Music Review of Mute Math: Odd Souls on Tour

Turn up your speakers to blare Mute Math's "Typical" and you'll get anything but that.

Drummer Darren King uncovers the band playing in Richmond on Sept. 15 at the Canal Club.

The seed for Mute Math was planted in 1997 when King and lead vocalist Paul Meany met during a church revival. The two started playing music together.

"I was around Paul constantly for ten weeks straight," King said. "I was 14 years old. He was by far the coolest person I'd ever met. My friends all made fun of how obsessed I was with him, how I tried to walk like him and talk like him, the way I emulated him."

Years later, King and Meany rekindled their musical relationship into the band now known as Mute Math, adding in bassist Roy Mitchell Cardenas and guitarist Todd Gummerman.

The band is just beginning their "Odd Soul Introduction Tour" which kicked off Aug. 6, and features Richmond as one of its stops. They are touring to promote their third album, "Odd Soul."

"We got to play our first three shows; two in Japan and one in Los Angeles the other day, and I can already tell this is going to be the most exhilarating collection of songs to play that we've ever done so far," King said.

After being nominated for a Grammy for "Best Short Form Video" for "Typical," the band's latest video venture has been the music video for "Odd Soul." Listeners are able to adjust visual stems on a soundboard to control the audio levels of drums, vocals, synth, guitar and bass. The listener is also able to watch the band members playing each instrument in the video simultaneously, similar to being at a concert.

"One thing I'm excited about is the realization there will never be a replacement for going to a concert, no matter what technology does or how creative it gets, there will never be anything that replicates the wonderful feeling of people in a room together and the energy that accumulates and multiplies because of that," King said.

King said he hoped fans would be able to see that Mute Math has not given up on their faith or lost hope.

He also said he hoped the band would continue to grow and try different musical styles, such as instrumental versions of songs on "Odd Soul." All in all, he is becoming more comfortable with who the band is today.

"We're odder souls than we'd like to even admit. We're still coming to grips with just how weird we really are," he said.

The "Odd Soul Introduction Tour" will hit 37 cities, concluding with a homecoming show in New Orleans.

Contact staff writer Marina Askari at marina.askari@richmond.edu