When Eric Frederic first formed the progressive alternative quartet Facing New York in 2004, he wasn’t looking to write chart-topping bangers. He and his band mates were more on that “prog-opus” tip.

Comprising members of two disbanded East Bay groups—his own Locale A.M. and Tragedy Andy—FNY’s 2005 self-titled LP is a dense and dynamic collection of tracks—full of surging guitar crescendos, propulsive post-hardcore drumming and cryptic, introspective lyrics. Only two tracks come in under the four-minute mark.

But hey. People change. These days, Frederic—who now goes by Ricky Reed—is spending less time hunched over a pedalboard, twisting knobs into crescendos of swooshing delay and more time hunched over the sound board in his L.A.-area home studio, moving the faders and futzing with vintage synths in the search of his next earworm.

It’s virtually inconceivable that you haven’t heard Reed’s work. Even if you slept on Wallpaper.—his only-half-satirical, party-monster-hip-pop project, which produced such uproarious, blackout-drunk anthems as “I Got Soul, I’m So Wasted,” “#STUPiDFACEDD” and “Puke My Brains Out”—there’s no way you’ve missed his production work with Meghan Trainor (“No”) or Phantogram (“You Don’t Get Me High Anymore”).

And then there’s Twenty One Pilots. Reed’s fingerprints are all over the Ohio alt-hip-hop duo’s wildly successful 2015 album, Blurryface. He is given production credit on four of the record’s singles—the RIAA certified gold hits “Fairly Local” and “Lane Boy,” the platinum “Tear In My Heart” and the three-times platinum “Ride.” The band are still riding the Blurryface wave, more than a year after the record’s debut. They come to the Shark Tank this week on their Emotional Roadshow tour. The concert is all but sold-out.

So, how did this former punk kid find his way to the top of the Billboard charts?

It wasn’t long ago that Reed—an ’80s baby who grew up in Berkeley listening to Rancid and Op Ivy—was just scraping by on the earnings he made playing mid-sized venues, like The Blank Club, where Wallpaper. made their San Jose debut in 2008. That night Reed was dressed in a bedazzled leisure suit, sipping Hennessy neat and slurring his way through a set of absolutely ridiculous PBR&B jams, backed only by a laptop and drummer Arjun Singh.

The “isn’t pop music preposterous?” thrust of Reed’s early music might seem a bit heavy-handed today—especially considering his newfound success as a mainstream producer. Then again, Reed was penning tunes in reaction to mid- to late-2000s Top 40 music. Remember, if you will, this was the era of T-Pain and ubiquitous autotuning, sans irony; Kendrick Lamar had yet to link with Dr. Dre; the FM dial was decidedly un-woke.

In early interviews with Wallpaper.-era Reed, the singer and producer is forthcoming about his earliest beat-making endeavors being “100 percent pop satire.” But somewhere along the way, Reed altered his course, finding a more nuanced path.

“It’s like, I used to think that the most successful way of changing mainstream music attitudes was to tap dance around on the outside of it and throw rocks at the castle walls,” Reed told me in a conversation we had in 2012. “I eventually realized that the only way to get inside was being the Trojan horse.”

Indeed, within just a few years of his first Blank Club appearance, Reed was still rocking his douchey fedora onstage and working the caricature-of-a-pop-star angle hard—but his music was becoming increasingly polished.

The success of “#STUPiDFACEDD”—propelled by its riotous, hallucinatory music video, which premiered on MTV.com in March of 2011—put him on the radar of many music fans. But even as Wallpaper. were touring the country on the 2013 Van’s Warped Tour, showing knowledge of Reed’s work in social settings was more a way of demonstrating one’s hipster cred than anything else.

That may change in 2017. Reed’s unquestionable Midas touch behind the boards has led to multiple profiles in Billboard, an expose in Spin and a Grammy nomination for Producer of the Year. He has been working with Kesha on her forthcoming rock album.
Twenty One Pilots
Feb 10, 7pm, Sold Out
SAP Center, San Jose

Listen for Reed’s husky “no” in the background of Meghan Trainor’s “No.”

LIVE 105 has been on the forefront of the EDM movement for years, promoting it even back when it was still a niche genre. In recent years at the BDF festival, the Subsonic Tent—an extension of Aaron Axelsen’s electronic music show—has become a bigger part of the festival, encompassing a bulk of the festival’s more interesting bookings.

In fact, even on the other stages this year, the strongest bands were the ones who stylistically could just as easily fit on the Subsonic Tent. Below are some of the highlights from this year:

Capital Cities
By far the strongest act to play the Festival Stage this year. Capital Cities, a new duo from LA, brought disco-infused synth-pop beats to BFD with a live guitarist, bassist and a trumpet player. Two vocalists, one tall with a mustache and the other short with a bushy beard, both equally shared vocal duties with a fun, somewhat goofy stage presence.

Midway through their set they taught the audience the “Capital Cities Shuffle,” which was simple enough for anyone to execute. They played a bizarre, slow-downed rendition of the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” and an upbeat dance-version of Sinead O’Conner’s Prince-penned “Nothing Compares 2 U.” They closed with their buzz single, “Safe and Sound,” a catchy dance-pop song.

PHOTOS: Check out the Metroactive photo gallery.

Wallpaper
It’s incredible the attention Wallpaper have been getting the past year considering that it’s basically an ironic pop act with elements of R&B, hip-hop, all done through a weird performance-art lens. But now it seems the ridiculous character known as Ricky Reed is becoming an actual pop star. What has been their biggest selling point is how strong of a performer Reed is and his ability to engage the audience and get them moving, but the entire band has become a theatrical spectacle.

At the Subsonic Tent, where they played this year, their three drummers pulled out some amazing synchronized moves, including the final breakdown of “Fucking Best Song Everrr” when the drummers stood up, shook the audience’s hands and returned to their kits at the same moment and jumped back in on the beat. They are one of the best live acts going right now.

Passion Pit
LIVE 105 couldn’t have booked a better main stage headliner this year. Passion Pit have really blown up this past year with the success of their brilliant sophomore release, Gossamer, which infuses synth-pop with elements of indie rock. At BFD, they played cuts from their debut, but the highlights were the tracks from Gossamer, including “Carried Away,” “It’s not my fault, I’m Happy,” “Cry Like a Ghost” and the breakout single “Take a Walk.” The evening was particularly special for Passion Pit as lead singer Michael Angelakos celebrated his 26th birthday.

DJ Shadow
DJ Shadow’s set at BFD featured obscure and often brand new tracks that he continued to assure the audience they’d probably never heard before. It was a strange, mind-melting juxtaposation of songs, mixed and blended by the iconic Bay Area producer. Every once and a while he’d lower the music and make a comment, like, “Just to let you know, there’s no laptop on stage with me” or “If you’re confused about what’s going on, look at your neighbor and do what they’re doing.” Some of the beats we danceable, others were just weird, slow trance beats, while others were loud, bass-filled outer space soundscapes. He cut songs together so fast, and with so much skill, it was hard to do anything but stare, amazed.

San Jose
This was the year for San Jose at BFD. There were more bands from the South Bay to play BFD than probably any year before with four bands on the Soundcheck Stage and the Limousines on the Subsonic Stage. Over on the Soundcheck stage, the Trims, Anya and the Getdown and Picture Atlantic all played excellent sets, but it was a particular pleasure watching Curious Quail’s set. Their music probably least resembles LIVE 105’s format of all the local bands, but they fought hard to get there with an online vote.

Their excitement of being on stage at Shoreline was palatable, understandably so. Over at Subsonic, the Limousines put on an intense, mostly serious set that, with the exception of two songs, were all tracks off their new album, Hush.

It’s been 25 years since Too Short’s first LP was released and the Oakland rapper is still showing no signs of slowing. He released his 19th studio album this year, and just last week, he released two albums with E-40—the only other living Bay Area rapper to reach his level of national fame.

Too Short plays at La Fiesta Nightclub tomorrow. Here are a few video highlights from his catalog over the years:

Too $hort plays Fiesta Nightclub on Friday November 9th, along with Mr. Kee, Chraze-C, Reign, Why Hate, YB Ent, YDMC, Big Mister, Big E, Elite, Jeff Turner, Malicious Da Misfit and Natty K. Dirtbag Dan hosts the event. The show starts at 8pm. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door.

This year’s BFD had the best vibe the venerable summer festival has had in years. Was it the absence of white-t-shirted bro-bot Sublime fans? Maybe the recent proliferation of fun pop bands on alt-radio? Who knows, but this one was a blast from start to finish.

One of my favorites, and I’ve been going since the very first one. Here are five quick takes on my favorite moments from Shoreline Saturday:

5. Grouplove vs. Kanye West: If there was any band at BFD less likely than Grouplove to take the stage to Kanye’s “Monster,” I didn’t see them. The fact that they did it anyway was hilarious, and in line with their clearly demonstrated mission not to take themselves too seriously. Keyboardist and co-lead Hannah Hooper is a superball on stage, and in general this band looks to create chaos on stage whenever they can. That they write the bounciest pop songs ever is neither here nor there. Back to “Monster,” they really ought to go full bore and just cover it. Another funny nod came near the end of the set when they turned their big hit “Tongue Tied” into Whitney’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”

4. Jane’s Addiction vs. Mythological Themes: Still, Grouplove had only the second best entrance of the night. Top honors have to go to Perry Ferrell and company for their bizarre, Divine Comedy-sized opening, which featured girls in white dresses raised to the rafters and chased by flying demons. All this while a snazzily dressed Ferrell smiled that Joker-esque smile and sang “Underground”: “I came back to pay respect/To another fallen angel.”

PHOTOS: View the MetroActive photo gallery.

3. Dirty Ghosts vs. Trends: This San Francisco band was my favorite act on the Local Band Stage (regrettably, I got there too late to see Young Science). Noisy and loud in a way that makes a statement, they remind me of early Sonic Youth, with how they manage to be catchy and dissonant at the same time. Sleater-Kinney fans still looking for a fix (and no matter how great Portlandia is, doesn’t it kind of suck that Carrie Brownstein is going to be busy for the foreseeable future?) need to check this band out. They’re raising a big middle finger to rock that’s gotten too slick and mechanical.

2. K. Flay vs. Milpitas: The best quote of the day came from this unstoppable SF rapper: “BFD, are you ready to take a trip with me? Let’s spiritually go to Milpitas, and go to the mall!” I’m still not totally sure what she meant, but I have to admit, I kind of gave it a shot. No astral projection was forthcoming, but K. Flay’s set was probably the best I’ve heard her do. With the Subsonic Tent’s emphasis on electronica, her backbeats were way pumped up in the mix. A couple of times this messed with the vocals, but overall it blew me away.

1. Wallpaper vs. Sanity: If you’re not yet on the Wallpaper bandwagon, where have you been? Ricky Reed’s live show is, as he described one song, “so stupid it went to the liquor store to get bananas.” He’s just doing mind-bending stuff right now, especially on stage. A lot of credit goes to his partner in crime, singer Novena Carmel. At this show, she rocked pink hair, a polka dot blouse and a keytar. At the end of “Stupidfacedd,” she jumped on Ricky’s back, rode him like a horse, and beat her chest. It was nuts, and yet the only way to cap a set like this one.

The night before Wallpaper played the Blank Club on Saturday, they were in L.A. With Wallpaper signing with Epic and on MTV, industry types are all over Ricky Reed right now. But halfway through the Blank show, he took stock of the situation and declared that “just like I knew it would, San Jose’s blowing them out of the water.”

That’s because the South Bay was down with Wallpaper pretty much from the beginning, years before L.A. Reid reportedly had Ricky Reed locked in his office until they nailed down a contract. The show was packed, and a lot of the crowd knew all the words.

But it wasn’t only that. Just like Reed upped his game on the last Wallpaper record, with harder beats, mind-boggling arrangements, and deep-register raps, he’s turned his live show into the craziest and best party in town, with a swirling, punch-drunk mash-up of monster hooks, polyrhythms (he had three backing drummers) and synchronized dance action. When he’s up there on stage, the man simply does not stop moving, and neither did the crowd.

Songs like “Shotgun” (which he opened with) and “Okay” that weren’t even the best tracks on the last EP sounded epic in their live incarnations. The latter’s refrain of “Hey, champagnin’, got no place in the mornin’!” suddenly came across like his best party rallying cry yet.

The songs from Wallpaper’s first album were beefed-up as well, from “T Rex” to “Gettin’ Drip” to “ddd.” The electro hook on “I Got Soul, I’m So Wasted” seemed massively bigger than when he recorded it just three years ago.

But the newer songs were the best, from the moment he strapped on a guitar for “2 Pair a Shades.” “Fucking Best Song Everr” turned into a kind of funk drum circle at the end, taking the energy to yet another level. But that’s not even where it topped out—first Reed and company came back for his new song “Blake Griffinin’,” a funny tribute to the NBA star. Then everything went completely over the edge for “Stupidfacedd,” finishing with a wall of sound that is only hinted at in the recorded version. It was a full-on sonic assault, wrapping up a hell of a show. I personally think Ricky Reed’s songs are deeper than the get credit for, but even just on a purely visceral level, Wallpaper is just about as much fun as you can have live right now. If it’s never too early to think about the top gigs of the year, this is an early contender.

It’s time to make this clear once and for all: Ricky Reed is not a joke. Ricky Reed is not a clown. Most importantly, Ricky Reed is not an act. “Ricky Reed is real.”

So Eric Frederic tells me in an interview last week, and he should know. He’s the one who created the Reed persona as frontman for Wallpaper, the East Bay musical duo he put together with Arjun Singh in 2005. They found success on the Bay Area scene, including many trips to the South Bay; they’ll return Saturday to the Blank Club.

To many listeners, Wallpaper came off like a spoof of hip-hop and R&B clichés, and Frederic as Reed seemed like a parody of the ultimate white wannabe-fly guy. When the video for “Gettin’ Drip,” from their 2009 debut album Doodoo Face, took off, it solidified the idea that these were two guys clowning on hip-hop.

And yet, Frederic never seemed comfortable with that image. Sometimes, he even seemed frustrated by it. Though he always acknowledged his songs could be funny, even “cold-blooded satire,” he resisted the idea that they were comedy. In some ways, this seemed mystifying, especially with Wallpaper’s ever-growing popularity—why exactly would he try to fix what wasn’t broke?

But with the release of last year’s Stupidfacedd EP, the answer finally became obvious. It’s not that Stupidfacedd isn’t funny. On the contrary, it contains the most hilarious lines he’s ever written, from “White girls/Buy produce/Take ’em home/Make ’em drink Grey Goose” in the title song to pretty much everything in “Fucking Best Song Everr.”

But with this record, everything that Frederic believed about his music is suddenly clear. They may be funny, but the songs themselves aren’t jokes. In fact, Stupidfacedd reveals that the real essence of Wallpaper isn’t comedy, it’s surrealism—the weird, often absurd way that Frederic views the world, and how Ricky Reed gives him an outlet to express it.

“That’s me,” Frederic says of Reed, “and the dream has always been for me to get to this level and get to this place where what I have to say people are actually going to hear. People who thought in the beginning that I was doing this to make joke party records were dead wrong.”

However, he admits that he never had a statement of purpose like this EP before to lay it out for those people. Wallpaper took a huge step musically—the beats hit harder, the sound has diversified, and the production has allowed for punchy, tightly organized arrangements, where before their music always seemed to be soaked in several layers of sound.

“With the old material—which I still stand behind and am proud of, but I feel like the real specific voice of Wallpaper was a little bit shrouded. What I was trying to do, what I was trying to say, was a little muffled,” he says. With this record, “I think I sort of pulled the wet towel off it and made it real clear for everybody to see what I’m about.”