Interview with Mute Math vocalist Paul Meany
with bassist Roy Mitchell-Cárdenas and drummer Darren King too!
All photos taken by Kirstyn Christiansen at the House Of Blues in N Myrtle Beach, SC
Mute Math is right on the verge on becoming huge. They have just enough mainstream alternative rock in them to have success on the radio, while incorporating samples, programming, new wave synths, and vocals that remind you of a youthful Sting. Their music is catchy yet atmospheric, so it can suit many different moods. What is really capturing crowds attention though is their live show, which is as chaotic and unpredictable as any other band on the scene. If something breaks 9as is often the case) then they'll find something to play instead. When all is said and done, broken instruments, shattered stage lights and bruised bandmembers litter the stage...and it's all in the name of your enjoyment. During the bands recent tour with The Fray I sat down with vocalist/keyboardist Paul Meany, and along with him were bassist Roy Mitchell-Cárdenas and drummer/programmer Darren King. The band (rounded out by guitarist Greg Hill) has been in Spin and Billboard magazines, and made memorable appearances on the Late, Late Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live, but if you haven't gotten to know the band yet then here's your chance.
Anarchy Music: Mute Math started as a long distance relationship right? How did that come about?
Paul Meany: Darren was this very ambitious kid in Springfield Missouri who was sending me these demo tapes which were just instrumental tracks and I was just fairly impressed. I invited him down to New Orleans and we wrote a few songs. I was playing in another band so I thought it would just be a nice side project. The band I was in happened to break up not too long after that so he moved to New Orleans and we just kind of went along with what we were working on. It really just started as a two piece, just me and Darren.
Anarchy: It doesn’t sound like New Orleans music…at least what’s generally thought of as the sound that comes from there. Your style is all over the map. How did you develop the style of the band?
Paul: That’s kind of a misconception that it’s a certain sound. What do you think Louie Armstrong? The Marsellises? Jazz?
Roy Mitchell-Cárdenas: New Orleans is actually very diverse, there’s all kinds of music. Obviously the jazz and funk is what’s commercialized to get people
Paul: The thing I love about New Orleans is that it’s a great town to just be creative. We didn’t get many gigs in the beginning because I think what’s mainly popular in New Orleans is jazz or top 40 bands.
Roy: There is a great jazz scene…
Paul: And there’s this eclectic scene that was developing right before the storm. It’s kind of dispersed because of the storm. That was probably quite a influence on darren.
Anarchy: Has the scene come back since the hurricane?
Paul: It’s on it’s way. It’s not what it was, but it’s getting there.
Anarchy: I was there the year before and Bourbon Street is great for the boobs
Paul: Boobs and booze
Anarchy: But I really loved the culture on the little side streets. I thought that stuff was really cool.
Roy: That’s where most of the magic happens.
Anarchy: You started your own label to put out the first record, and it seems like you were instantly selling your shows out. I think the first record sold 10,000 copies it’s first month. How did you get the word out about the band that quickly?
Paul: Before we put the first record out we’d been touring and doing the internet thing for awhile. We were working an EP for awhile.
Roy: And the Mae tour
Paul: Yeah, that was a pivotal. That’s what set us up to put out the album. We went out with Mae and Circa Survive. We just saw the guys the other night, and looking back that’s what put us on the map. We were able to go back to those places and a lot of the people came back to see us and we were one of three opening bands on that tour. Also, we just used the internet for whatever it was worth. And you know what, people just took it and ran with it. This infectious word of mouth thing happened, friends calling up friends.
Anarchy: The first single is “Typical” right?
Paul: I guess, unofficially, is it on the radio?
Anarchy: It should be!
Paul: I don’t think it is, maybe it’s not the first single. There are certain songs that people gravitate towards and Typical’s one of them.
Anarchy: That’s a cool song because it contrasts the craziness and excitement of the band with more subdued, introspective lrics. What is the inspiration to that song?
Paul: I like simplicity. I really do. I gravitate towards more of the “pop” approaches to lyrics. Probably a lot deeper things inspire the lyrics than what they end up sounding like. You usually boil it down to the most common denominator, yeah I like simplicity. I think that runs through a lot of Mute Math songs. We put more complex layers on musically, but we keep the concepts for the common man.
Anarchy: For the working man
Paul: (laughs) For the working man, exactly.
Anarchy: Speaking of which, when did it come up to bring junk and household items onstage to use as part of the performance?
Paul: A lot of the moments that have become staples of our show started when something went wrong and we coped with it.
Anarchy: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve incorporated into the set?
Paul: Probably Darren, letting him onstage
Anarchy: Are you doing that every night now?
Paul: I think so, people are starting to really like it. I remember when I first auditioned Darren, he had his drum set up completely wrong and he was all duct taped up and ready to go. It was wonderful, it was probably the most exhilarating audition I’d ever seen.
Anarchy: The drums do seem haphazardly placed.
Paul: In the beginning playing with Darren was a disaster in every sense of the word and I think it took some time to find a method to his madness. I think he does a wonderful job, we set him up right up front for everyone to see, Darren is the eye of our storm.
Anarchy: So there IS a method to the madness? This isn’t just random chaos?
Paul: No, it’s a finely tuned ballet.
Anarchy: The famous keytar was broken on Jimmy Kimmel Live, right?
Paul: Yes
Anarchy: Has it been buried?
Paul: No, we’re gonna work on it. It’s in bed resting and hopefully it’ll be back for the next tour. I still want to play it some more. It’s not done yet. We’re going to put some screws to it, duct tape it up, it’ll be back fro awhile. It might break again.
Anarchy: How much equipment do you go through?
Paul: It’s not as much as people may think.. I can’t believe Darren’s drum set has lasted as long as it has.. That thing gets some abuse!
Anarchy: That’s the same drum kit that we’ve seen getting thrown around?
Darren King: Yeah! It’s a sturdy kit, which says a lot. I just looked at it today and the rim of the snare drum is about to crack off.
Paul: This guy was going through kick pedals for a long time.
Darren King, behind the super-sturdy drumkit with Roy Mitchell-Cárdenas jamming beside him
Darren: I have enough broken pedals that I can piece them together so I still have one good one.
Anarchy: Has anyone almost died doing one of those suicide dives around the stage? Have you ever thought that maybe one of you wasn’t going to make it out alive?
Paul: I personally enjoy when Darren misses his stool. He stands up a lot, moves around a lot and misjudges where he left the seat.
Anarchy: I saw the Voodoofest blog where you took a back flip off the riser. It was quite graceful and acrobatic actually.
Darren: Yes, it almost looked accidental.
Paul: He had learned by that time how to take the fall.
Darren: I can’t believe it happened twice in one show. In that year I fell off my drums 5 times.
Anarchy: No broken bones or anything?
Darren: The only thing I ever get scared of is that my sticks break sometimes or I just throw them out. I just get scared that one of them is going to end up in some kids eye. If that ever happened I’d feel awful.
Anarchy: So far so good?
Darren: So far no one’s been hurt.
Paul: We’ve had to let people know, don’t bring valuable things to the front row; cameras, videos, things like that.
Roy: The other day a couple fans were hanging out after the show and I saw that one of them was holding a camera and I’m like “you want to take a picture real quick?” and he opened his hand and it was pieces of a camera. He says, “your friend kinda stepped on it”. What are leaving a camera on the front of the stage at one of our shows for?
Paul: People leave their glasses? Come on!
Roy: That’s the splash zone!
Anarchy: We interviewed Shiny Toy Guns vocalist Jeremy Dawson recently and you just toured with them. Any cool stories?
Roy: It was a fun tour. They’re a very interesting bunch for sure.
Paul: The best story is one we probably shouldn’t say
Roy: Oh, I was going to say it anyway
Paul: Oh, go
Roy: I’m trying to remember all the details though. I think Chad peed on our video guy at one point. He was blitzed
Paul: It’s funny because it was our video guy’s first tour, he’s 18. He was bright eyed and bushy tailed. He loved Shiny Toy Guns, loved the music. He’s over there next to him in the bathroom, they’re taking a piss together and Chad starts pissing on him. He was in shock. He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t be mad at him. He was torn, we had to hug him a little bit.
Anarchy: Hero worship ends when you get peed on…
Paul: You would think.
Anarchy: You all seem to have this kind of silly sense of humor, is there a straight man in the group?
Paul: We’re all pretty straight. Greg’s pretty straight. We take turns.
Anarchy: Here’s another thing that I care about, and people should watch your web logs to see why I care, but how did Jordan’s love interest turn out?
Roy: It was going well for awhile, we were all getting pretty stoked. He’s back working with the record label now, but he met a girl in Canada and it seemed like it was really working out. They were just doing the email thing, talking every now and then and they were going to meet in Toronto. Then she called him the other day and said she found someone else. It hurt us all. It cut through the collective band.
Paul: Is that how it happened? I thought she had a boyfriend all along?
Roy: That’s still yet to see if that’s the case.
Anarchy: Damn internet.
Darren: Yeah, what do you expect from e-harmony.
Anarchy: Not Eharmony.com
Roy: That wasn’t Eharmony, that was us!
Anarchy: You broke his heart, how does that make you feel?
Roy: He’s a resilient guy.
Anarchy: The type of thing that you do with the samples, every now and then for the past several years one heavy band or one poppy band will get popular and people will think, "maybe this is the next big thing", but now you've got several that are coming out that are gaining a foothold. Is now the time for this kind of thing?
Paul: You're asking for a market forecast?
Anarchy: Yes.
Paul: If you're asking if we're hoping people like us and bands like us, then yes. That's about all I can answer on that.
Anarchy: It seems to be working though. You're big-time rock stars now!
Paul: If it will help your story, sure.
Anarchy: That's the cool thing about you guys. You don't seem to have the ego's to realize how well you're doing and the connection your making with people.
Paul: Let me give you a nugget of wisdom here. I've had my ass kicked, many times. I've eaten my share of humble pie. I've come to learn that as soon as you think you're something, someone's going to come along with a pen and say "can you go get The Fray so I can get an autograph?". We're not big rock stars, I'm reminded of that daily.
Anarchy: What are the plans on how to make it so people or walking up to me asking me to get your autographs for them?
Paul: We think as far as keep writing songs and keep playing shows. We don't ever sit in a room and write this plan on what we're going to do. We didn't do that to even get here. What got us here, in our minds is just keeping it simple. The bottom line is writing songs that we like to listen to. We don't want to make it any more complicated than that. It's worked so far.
Thanks to Mute Math for having us out to the show, and for doing an interview with the site. These guys are going to blow up pretty soon so don't forget that we were onto them early in the game! For more info on Mute math go to Mute Math on Myspace and MuteMath.com.