Washington D.C. trio Thunderball is a production collective that combines live instrumentation and digital gear to create downtempo, dub and drum & bass music. The trio describes the sound as "cinematic dub," a nod to the subtle background music that can sometimes be a key element of a film score. Thunderball is on Thievery Corporation's ESL label, a mark of the two group's similarities. Like Thievery Corporation, Thunderaball often samples distinctly ethnic sounds to add a sense of exoticism to its otherwise banal beat configurations.