Interview with MUTEMATH
http://www.mutemath.com
Date: 1.28.2006
Interviewer: PhotoFM.com (Fred Morledge)
So here I am on a tour bus with Paul Meany (vocals/rhodes/keytar/atari), and Darren King (drums/samples/programming) of the band Mute Math. The guys are getting ready for the show, just did their sound check, and are in the calm before the storm. They were extremely genuine and surprisingly peaceful even though they were about to go on stage and bring the venue to its knees. I asked them a few questions and this is what they had to say.
PhotoFM: So how would you guys classify your music?
Paul Meany: It is kind of like an alternative-electro rock. I think it’s definitely some spin-off of rock Musea. I think that same emotion runs through a lot of our songs.
PFM: You guys incorporated a home-made instrument called “The Atari” into your show and I was just wondering if you could tell us what that thing is exactly.
Darren King: To learn more about that style of instruments you should look up something called ‘circuit bending.’ There is an army of nerds across America who would take apart Casios and rewire them using parts from Radio Shack. After seeing an amazing artistin New Orleans named ‘Mr. Quintron’ who built this instrument that operated on light, it had a turntable, it shot flames, it was a synthesizer, it spun around, had a coffee can and it just had so much to it and I was determined after seeing him perform to try and make something of my own because he had made this. So I started searching on the internet “strange musical instruments” and I started learning about the electronics behind circuit bending. I tried my own experiments and those lasted for a few shows. Then we found someone in New York who was very good at making instruments. He built the Atari. When he saw us use it and then saw us break it at a show we sent it back to him and he supped it up, put the actual chip from the arcade version of space invaders in there which is actually where all the sounds come from. It is one of my favorite things to see people’s reaction to that.
PFM: Did you guys have any educational influences in music?
PM: Darren was my pupil (laughs).
DK: To be honest with you, probably the largest influence on me as a teenager was the three guys that I am in a band with now. I did one semester of technical community college. I went to high school in Missouri. Nothing special. I always knew I wanted to travel. Paul had something awesome though. They had this school in New Orleans called NOCCA where you would split your days in half. You would go half a day to regular school and at night you would go to the school just for music. I think that was one of the coolest things in terms of education any of us have ever been in.
PM: That’s definitely one of the perks of growing up in New Orleans.
PFM: Do you read music?
PM: Ah….no (smiles). Roy is the only guy in the band who can read music. I know the notes just like I know the letters to the alphabet, but I can’t say any words (chuckles). I studied music, but never got as proficient as to read it.
PFM: But you guys sound so technical in your music.
DK: Well, we like music and we love musicianship. However, we want to be careful that sheer musical acrobatics don’t get in the way of a song or anything we are doing in that regards. When we are doing it right, its an attempt to try to say something and not just show off or flex. But yeah, the four of us all dig people who are proficient and excellent at what they do. That goes for not just people who have mastered an instrument, but rather who have a great grasp on their style and the way they present themselves. There is more to it than just being a master of being able to play anything.
PM: A lot of great bands aren’t necessarily comprised of the best musicians. It has a lot to do with the bigger picture of what happens when a group of people come together and work off of each other and are willing to listen to each other, trying to complement one another in what they are playing.
PFM: Let me just shift subjects here: What is the deal with Warner Brothers?
PM: Well we spent the majority of last year just really getting shuffled around. When we originally set up our contract with Teleprompt and Warner Brothers the regime that was there was later fired. The new people that came in after the fact just didn’t get it. They didn’t know what to do with it. They weren’t really into the record. So we were just kind of put on hold because they weren’t letting us go anywhere else. They felt that we had potential but we weren’t quite ready for a release. So it was disheartening that we were supposed to have the record out in May of 2005 which just never got put on the release schedule because we never ‘had the hit’ even though we were making music that we loved and trying to tour all of last year became very frustrating that people kept asking when the record was coming out and we had no idea. Finally we just got sick of the waiting game and said lets just print this stuff up ourselves. We sued them in the process of that for just giving us the runaround and we are hoping that it will be settled within the next few months. In the meantime, we have to stay productive. We want to keep staying creative, keep touring, keep growing as a band and not just sit in the studio not going anywhere until we have the “smash single.” You never know when that hits going to come along it could be album three. We made a record we are proud of and we are just putting it out ourselves. If the industry catches on or wants to be involved, great, but if not we will just continue to do it ourselves. So that’s kind of where we are. |
