Diamonds in the rough

With concert promoters understandably after high returns, Asia tends to welcome good-selling acts, leaving many gems in today’s music industry undiscovered and out of the cold.
Singapore’s Mosaic Music Festival reversed that trend for its recent ninth edition, bringing in the indie rock quartet, Mutemath, from New Orleans for the first gig in Asia.
The band, whose music has featured on the soundtrack for “Transformers” , “Twilight” and “Never Back Down”, wowed the crowd at Esplanade Concert Hall with a super hyped, highly energetic live act that featured hits like “Odd Soul”, “Prytania”, “Blood Pressure”, “Spotlight”, Heads Up”, “Noticed”, “Obsolete”, “Chaos”, “Hit Parade” and, “Reset”.
We sat down with drummer Darren King and singer Paul Meany before their show.

How has 2013 treated you so far?
King: We had a lot of children born.
Meany: Yes. It is the biggest thing that happened to us this past year. All of us are fathers of little girls. We’re daddies of daughters.

Is that likely to change the direction of your sound in the future?
King: Absolutely. Our songs will be more sensitive, I guess.
Meany: Yes, with strings arrangements and harmonies. No, it’s not going to be like that. We feel that we’re going to make a record that scares away possible suitors of our little girls. If the future boyfriends listen to this record, they wouldn’t dare to date our girls. My girl is only five months old, but you have to think ahead.

Any plans for a new CD then?
King: Yes. In fact we’re going to play two brand new songs for the first time tonight. We hope they go on the record.
Meany: Noting is slated. We have not officially gone to create an album yet. We’re in the middle of writing, and I hope we can release it this year.
King: The new record will probably sound less blues rock than “Odd Soul”. We have been playing more synthesiser, too.
Meany: So it seems like a summation of all three records. That’s what I hear so far. Things that we learned, that we stumbled upon really helped us with the past records. Actually we haven’t tried new ideas on an audience for a long time, probably since our first record. It’s a jinx; that was it was. Because sometimes you played something that did not make it to the records, so fans would be disappointed. For the past two records we just felt like doing it among ourselves. But we’re going to try that again and figure it out how to make it work in front of an audience.

What is the music making process like between you guys since you’re living in different cities?
King: We write on our own and email each other. But inevitably we’ll have to get together and play.
Meany: The final step is when we get together with the producer and record it, second guess it and make it work.

With some Mutemath songs being featured in blockbuster flicks, are you afraid that the audience would assume that the band sounds only like those few songs?
King: No, not at all, as long as they come out and see the show. We always try to bring something new and create a whole experience for the audience.
Meany: Yes. And if they showed up and enjoyed just one song, well that’s fine for us, too.

Did you like “Twilight?”
King: I took my mum to see “Twilight” and she liked it. It’s more for younger audience I think. We didn’t know about it till the movie came out.
Meany: That’s a compliment because I like “Twilight”. I was in this 5-kilometers charity race with elementary school kids and teachers recently and just strolling along and enjoying the view, and then I heard this pitter-patter of a jogger coming up behind me. It was this little five year-old kid that ran past me and said, “okay, I passed the old guy.” He was really bragging to his friends.