Mark’s Pick of the Week: Welcome to the planet, dear by mnttab

Where does performance art end and music begins or what part does entertainment play in making a song good, or if something is just noisy and different does that mean it’s good?  These are all questions I thought I’d introduce this article with.  Then I noticed I was bobbing up and down to the opening track, and realized those questions are all well and good, but if music is fun then who really cares?

This isn’t the first time I’ve written about the artist known as mnttab.  I posted a quick look at his last EP within half an hour of receiving the link to his bandcamp, and followed it up with an interview for the site.   However, for his first full release from Kansas based "You are already dead!" Records I needed to take a bit more time to swallow this release to see what I could make of it.  This album is certainly noisy, artsy and different, but that doesn’t mean it’s worth writing about.  You’re on the Internet.  In 10 seconds you could find something else new or noisy or whatever, so what makes this stand out to me?

I think the most important thing that draws me to this guy is he really has a signature.  With some bands you can play two of their songs and not be able to tell it’s the same artist.  At first this might seem like a good thing since the artist is obviously evolving and changing.  However, no one can change to the point that you still can’t find a bit of them throughout their entire catalogue.  To me no signature means no personality.  mnttab has a signature in setting of his sound.  He starts with a really blank canvas and fills it up quickly by hurling sounds at the silence like someone might hurl paint at a wall.

Also his production has a very familiar vain to it.  The vocals sound like he is yelling over the din of his own music like he is announcing something over the PA system at a crowded party.  Sometimes you only catch a snippet of what is said or nothing at all, but either way it’s delivery tells you all you need to know.

The last release mainsHum certainly has a similar sound to it, but if his last release was a sprint this is more of a marathon.  Sure a few of the tracks like “Watching Your Lips Move” explode right out of the speakers with all the weird sounds you’d expect from a noise disco album.  However, many more of the tracks seem like the same animal, but chained to a post.  It’s just as ferocious and primal, but instead of getting right into your face it runs to the end of its tether and snarls. 

This works pretty well for his style because he’s giving the songs time to really cook through.  If you let yourself really listen to some of the tracks and feel a couple of the layers wash over you can get a lot.  You can pull apart the pieces and hear which ones fill the whole song, which ones weave in and out, and which just bum rush for a few seconds and are gone.  The whole thing feels less like an album and more like a show.  At a live show people move, the atmosphere can change, but there are still constants that give the whole crazy thing some semblance of a direction.

If you’ve got a bit of time I’d defiantly recommend checking out his bandcamp and trying a few of these tracks.  It’s certainly not an album that opens itself to you right away.  You have to put a bit of effort to really see all that’s there, but if my opinion is worth squat it’s time well spent.  

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A Gentlemanly Conversation with mnttaB

             Sometimes you find new music, and sometimes it finds you.  The later is by far the most interesting situation.  It didn’t take me to long after I heard the first track off of mainsHum before I contacted Australian artist mnttaB, and we got talking about traveling, naming songs and dementia.  Check it out! 

Who is mnttaB?

mnttaB is an owner operated enterprise, I’ve tried to lure people in to collaborate but its a bit unreasonable to expect anyone else to be able to cope with my approach/work ethic...I’m a bit of a control freak to be honest.

Saying that if anyone wants to send me some poetry, guitar solos, rapping, synth riffs, midi versions of "sheila b devotion" songs then Id be pretty fucken keen to make it happen, and I’m a fair man so I would ensure any one I worked with shared the financial losses.

Who are your influences musically?

I’m an old fella so the influences span centuries and change daily - I don’t have much talent to copy the music I love so it’s the spirit that is the influence. I love people who can test/overturn genres or those whose work hums with urgency/power that still leaves you with a hit of their energy and relevance even after years of repetition and familiarity. 

So on any one day my head might be buzzing with tunes from wire, throbbing gristle, public image, tommi stumpf , anne clark, husker du, big black, young Gods,  ATR, self defense family, lightning bolt, raein , pianos become the teeth – all slamming to and thro and back again in my head blender.

What emotions do you think you convey in your music?

I don’t talk much so, I think what you can hear in the music, is me making up for my lack of real human interaction by squeezing everything I need to get out in to 2 minute slabs, I worked it out and there more words in the "mainsHum" lyrics than I spoke in total in conversation over the years 2011-12.  So the underlying emotion is probably frustration, at being unable to say what I mean and do what I know I should. Some one asked me once if I was angry, I said, "No I’m disappointed"

What are you looking for the audience to get out of going to see you at a concert or listening to you at home?

I hope someone somewhere sometime feels even a small part of the rush I feel when I’m doing this stuff, I’m a bit of a method actor so once the music starts I’m oblivious to what’s going on in the room but the intention is to share the adrenalin..in a non body fluid sort of way. Saying that I’ve noticed that I tend to spit a lot when I’m ranting so its possible an audience will get to ingest somewhat more of me than they really want if they don’t keep their distance.

Who does the artwork for you photos and album artwork?

The small but highly motivated Art department handle all that stuff, Artwork follows same methodology as the songwriting: Cut it up and throw it at the wall, see what sticks. I used to do real cutups and that took weeks and heaps of magazines (and speed), now with paintshop you can turn the same stuff out in days, on coffee.

Where do you get the names for you song titles?

Well normally when you’ve finished putting a song together the file is called something like "coldplay-pinkriff_DEA#_redux_03.acd" that’s not real catchy so names are generally just key words/phrases picked from the lyrics...err nothing real clever there..normally just enough for me to know which one is which.

Where do you start when writing a song?

Most songs start at 2 or 3am..with a bass riff, or a feedback loop, or a synth sound as the spine of an idea...then I go  back to bed. In the dark they grow, organically splitting cells and joining and/or absorbing other chunks of samples, drums, washes, random vocals, and eventually the strong ones exert dominance over the pack and come snarling into my room to wake me up demanding a walk and some biscuits.

Do you think your sound has changed much since your first release?

Definitely, when I started it was all about deconstruction, the last CD is all about dancing!!! I’ve decided my next challenge is to make it listenable....

What do you think the most important feature in a performer?

Handsomeness...yep there’s no way mnttaB can fail!!!

What’s the most fun thing about being mnttaB?

The best bit about mnttaB is the portability!!! I finish arranging my new song in my room on Wednesday, then jump on a plane write the lyrics mid air and do it live in another continent on friday..no drums, no amps, no tuners, no f** guitars, no pedals , no vocals in the foldback, no soundchecks ...and more importantly : no  bass players, drummers or guitarists....not much of a singer either...but lets not go there. Of course I know one day my less than trusty netbook will die on me (disk sounds a bit sick now) and I live in terror of a Windows Update occurring mid set but when you add it all up it beats working with musicians!

Is all the music you produce completely digital or do you use instruments?

Music is 90% instruments played by me, recorded to disk, then cut up and sequenced. Drums are either lifted from records, sample CDs or synth pre-sets (recorded then cut up etc).

So you think that gives you more freedom as a songwriter and performer?

Answer is both. I don’t believe that freedom is a good thing in making music: the more constraints you work under the better in my book.  What was the last good record you heard from a handsome rich prodigy living on the gold coast?

Do you like traveling?

I do, its something that’s grown on me lately. Nothing beats the buzz of hopping off the plane at dawn, in a new city, in a new country, jetlagged to buggery, clutching a bottle of duty free vodka and your life in a backpack. Then playing shows means you get to see so much more of that city, little corners, kitchens and Castles you would never get to experience otherwise.

Do you have a favorite city to perform at?

Melbourne, if only they'd have me.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I hope to have slipped into dementia well before then, or have some appallingly embarrassing medical condition which means I can’t leave the house, It’s good to have ambitions.

            Well there you have it guys.  You can follow mnttaB on facebook, and get the latest tracks on his bandcamp!

Also follow the blog on facebook for more interviews like this one with Night Panther or Professor Elemental!

Track of the Moment: mainsHum EP by mnttaB

This was the closest thing I could find to a band photo...

These guys might not have the most conventional way of spelling “Meant-to-Be,” but nothing about them seems to be very conventional.  Any attempt I may make to categorize them seems to me like it will fall desperately short, so I’ll just mention a few tidbits from their various social media pages.

“Cathartic spastic disco sludge guaranteed to block the sink and leave chunks floating on the surface.”

“Noise-enriched synth-punk mayhem”

“A Melbourne based new romantic, jazz funk, post-nothing, noise-pop smorgasbord with extra mayonnaise.”

            That probably brought up more questions then it answered, but don’t blame me.  I’m about as lost as you guys are.  I am enjoying it though!  These guys are pretty good at building a wall of sound that on the surface seems pretty abrasive, but underneath is something surprisingly catchy.  Very great low-fi effects and lyrics are sprinkled around adding to the dysfunctional nature.

            I feel obligated to throw my hat into the “genre-defining ring,” so here it goes: mnttaB is what you get when you fill a recording studio with water and then throw it into a giant blender…but with the best results possible!

            Check out their new EP “mainsHum” below, as well as their bandcamp and facebook.

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