After
branching out from his work as Queens Of The Stone Age bassist, Michael
Shuman has gone on to perform
with his band Mini Mansions around the world. They are now
about to play Austin Psych Fest and a few gigs with Tame
Impala. Having just released their second album The
Great Pretenders, Shuman talks to us about translating the 9/10 NME-rated
album into live shows, collaborating with Brian Wilson, and writing more
honestly.
What are some Australian
bands or musicians that you're digging at the moment?
I
really am thoroughly enjoying the new Tame Impala songs I’ve heard so as far as
that goes, love them. Kimbra's not Australian, but she's a
good friend of ours and she's close to being Australian and Australians like
her a lot. And I was always a big fan of that band The
Drones. Who else Australian?AC/DC - I just saw at Coachella which was
amazing, but then I also found out that they're not really Australian. They're
Scottish. So I'm striking out on Australians.
Have you spent much time
with the Tame Impala boys before?
I've
hung out with the Tame guys before, I met them at this Swiss festival a couple
of years ago [when] Queens and them were playing, and we hung out. And then we
became good friends. I mean, most of the guys live in Australia so it's hard to
see those guys ever but Cam, the bass player who's also inThe Growl and Pond, he lives in LA so we've become
very tight and we see them all the time.
How does it work recording
an album when all members of Mini Mansions are multi-talented instrumentally?
Yeah,
we all do play different stuff. I guess there are certain things we play, even
though everyone can play everything. I end up playing all the drums on the
record and I play all the guitar on the record.Tyler [Parkford] is a
great guitar player too but it's just if I wrote that stuff, I've just been
accustomed to playing it, so I end up doing it. Zach [Dawes] plays all the bass on the
record and Tyler plays all the keyboards on the record and then the percussion,
we'll do together - Zach will play the vibes and I'll play the glockenspiel and
we'll mix four different things and there's no rules. If someone has an idea,
go for it.
Can you tell me some of the
instrumental production parts of the album?
On
something like "The End", it's my drums without a snare on and
there's bongos and all kinds of percussion on that. I did timpani stuff. It's a
free-for-all though and we're lucky that we recorded in this studio called Vox;
this guy Woody Jackson owns it
and he has the best collection of vintage instruments in the world and it's
insane. Anything you want, any pedal you want, it's all there. And all the
weirdest shit too, you know. It's a big free-for-all and we got to experiment a
lot.
The Great Pretenders has not yet been out for a month, are there any songs off the
album that you’re most excited to play live or see the audience’s reaction?
I
really like playing "Freakout" a lot, it's a head-bopper and it's fun
for an audience.
I just love the transition
from "Honey I’m Home" into "Mirror Mountain", it sounds
like you're surprising a live audience with their favourite track. How are you
thinking of translating the album into a live performance?
Yeah,
we've been playing that live and we play those songs back-to-back because
that's the way we wrote them, to be like that. There's not even an option not to do that; we've never played
"Mirror Mountain" without "Honey I'm Home" before it and
we've never played "Honey I'm Home" without "Mirror
Mountain". So that's probably what we’ll stay true to.
There's
songs like "The End"... we haven't even touched on it yet, we haven't
even played it live since we made the record because right now, we're
supporting and for the most part, no one wants to hear a five-minute slow
ballad. You know what I mean? So for the most part, we're playing the songs we
feel are most comfortable for us and for someone who's never seen us before to
enjoy and dance to and bop your head to.
What is the value of
getting the big old guns like Brian Wilson to perform on a contemporary album? (He sings on a Mini
Mansions track "Any Emotions")
The
value is…expensive.
I
mean it's one of those things that now that it's done and it's on something
that we'll have forever, you know on our record, you pinch yourself every day.
Because that's amazing and we grew up with him, he's a huge inspiration for how
we write our vocals and do our harmonies and sing. He;s a big part of how we
developed as artists. So that's number one. Also, I can't imagine our song
"Any Emotions" without him on it. I mean it wasn't like he phoned it
in. I've heard stuff like that and big parts where that happens, but what I'm
really proud about what he did and what Alex did
on the record. They cared about it a lot and did a great job and I think it
helps that song, it just gives it some other kind of wings - it helps it expand
it a little bit, having that other vocal sound and timbre to his voice. It
needs that. Otherwise we'd always wanted backup vocals, but obviously we didn't
know it was going to be Brian Wilson in the end.
Mini Mansions had a solid
European/mostly UK fanbase before the release of this album: how do they differ
from American audiences?
It's
just a different vibe, I think. Culturally, it is different, there's no doubt
about it. They tend to get more drunk at shows I've noticed [in the UK] and
also I think because we have more fans over there and maybe they appreciate the
music more in Europe, the shows just seem better. I don't think it's
necessarily because they're better, I think we have more fans there. I mean, we
love playing to our fans in the US but it's been tough for us in the US; it's
been hard to get journalists to write about us. And I don't know why, but I
think that we're going to go where people appreciate us and want to hear our
music.
Well I don’t know if you
get told over there but we hear "Vertigo" on our alternative radio
station triple j almost every day.
Oh
yeah, we're really appreciative of that too and trust me, I really want to be
in Australia.
Are your songs written from
the perspective of a character, or is there something more personal to them?
This
record compared to the first one, it's definitely personal and I wouldn't say
that every song is like that but speaking for myself, all those songs are
completely about me and they're very vulnerable. Now every word I use, a
certain amount of people won't know what I'm talking about, but it's all very
real and that's different for us, it's different for me. I didn't expect to do
it but once we were actually making the record, it felt like the right thing to
do - to try and be honest. And maybe I've just been having more real feelings
now. Who knows, maybe I was just dumbing it down before. And now I'm not.
Where or when would you
prescribe an ideal time or place for listening to your album?
I
would say night driving in Los Angeles. The only reason I'd say that is because
that's the way most of the ideas came and the way we listened to it when we
were making it. That's how I listen to music: I get in my car, I drive, I turn
it up loud and I like to listen at night and even if I have nowhere to go, I
just drive. And that's just me being selfish and what you should do, but not
everyone can do that.
What are you guys working
on further into 2015?
I'm
looking forward to trying to get more fans. We're going to tour non-stop no
matter what. But I would love to have more people be part of the Mini Mansions
crew and try to understand what we're doing.
Published on theAUReview.
