Paul Meany (center) with Greg Hill (left) and Darren King add up to Mute Math.

Rarely has the buzz behind a new band been as strong as that surrounding Mute Math, an eclectic alternative rock trio from New Orleans. (Think The Police and U2 with experimental programming.) The group made its debut in Nashville during GMA week 2004 and recently jumped on tour with the David Crowder Band and Shawn McDonald. Whether seeing them live or hearing their debut EP Reset, one's likely to experience the energy and excitement of Paul Meany (vocals, bass) Darren King (drums, samples) and Greg Hill (guitar). You might even note some sonic similarity to Earthsuit, a Christian group which had a hit single a few years ago with "One Time." And no wonder: Meany co-fronted Earthsuit, which occasionally featured King and Hill. Earthsuit is no longer with us, and now all three seek a new identity with Mute Math. Meany told us why Earthsuit didn't work in the first place, how he picked up the pieces for this new endeavor and what makes the new music tick.

What's the meaning behind the band's name?

Paul Meany: As I was writing new songs, I was beginning to change perspectives. I began to write these songs not out of trying to figure out more, but trusting more and letting go. I allowed myself to finally realize that everything in life doesn't have to have a finite formula or explanation. What we experience in life and how it affects us goes beyond mathematical boundaries. The sooner we can accept our uncertainties, the more certain and hopeful our future seems to become.

There was so much industry buzz on you for so long, it's probably nice to finally have a record out!

Meany: It feels good, but we still have an incomplete feeling because we still have to do a whole record. It's great to have something to just start building off of and give us material to work through in concert.

Mute Math sounds different than most things out right now. Was that a goal?

Meany: It was intentional to sound different. We wanted to do that ever since Earthsuit was trying to push the creative boundary. We were hoping people would've responded to it more back then, but thus far the whole Mute Math response has been great.

Do you ever worry radio won't accept the group?

Meany: I don't know how to write a radio song and I'm not sure I should learn how to either. I feel like that's part of the gift that we have as Mute Math—inherently our approach is just to make music without that in mind. Now I genuinely hope our songs can get on radio and I hope listeners do take to it. If it does, it will show something's changing and something's developing and we want to contribute to that. We don't just want to put out what's already come out. Sure, we run the risk of not being invited to the party, but you've got to stay true to your heart and the music.

Why didn't that artistic approach work in Earthsuit?

Meany: I don't know for sure, but it seems like Mute Math is translating more than Earthsuit and people are sinking their teeth into it. I guess that comes with more maturity from our point of view and our personal growth since then. One of the things that hurt Earthsuit from the beginning was the content. It was a bit abstract for most people and you kind of run that risk when you have two songwriters who are both lyricists that take on different ideas within a song. It can seem cryptic, which I think people saw in a lot of the Earthsuit songs, and we suffered as a result. I still love what we were and I think it was a great artistic exercise, but if I had to guess, a lot of things flew over people's heads.

Through Mute Math, a big part of what we're trying to do is digest thoughts and concepts a little more in the songs and spend more time with concise lyric creations—letting the point come across a bit more simply. That's not to downplay the poetic part in the songs; just a personal challenge to me as a songwriter. As a lyricist, I'm always trying to balance between phonetically what sounds right and emotionally trying to capture something.

Where did you find your topics coming from on Reset?

Meany: A lot of the songs seem to come from prayers, and that's a tough place for me to pull from because it's so personal. I wrote a lot of these songs originally not intending I was going to start a band with them. At the time Earthsuit was winding down, sometimes I would just write songs for the exercise of it. Some of it is prayers or my take on life in general. I don't think lyrically all the songs can be categorized in one particular approach except for honesty, a sense of searching and always asking questions. There's also an optimism to a lot of the songs. I want people to hear this record and make it hard for them to feel hopeless.

When Earthsuit didn't work out, how did that affect you? And do you have any fears this time around that it won't work out?

Meany: Well I was pretty convinced Earthsuit would work, and I poured everything I had into it—and then the verdict comes back with "Okay, that didn't work." You're basically only left with the damage and rubble, and you've got to figure out what to do with broken pieces. I thought about just striking Earthsuit up again by recruiting new musicians and coming up bigger and better than before, but it didn't feel like the right thing to do. I felt it was time to move on and in a sense start over, which was scary because the transitional time is always the most challenging. We're doing a lot on blind faith at this point, and I've written a lot of songs about letting go and trusting God with whatever I've considered to be my dreams.

How did you know Darren and Greg were the right guys for the job?

Meany: I met those guys when traveling with Earthsuit. They were originally from Springfield, Missouri, a city we played a lot. Darren had interned with Earthsuit after we landed our first record deal, and Greg moved to New Orleans shortly after that, joined our church and played with Earthsuit for awhile. When the group fell apart, we all stayed in touch and then this relationship slowly developed. We all played in our church band at some point, and that kind of led us to start creating.

Tell me about your record label, Teleprompt, and why the band chose it.

Meany: Teleprompt is [producer] Tedd T.'s label, which he created with a vision of bridging Christian artists with the general market. It's distributed through Warner Brothers, so that's a great place to start. I actually connected with Tedd creatively a long time ago, and it was a real answer to prayer that we were able to get on board with him. He's one of those rare gems of a guy on the business side and someone I could really trust and open up to. He's also very liberating to work with, and we've been able to make decisions together that we all love. Right now we're just trying to build it slow, which is why we're starting with the EP, and we trust that everything else will fall in line when it's supposed to.

So when can we expect that full record, and can you hint at the direction?

Meany: It's slated for the spring, but we've yet to decide if it will be all new songs or have some from the EP on it. We're just going to finish all the song ideas we have right now, which is 15 or 16, and see what ones make the record. I think Reset is a good representation of what is to come. It touches on a lot of dynamics of places to explore deeper on the record. Consider Reset a good prelude to the full-length.

Check out the band's artist page to learn more about Mute Math, and click here to read our review of the Reset EP. Visit Christianbook.com to hear sound clips and purchase Mute Math's music.

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