Dub rock, hip-hop, reggae or funk; if you are reading this, there’s a good chance that you are a fan of one, if not all four of those genres. If that’s the case, then MTHDS (pronounced Methods) is a group for you. Born in the mountain town of Vail, Colorado and having gone through a few transformations since their inception, the MTHDS are a fresh new sound.
These six individuals sat down with The Pier at legendary Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom to discuss “Music That Heightens Different Senses”, headlining Powellapalooza, sharing leather jackets and playing with former front man of Hootie and the Blowfish “Darius Rucker”. Not to mention, these dudes are hilarious!
The Pier: You guys currently have three albums out: “Music That Heightens Different Senses (2007)”, “The Methods (2009)”, “Ship of Fools (2010)”. When can we expect a follow up album?
MTHDS: We recorded our first album in two days. Our second album was recorded in about a year and the third album we recorded in like, three months. We have put a lot of work into this album and are about to shoot our music video for “Drive”. Look out for some pretty cool cameos in this video! You can expect a 4th studio album out in early 2012
The Pier: You guys just got back from Powellapalooza, where you shared the stage with notable acts such as: Slightly Stoopid, Yonder Mountain and your local boys, Tatanka. Tell us about it!
MTHDS: Dude, it was sick. We played right after Stoopid and as we started, the fireworks started to blast off. It was funny cause Neil was freaking out making sure that he was plugged in, because he was hearing the popping of the fireworks and thought it was coming from his guitar. Finally, one of us told him to “Look Up!” Since we were on stage facing the crowd, we were not aware of the fireworks but once we looked up we were like “wow”. We headlined that shit and it was pretty amazing. I think we plan on calling the next album 75 K A Show. Put that shit on “Career Builder”(laughs).
Pier: I have heard that that event is pretty amazing. You guys were on a house boat. Was that included with the booking?
MTHDS: Na, our manager Adam, made us spend all of our earnings on one. We all currently share a leather jacket.
The Pier: I hope it has fringes… (laughs). You guys are definitely blowing up the underground hip-hop scene by bringing different elements of blues/funk and a touch of reggae. There must be a vast array of musical influences in the band. Give us some insight to where your influences come from.
MTHDS: The idea of “The Roots” was a cool direction for us for sure. There are not a whole lot of live bands with mc’s that are out there. All Jonny listens to is the Almond Brothers, Grateful Dead, Guns and Roses and Biggie Smalls. All Neil listens to is Tears for Fears and Billy Joel. Durtee is a big indie rocker. We all appreciate a wide variety of music so we are able to bring that eclectic sound to the point where you can’t really categorize us or classify our style. We have this song “Bailando” that was inspired by Tito Puente, The Gypsy Kingsand The Miami Sound Machine (Gloria Estefan).
The Pier: I find that very eclectic. You guys are about to embark on a month long tour starting in November with former mc of Jurassic 5, Chali 2na. Was this idea born in Powellapalooza where he performed as well or has this been brewing for a while?
MTHDS: We got to hang out with that dude for a while out in Powell. We have actually known him for a little while and when we backed Whisky Blanket we kind of met him there on the same bill. Chali’s band “House of Vibe” is really talented so we are really excited to play with them. It’s gonna be a good experience for sure! Matter of fact, Chali was involved with the Big Brothers Organization and was a mentor for most of us.
The Pier: How adorable! Did you guys go out and buy Ninja Turtles and stuff together?
MTHDS: It wasn’t so much the Ninja Turtles for us. We were more into Bebop and Rocksteady.
The Pier: No other band in your genre can say that they have shared the stage with Darius Ruker (Hootie and the Blowfish). How did that work out?
MTHDS: We really don’t even remember it but yes, it did happen. The night kind of sucked because the venue we played at was not going to pay us unless the bar sold drinks. So, we had people buying us treys and treys of shots and we got shitty. The next thing I know, Darius came over to the stage and somebody was like “This dude wants to play for you guys”. We did not know who he was until somebody said “Hootie and the Blowfish”. We were down and tried to recreate one of our songs with him on the fly and needless to say, it did not bode well for us or him.
The Pier: It looks like there is no slowing down for MTHDS. Rock on.
MTHDS Links:
MTHDS Website
MTHDS Facebook
Interview by: Chad Hillje
Photos by: Kit Chalberge
Here is the official music video to the song “Positive Movement”
