Paul Meany and his Mutemath friends –– Roy Mitchell, Darren King and Todd Gummerman –– in action

It’s a great life, but one with a cost. It can be a feast or famine,” says Paul Meany, the vocalist of the beloved American alternative band Mutemath. For the quartet it’s largely been a feast –– a Grammy nomination in 2007, three full-length albums chock-a-block with hits, and, lately, finding a new audience that’s giving them their “most transcendent times”.

The Mutemath equation with India was simply perfect when they played the Delhi edition of Bacardi NH7 Weekender last year. But what if we told you that the guys are coming back. And not just to India… they will be in Calcutta to perform at Bacardi NH7 Weekender in November at Nicco Park! That’s right, the arrival of the biggest music festival in the country to Calcutta last year has raised the bar for the city on the music scene.

Paul Meany tells t2 about the quintessential Mutemath song being “a picture of something dark framed in light”.

Welcome back to India. Do you enjoy playing to new crowds and do these journeys make you discover a new side to your music?

It’s one of the great things about being in a band. When you find yourself in another corner of the globe and somehow the music you worked on in your basement has brought a group of people together to sing with you and bring the songs to life in a way that you couldn’t have imagined while staring at it in a computer screen for months on end. That was certainly our experience in India the last time. It was easily one of the most transcendent times our band has ever got to spend with a new audience. We couldn’t be more stoked for the chance to come back.

What about the Bacardi NH7 Weekender makes it different?

Well, there’s a very distinct feeling that you’re a part of something more than just a showcase of music. It feels like I would imagine bands who got to play Woodstock in 1969 or Lollapalooza in the ’90s. We’re getting to be part of a cultural renaissance in India and it’s very exciting and inspiring for our band.

A new Mutemath album. Though you haven’t shared a date for it with fans, in what ways is the recording process and sound different from Odd Soul (2011)?

I would say it’s certainly a natural progression. On Odd Soul, Roy (our bass player) had the guitar duties for the first time, and there was something special about that. On this new record, I think Roy (Mitchell-Cardenas) is really coming into his own as a guitar player. And Todd (Gummerman) who came in to tour Odd Soul as the guitar player turns out to be an amazing keyboard player, so as we’ve gone into the studio, the new dynamic in our band has really liberated the process. It has admittedly taken us more time than we’ve ever spent on a record, but we wanted to stretch the possibilities for what’s feeling like a renewed band.

What’s the driving force behind Mutemath’s lyrics?

Hope. But a hope that’s grounded in sometimes a difficult honesty. I’ve always thought of a quintessential Mutemath song as a picture of something dark framed in light.

While working on new songs, there is always the thought of how it would play out live. Is it easy to reproduce a Mutemath song in the live mode?

It always depends on the song. Every album always yields a few that just feel impossible to us in the beginning and then others that are more immediate. But I think it’s always been about trying to make records that will force us to become a better band. Trying to craft something in the studio that kind of scares you a bit when you think about “how will we ever play or sing this” has always been an inspiring notion.

Plenty has been written about the group’s search for spirituality. Did you have any spiritual experience during your visit to India?

The only thing I understand about spirituality is what I understand about music. Which isn’t much really, but they seem to work and function in the same capacity for me. The intangibles that connect us as humans are what I care about most. Whatever we suffer through and any moments of elation we get to experience along the way are ties that bind. The only thing that can usually sum it up for me is music.

Being a musician is never easy. Would you ever urge someone to become a musician?

It’s a great life, but one with a cost. It can be a feast or famine. I usually tell young aspiring musicians to spend time saving as much money as you can and then move into a place that’s low or no cost and make music non-stop for as long as you can afford to. And then when you run out of money go back to work and do the same. If you enjoy that, then you’re cut out for it. That’s the life you’ll live as a musician.

There will always be people who compare one band to another. What do you think of comparisons?

It’s the necessary evil (I do it all the time), but I just look at it as the perspective training wheels for any new band. Everybody is some imitation of something at first. And then if they stay at it enough and do good work, they begin to define their own space.

Being a popular band, your songs must have been used here and there. Any bizarre context in which a Mutemath song has been used?

I don’t think so… it’s all been pretty straight forward. The most exhilarating thing is when people take the liberty of recording creative covers of our songs online. That’s usually the most flattering.

Musical influences keep changing as you listen to new music. Who are your lasting influences?

Good observation. Always The Police and always ’90s electronica.

Finally, do you ever wish to have made music in another time?

Something about the ’80s is very alluring to me. I would have loved to have been on soundtracks like Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink.

 

Soundtrack: Twilight (Spotlight), The Stepfather (Typical), Suits (Blood Pressure, season 2; episode 5), Transformers Theme (Transformers: The Album, not used in the film).

Mattress king: Mutemath concerts are incomplete until Paul Meany crowd-surfs on a giant inflatable mattress that sports LED lights. And it always makes for a glorious scene (see t2 cover).

Math: The band has its origin in a project called Math, which was an effort between Paul Meany and Darren King.

Typical: The video to this song has become a classic. The video plays out backwards and the group spent weeks learning their parts. The most difficult part? Darren King, the drummer, who plays backwards!

#badjokemondays: Darren is the man behind this hashtag which accompanies cheesy jokes, like “I broke my finger today. But on the other hand I’m fine.”

COUNTDOWN BEGINS: The Bacardi NH7 Weekender line-up for Calcutta

AlgoRhythm
Ankur Tewari & The Ghalat Family
As Animals
B.R.E.E.D
Bhayanak Maut
Blackstratblues
Cloud Control
Fossils
Gingerfeet
Indian Ocean’s Tandanu featuring Selvaganesh, Kumaresh Rajagopalan, Vishal Dadlani
Indus Creed
Maati Baani
Madboy/Mink
Money For Rope
Monica Dogra
Mr. Woodnote & Lil Rhys
Mutemath
Nanok
Peking Duk
Pentagram (Unplugged)
Sarah Blasko
Shaa’ir + Func
Sickflip
Skrat l Sky Rabbit
Soulmate
Su Real
Superfuzz
The F16s
The Inspector Cluzo
Them Clones