Interview with Mudvayne try to back it with the New Game

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Mudvayne bassist Ryan Martinie says he prefers writing songs and recording to touring. “I love the process of writing and recording. It’s really awesome. Touring is hard,” Martinie said in a recent phone interview. “It (touring) is awesome, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but it’s a pain. You know, sometimes you just want your toilet from home.”

Considering that preference, Martinie has probably had some of the best times of his life over the past three years. That’s because for much of that time, Mudvayne has done nothing but write and record.

“It’s been great,” he said. “All the Mudvayne energy for a long time now has just been put into doing that, writing and recording, and that’s been really cool, the experience of that, and not having toured or had to deal with all the hum-drum of doing that.”

The writing and recording, of course, created an extended — and uncharacteristic — gap between studio albums, considering this is a band that released three full-length albums and an EP between 2000 and 2005.

Fans will probably will be in a mood to forgive the band for taking time away, especially as they learn about the results of Mudvayne’s activities since the 2005 release of its third studio CD, “Lost and Found.”

Not only will the group release a new studio CD, “The New Game,” Nov. 18, the band has a second studio album completed and ready to release once “The New Game” runs its course.

In reality, the guys in Mudvayne didn’t originally plan to go so long between studio albums. In fact, writing for “The New Game” began in August 2006 and the group in interviews last year had talked of releasing the CD in fall 2007 or early this year.

But a couple of factors helped to change that timetable.

For one thing, Mudvayne singer Chad Gray and guitarist Greg Tibbett got involved in a side band, Hellyeah. The group, which also included former Pantera and Damageplan drummer Vinnie Paul, former Damageplan bassist Bob Zilla and Nothingface guitarist Tom Maxwell, made a spirited 2007 album that gained more popularity than the quasi-supergroup had initially anticipated.

This prompted the band to extend its touring cycle, giving Mudvayne a longer-than-planned hiatus. Then as Hellyeah was winding down its activities, Gray had a fresh round of musical inspiration for Mudvayne, and soon he, Tribbett, Martinie and drummer Matt McDonough found themselves writing and recording a second studio album, while “The New Game” was put on hold.

To help fill the lengthening gap between Mudvayne projects, the band assembled “By the People, for the People,” a compilation CD of alternate versions of existing songs plus two new tracks. That CD was released last fall.

Martinie obviously feels the wait for new Mudvayne music will be worth it for fans.

The CD, which arrived in stores Nov. 18, retains the key elements that have defined Mudvayne’s sound since the band released its debut CD, “L.D. 50,” in 2000.

The music, Martinie said, is still metal and still features the angular riffs, complex arrangements and unconventional time signatures of the previous CDs. But “The New Game” has a bit different feel.

“I think there’s a decided rock element to this record,” Martinie said. “That’s not to say that it’s not metal, because you’re still going to encounter strange time signatures and some of the things that are kind of our staples as writers. But I think in the years of playing together we’ve boiled things down to what we want to hear in our songs and in our music, and so some of those things come out in our history, what we’ve grown up listening to and music we love. And we love the old hard rock things, the Van Halens. Who doesn’t love Van Halen? Who doesn’t love Led Zeppelin? So I don’t think that it’s a stretch to think our music would end up having elements of that (classic) rock past that we have. I wouldn’t say that we’ve made a complete move in a new direction by any means. It’s just that we (take) some of the things that we really enjoy about our songwriting, and bring those elements together. If that means it’s more melodic or if it’s something that has a little more hooks, then that’s what that means.”

Martinie is eager to see the songs from “The New Game” come to life on tour. But he said the band won’t ignore its back catalog on the tour.

“We’ve chosen to kind of go back a little retro,” he said. “I think there are six songs off of ‘L.D.50′ in the set. So we’re definitely breaking out some of the oldies.”

If you go

What: Mudvayne with 10 Years and Snot

When: 6 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 4

Where: House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St., Chicago

Tickets: $30.50 to $27.50

Info: (312) 923-2000 or http://www.hob.com/venues/clubvenues/chicago/

http://www.post-trib.com/entertainment/1302159,mudvayne.article

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