Put together four talented, energetic guys, homemade instruments and a taste for the unexpected -- sounds like the equation for Mute Math. tableau sits down with lead singer Paul Meany and delves into the inner workings of the band.
tab: Mute Math is getting a lot of hype, a lot of coverage on VH1 and MTV -- where do you fit into the music world right now? Can you define your style; do you want to be defined?
Paul Meany: [laughs] That's tough. Well, first of all, I'm not really sure we do fit in; I think I like that about us. I think there is something that kind of naturally evolved with Mute Math that made it interesting, at least to us. With the ideas of categories or genres kind of out of our mind, we created what we thought was good music. What we're doing in our record is really just a reflection of that. It's music we look forward to listening to and playing every night.
tab: Do you have specific influences?
Paul: What do we listen to? Within the four guys in the band, it's all over the place, which kind of makes sense in a way, hearing the music we make. Everything from The Beatles -- you can go down the lineage -- Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley and all the offshoots. Greg listens to country music; he's a country music aficionado. Roy is probably the most schooled musician of all of us. I credit Roy with introducing the majority of us to what is great music and great bands.
tab: Can you define the band's vibe?
Paul: We were friends before we were in the band; I've known these guys for almost 10 years. We've played in and out of a couple of different bands, some with each other, some not, but these four guys finally came together in Mute Math probably about three years ago and I'm glad it worked out. It started out with just drums and keyboards; you gotta understand, Mute Math was just a side project in the beginning. We really weren't sure what was going to happen. It was mainly electronic, drums and keyboards and what ended up happening was we kind of let friends hear what we were working on -- Greg being one of them. Greg came over one day, brought his guitar stuff and we were in this anything-goes mentality. So we started liking what was happening on guitars and played a couple of shows, wrote some more songs. Finally, when Roy joined the band as the last addition, that's when it all clicked, that's when it all made sense to us and we realized we had something special, worth taking out on the road, pulling out all the stops to get people to hear it and give it a chance.
tab: You guys are coming to Charlottesville on the 20th to Satellite Ballroom. You've performed in Charlottesville before: How did that performance go?
Paul: Charlottesville was great and the people make it worth it because the only thing I remember is, "Oh my god, the f****** flights of stairs." That's the first thing I think of when I think of Charlottesville is stairs. That is like the number one enemy of traveling bands is upstairs venues that do not have elevators and we gotta haul our sh** up stairs. You finally drag your stuff upstairs, but the people that showed up always made it feel that it was worth it. The energy in the room ... I'm glad we get to do a different venue, I'm really excited about that. If we can do a good show in Charlottesville without the stairs, this is going to be euphoric.
Despite the threat of stairs, Mute Math will perform at the Satellite Ballroom Saturday.
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