AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
And we have special guests today - Thievery Corporation. They are our house band, which I don't get tired of saying. And they've been playing all the music that you're hearing today on the show. It's been happening live. And I'm joined here by Eric Hilton. He's the co-founder of Thievery Corporation. Eric, thanks so much for doing this.
ERIC HILTON: Oh, it's absolutely our pleasure - sorry.
CORNISH: No, no, you're here with a band, I should say - Thievery Corporation. People may know you as a kind of an electronic duo, but introduce us to your friends.
HILTON: Indeed. On guitar we have Robbie Myers. On bass we have Hash. And we have Jeff Franca on drums.
CORNISH: And this morning, you guys actually sat in on our news meeting, which was pretty fun because now I'm looking at the names of the songs, like "Web Of Deception," and I feel like you've sort of done a little matching to the news. What was that like?
HILTON: Well, we've done a lot of thinking, yeah. We're - I guess we're conspiracy theorists (laughter).
CORNISH: Now, what was it like, I guess, playing - you're not playing to an audience - right? You're kind of playing to - I don't know.
HILTON: We play for ourselves. I mean, we make our music for ourselves, and whatever we enjoy, we hope other people will enjoy. And that's just always the way we've done it.
CORNISH: Now, your most recent album, "Saudade," highlighted Brazilian rhythms, kind of like bossa nova. But you guys are known for really highlighting all kinds of cultures. Can you talk a little bit about some of the influences people hear in your music?
HILTON: Oh, we're influenced by reggae, Indian music, obviously, rock, psychedelic music, hip-hop. It just seemed kind of dull for me and Rob, my partner, to stick to one genre. You know, we are able to do a lot of different types of music, so...
CORNISH: So there's not just like a stray punk album in your past or something that we don't know about?
HILTON: Actually, we both grew up on punk rock, and that's where we came from.
CORNISH: Oh, right, here in Washington, D.C.
HILTON: Yeah, grew up on Dischord Records.
CORNISH: Now, you're actually going to play us out, and the song is called "Shaolin Satellite?"
HILTON: Yeah, that's one of the first songs we ever made. It's a little simple, but it's a classic trip-hop song.
CORNISH: All right. Well, let's hear it. Eric Hilton, co-founder of Thievery Corporation. Thank you. Thanks to the band.
HILTON: Thanks so much.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SHAOLIN SATELLITE")
THIEVERY CORPORATION: (Singing) Get down, everybody. Get down, everybody. Get down, everybody. Get down, everybody. Get down, everybody. One, two, check-a, one, two. One, two, check-a, one, two. One, two, check-a, one, two. One, two, check-a, one, two. One, two, check-a, one, two. One, two, check-a, one, two. One, two, check-a, one, two. One, two, check-a, one, two.