially distanced shows with some amazing artists. We can't wait to see where we are in another year.
Photo by SharedViews Media (Nick Guzzo)
Are you from Colorado?
Jeff: I'm from Rhode Island. I have been in CO since 2006, and Denver since 2013.
Rich: I am from Chicago's Northwest Suburbs. I moved to steamboat in '07-2015, then back too Chicago from 2015-2019.
What’s your favorite thing about the Colorado music scene?
Rich: How inviting everyone is; it's like a giant dysfunctional functioning family. Its not like this anywhere else.
Jeff: It sounds cliche, but the community is so supportive and willing to help each other out. Colorado has one of, if not the, best music scene in the country for electronic music.
How did Forrest Pump and Oomah decide to create HAHAHA together?
Rich: I started it one day and hit up our good friend Jake, said I had some questions about how to do some stuff in Ableton, and next thing we knew it turned into pretty much a finished song. Jeff and I worked on it some more and brought it back to Jake for some finishing touches.
Forrest Pump and Melody Lines have a show tonight (Friday, 2/19) at Moe’s. What can fans expect to experience at this show? Any new tracks or surprises in store?
Jeff: Yes! We can't wait for it! We will be playing mostly all new spicy stuff. If you've seen our live show before, or heard our 2 previously released tracks online, it will be all new for most people. Also, I play bass with Melody Lines as an honorary member of the band for a good portion of their sets lately. I look forward to playing almost the whole show between both acts.
How can people purchase tickets to the show?
J&R: On Moe’s (Englewood) website, or there is a link in the Facebook event.
Will you be playing HAHAHA at the show?
Jeff: You will have to come to find out.
What is something you have learned or taken away from the last year that you’ll apply to the rest of your life?
Rich: Don't give up. It’s Never easy, but we all need to find a way to keep going.
If you could give a piece of advice to musicians just starting out, what would it be?
Jeff: Get out and network and support other musicians. Try to notice what other artists are doing to grow their fan base. Learn about how to run artist pages on multiple websites and distribute your music.
What’s your favorite show that you’ve ever played? Why was it so special to you?
Rich: When I got to open (as a solo act) for Vibesquad in Steamboat Springs, in 2014. He is one of my inspirations as a producer. To get to open for someone like that was a big deal to me. Especially when he gave me props at the end of my set.
Jeff: Hands down, playing Sonic Bloom 2019 with my most recent group, Telemetry (that is on an unknown hiatus length ATM). It was a dream come true. I have been going to Sonic Bloom for 10 years and have always wanted to play it. Everything about it was amazing. The friends, the crowd, the feeling, the scenery, the whole weekend.
Who are some of your favorite local Colorado musicians and bands?
J&R: Melody Lines, MIDIcinal, Evanoff, Homemade Spaceship, Funkstatik, The Party People, Vibesquad, Spectacle, Maddy O’Neal, Since JulEYE, Autonomix. There are sooooo many, it's hard to name them all. We have the best music in CO!
Photo by Carmen Housecat
Where can fans catch your live shows in the coming months?
Jeff: We have some shows in the works, but we can't announce them quite yet. Stay tuned.
What’s a great local Colorado business for people to support?
Jeff: The entertainment industry as a whole!
What are you looking forward to musically in 2021?
J&R: Releasing more music!We are looking forward to the music industry getting back to somewhat normal, hopefully by Summer. We miss playing/ going to shows, and interacting/meeting people in a normal way.
We and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes. By using our website and our services, you agree to our use of cookies as described in our Cookie Policy.