Being apart no obstacle for Mutemath
From their early beginnings in 2002, Paul Meany and Darren King of alternative rock band Mutemath have managed to write together while not always being in the same room — or even the same city or state.
The two knew each other from playing in Earthsuit, but with King living in Springfield, Mo., and Meany in New Orleans, the two started swapping demo tapes with each other. One would record a lick or a lyric and mail it off to the other for tweaking.
Meany, the band’s lead singer and keyboard player, still lives in New Orleans while King, who plays drums, has relocated his family to Tennessee.
“I recently moved to Nashville, and we actually owe it to Chattanooga,” King says. “We had a show there, and I brought my wife and daughter, and we had the best day there. Then we took a vacation in Nashville.”
So why move to that wannabe city to the west?
“I know, I know, but musically, there’s just more opportunity here,” he says of the decision to put down roots in Nashville. “But Chattanooga was beautiful. We had the best day there.”
Being 530 miles from Meany and bandmates Roy Mitchell- Cardenas ( bass, keyboards, vocals) and Todd Gummerman ( guitar, keyboards, programmer, vocals) is hardly an obstacle, King says.
“From our band’s inception, we’ve always lived in different places,” he says. “Even if we’re in the same house, all four of us go to different corners to write.”
They then come together and share their newest ideas, finding which pieces fit together until a new song is formed. King says there are no preconceived notions or ideas. The songs, and eventually, an entire album, come about naturally.
“It’s rare that an entire song is seen to fruition without that process happening multiple times,” he says.
Each of the four pulls from several influences, including ’ 60s and ’ 70s soul, psychedelic rock and newer indie rock and electronica to create the band’s melodic, yet trippy sound.
King says it can be intimidating bringing melody or arrangement ideas to Meany, whom he calls the musical heartbeat of the group. But such trial-and- error has taught them what to expect from each other.
“It can be exhausting because there is a lot of catch-and-release, but it’s nice to now have a shorthand,” he says. “We don’t have to tread as softly with our musical opinions. We can avoid all of the qualifying words like ‘you’re really talented’ and ‘I love what you do, BUT….’ You know you’re a big fan of each other. You still need to be nice, but it saves time.”