Mutemath wrapping up whirlwind year
By John wirt
Music writer
November 21, 2012
Following the fall 2011 release of its well-received Odd Soul album, New Orleans-based rock band Mutemath is reaching the end of a busy 12 months. The band played two headlining tours, joined Linkin Park and Incubus on the Honda Civic Tour, appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel Live! and got selected to be a VH1 You Oughta Know act.
“It was a good year,” drummer Darren King said. “It wasn’t perfect but it had a lot of great moments in it and I enjoyed the shows immensely.”
Activities surrounding Odd Soul, an album recorded at Mutemath singer-keyboardist Paul Meany’s house in New Orleans, began with the Odd Soul Introduction Tour. The five-week trek that took the band to smaller venues than it typically plays.
“That was thrilling, good energy,” King said. “It gets intense whenever you play those places.”
Matemath’s new Odd Soul songs also connected with audiences, King said. “We’re real happy with the reaction people had to the new songs.”
Being the first band to perform every stop on the Honda Civic Tour was quite a switch from the two-hour long or more shows it normally plays. Mutemath played only five songs, staying on stage for a mere 25 minutes.
“That was the easiest thing I’ve ever done,” King said of the high-profile package tour that reached amphitheaters and arenas in major music markets.
Mutemath’s current headlining tour wraps up Tuesday, Oct. 23, at the Varsity Theatre in Baton Rouge.
“This tour has been great, too,” King said from Chattanooga, Tenn. “The cities are places we’ve never been or haven’t played for a long time. We’ve gotten a lot of love.”
While King is looking forward to getting some rest during the band’s just around the corner end-of-the-year break, he’s also anticipating making new music.
“We’ve already begun messing with ideas,” he said. “It’ll be nice to have nothing else regarding work to do but focus on new ideas.”
Unlike Odd Soul, the new Mutemath album will not be recorded at Meany’s house.
“Paul and his wife were very patient to allow their house to be turned into a studio,” King recalled. “Every room except their bedroom became a part of the studio. The living room, the dining room, guest bedrooms, the guest bathroom, all of them had microphones in them at various times.
“Paul’s wife was pregnant when we made that record,” King added. “So now that they’ve got an actual third human in their family, it would be impractical to record there this time.”
Instead, the band is renting a house in New Orleans for the purpose of recording an album.
“It’s a gorgeous house in a great part of New Orleans,” King said. “We’ve already done some work there and it’s gone great. It makes for an awesome studio and it’s a block away from one of my favorite restaurants.”