|
|
 |
Mudvayne.
 It's been almost six years since Illinois quartet Mudvayne shattered your eardrums with 'L.D.50' and the only thing that's really changed for drummer Matt McDonough is "I'm getting a little fatter and getting some more gray hair...", he laughs. "No, we've managed to carve this little niche for ourselves, we've established a career for the band, and it's exciting to think that we've still got a few years ahead of us in which we can make more records and keep touring."
Having released their new - and very angry - baby 'Lost And Found' late last year, and with only four shows left to go on their current Masters of Horror tour in the States, Mudvayne are already looking forward to escaping the "minus 25" degree weather and soaking up the Australian sunshine in early 2006. Not that McDonough really knows what the weather is like outside his hotel: "I haven't gotten out of bed yet.
"Yeah, we're looking forward to Australia. I've never seen the outback or anything like that because, unfortunately, when we're touring, that's all we're doing. There's some great cities over there. I love Melbourne and Sydney so I'm looking forward to the Big Day Out. In regards to getting the gig, a lot of it has been just hard work between the label and our tour management. I guess it was about pitching the idea that we're a valuable asset to the tour. We are very excited and honored."
Well, McDonough may say he's excited, but tell him that his band is going to be sharing the stage with the likes of Iggy Pop and the Stooges, and that's when real excitement comes through, "No shit! Oh my god, that's awesome! How can you not be excited about that?
"That's the best thing about touring, it goes beyond just playing on stage and more into making good friends along the way, people that you stay in touch with even after the tour is over. It gives you a pretty special feeling that people really enjoy your company. And it's great, but I'm more about going to the museum or reading a book. Touring with bands is exciting but you have to find some way to maintain some sort of moderate lifestyle. I like to make good friends, but I like to maintain some sort of normal, home-style life when I'm on the road just to keep some sort of point of connection... I mean, we've been touring now for six years: can you imagine if you had a party in your living room for six years?"
Not that it's been all about partying for Mudvayne over this time: since the release of their 'Kill, I Oughta' EP back in 1997, and the huge success of 'L.D. 50' five years ago, the band released three more full-length albums, including 'Lost And Found'.
"We've been very democratic with the songs. Chad [Gray, vocals] and I set a guideline and a framework for what the album was gonna be about, and then from there we just filled in the blanks, kind of like building a puzzle. We did a lot of research and we conversed, lots of conversation, just going back and forth, taking notes, and generally refining things. The story behind 'Lost And Found' is really for the audience to draw their own conclusion. When we write we like to leave a certain amount of ambiguity in our work to give the listener enough of an opportunity to build their own relationship with the album, and in that sense make it their own. It becomes a self-reflective process, and it's very important to me as an artist to not tell a listener what they should be listening to or how they should be experiencing that, but instead leave things open-ended enough to allow the listener to build a relationship with the music."
And that's the most wonderful experience when it comes to making albums for McDonough. "I don't really pay attention to sales and things like that. It doesn't affect me that much when it comes to our music. To me, each song has a certain personality. And yeah, there's things about some songs I don't like and things about others that I do like. But as far as a particular favourite goes, I wouldn't say I've got one. That'd be almost like saying you have a favourite child!"
Nina Bertok
 | Lost and Found is out now through Epic/SonyBMG and Mudvayne play the Big Day Out's Orange Stage at 2.40pm on Fri 3 Feb. |
|
|
The latest issue
available now!
|
