Mute Math adds up to alt rock brilliance

By Jenny Zhang Layout Editor

It's not easy to create something new in the world of music, but if any band is up for the challenge, it's Mute Math, the New Orleans foursome that's set to rock the Tabernacle tomorrow night. Although compared to the likes of Radiohead, Sting, classic U2 and the Police, Mute Math eludes easy definition. Their sound is an ear-catching mix of atmospheric math rock and electronica, perfected by soul-searching lyrics, powerhouse drumming and intricate yet simple melodies - the overall effect is eclectic and brilliantly genre-defying.

"Part of the intent when we first started was just to create. We wanted to see what would happen if we tried to genuinely create music that we enjoyed listening to," said lead singer Paul Meany.

Darren King (drums, samples), Greg Hill (guitar) and Roy Mitchell-Cardenas (bass) joined Meany in this experimental effort, which started as a side project among friends in the family garage and grew from the musicians' different musical loves into a cohesive sound.

Meany elaborated on their wide range of influences: "Over the years, we've listened to the Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Paula Abdul ... rap music and music from the late '80s and early '90s. Greg loved country music; I grew up on church music and sang Southern gospel ... all of that has somehow surfaced in our music."

This mishmash of musical tastes is no doubt partly responsible for Mute Math's strong disparate sound, which according to Meany, was born out of a shoot-from-the-hip, anything-goes mentality. "It just kind of happened ... the only thing is we weren't afraid to make it different," Meany said.

Since the releases of their Reset EP in 2004 and their self-titled debut album last January, Mute Math has been taking the music scene by storm. The band has appeared on Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live and David Letterman, performed their single "Typical" backwards in a popular YouTube music video, recorded the theme music for the summer blockbuster Transformers and opened for acts like the David Crowder Band and the Fray.

Despite the success, the band has no pretensions beyond making straight-up good music. When asked what makes Mute Math great, Meany responded with a laugh, "The fact that I have no answer to the question. I'm not a salesman, I'm just a musician."

And that's why Mute Math is great - there's no bull, just four guys who love making great music. This is not a band to be missed, full of creative talent and fun, chaotic energy. Grab a ticket to their Saturday show before someone else snags them all.