Howdy- Gary from Mentallo here.
All thanks to Mark & the crew at Static Sky for setting up this
account for me. Sorry for not getting a posting up sooner but i have
been insanely busy these past 2 weeks. We did not expect so many
people to join so quickly & i think we were a bit overwhelmed.
Its great to hear so many positive and personal statements regarding
the music and how it has affected you in your own personal ways. It
still leaves me a bit awe struck because in all honesty i never
imagined to get as far as we did. So i thank you all for being fans
and supporters of the music of Mentallo & our many other past &
previous projects. It means so much to us that something positive can
come out of what we express and create.
I only dreamed of ever getting as far as i have. So it really has all
been a blessing that I can continue producing and releasing music for
all these years & hopefully a few more to come.
So i am here to give you a general update on what exactly is going on
with Dwayne & myself. As most people know, Dwayne left Mentallo after
Burnt Beyond Recognition, but we still work with each other when
needed, like on Return To Grimpen Ward, which came out many years
after he left. But Mentallo is still myself for all future releases,
since it was initially my brainchild.
OK here goes all the info that comes to mind specifically on Mentallo
& the Fixer.
As most of you know, i have just signed onboard with Static Sky
Records and Mark [label owner] & i are doing alot of preparation for
what is to come. There is work currently being done for a new Mentallo
website in conjunction with Static Sky for the up & coming releases.
As well, we are currently planning merchandise, such as, t-shirts,
stickers, limited edition releases, dvd & multi media material.
So what have i been up to the past several years?
To simply put it, living life, growing up. i have experienced a great
deal in the past 4 years, that is, since my last release, and i feel
it is time where i have come full circle in many aspects of my life. &
its a good place to be.
Ive been working on music when inspired and taking alot of reflective
time on what the releases will be about. There is a general theme &
storyline that will span the releases both musically & visually
because i feel they go hand in hand with what im trying to convey &
express. I have a great deal of material, over 50 pieces of music, but
there is still production & additional programming that needs to be
worked out on each piece. i will tell you that this is something i
have been envisioning sonically for a while now. a couple of years at
least where things started to become much more coheasive, as to what
direction i was going, as far as the theme and atmospheres.
I did not want to be in a position of having to try and put out
something new every year. Reflection is good for how im trying to
approach the sound & music as a whole. I have come a long way in the
past four years as to my approach to the music. I really want to push
myself on these releases, otherwise why do it? I have learned to be
patient with my compositions as i have taken much more time to be more
technical in all aspects of the production & programming. Much of this
is due to spending time learning software and using it to the best
of my capabilities. its great because i can work on several different
pieces in a night and go back the next day and rework them with a set
of fresh ears. or i can pull up pieces i havent worked on in a year
and get more technical with all i have learned since then- with
everything ive worked on- even pieces from 3 years ago, i waited until
i had the technology or learned the technology to do what i wanted to
the piece .
Then, there was the whole concept for the releases and what i was
going to express lyrically because words dont come as easy as the
music does for me. And i did not want to just write a bunch of
meaningless, unthoughtful lyrics. There needed to be some deep
profound meaning to them for me. & i didnt want some mediocre, bland
typical run of the mill lyrics either. I want something where people
will get it and not be so cryptic. It is a journey after all. Also i
wanted to do all the art, photography and visual design for these
releases, because they will go hand ,in hand with the live show. im
not working on just a few pieces of art- i've literally been working
on hundreds. So everything has been a huge undertaking. I want all
these releases to have one common theme that will run throughout all
the releases. An ongoing novel.
Essentially everything i have worked on is for Mentallo. I will have
some guest artists, but none to name as of yet., simply because their
part would come in the final stages of recording for vocals.
This first release will also contain a 20 page booklet. and im sure we
will be doing something ltd edition maybe t-shirts for those die
hards. So keep your eyes posted on Static Sky's
website but dont
expect anything in the next 3 or 4 months, this is just a general
announcement on what is to come and what is currently in the works.
Im currently working on all aspects for the first full length release
to be aptly titled- "Enlightenment Through A Chemical Catalyst"
the title says it all. what else can i say. I dont want to give
everything away at the moment. That will be for future postings.
more will come out soon after, as in an EP of more new material, at
least 5 or 6 unreleased new songs & some remixed material from the
first release. Possibly some multi media material in the form of a
limited edition release, im not sure. If i can get the visuals down to
video then everything im working on will come to light-, besides i
need to- because im planning to do shows and the visuals i have been
working on are very much in line with the theme of the music and would
be a huge factor in the live aspect. But dont expect a full blown
tour. I will play shows though, in places i really want to go back &
visit, and well if the pays well and worth the expense. But do expect
some shows. & something different than the typical . It will focus on
the performance. Much like visual performance art. I still have to
work out what i envision and make shure i can make it work with some
ease without it looking tacky. But im pretty much only keeping the
label informed on that. I would like to have one of these shows filmed
for DVD material or a multi media disk. with a direct from the mixing
board live recording.
i was playing a Roland SH 101 live, run through a series of Boss
Pedals, for the local Electro/acid rock act "Sleep Now Yes" for
several shows a couple of years back, just to break the monotony of
what i was doing with Mentallo, because there are times where i
definitly get burnout. And that was a cool experience in many ways it
was definitely a different approach in that there was so much live
instrumentation. All 5 people were playing on every track and we also
had rehearsals, something dwayne and i rarely if ever did, in fact i
think dwayne & i have only rehearsed 2 times. Dwayne recently started
a live improv side project called SQAUREWAVE, to shake things up with
all the things we do musically, i play live drums for that project.
I wanted to spend time ammassing a large amount of music and then
release it consecutively. & i felt it was now time to put a deadline
on myself, of some sorts, otherwise i could essentially work on music
forever without ever having it see the light of day because im always
trying to perfect the piece. So i just said to myself, i have over 50
pieces of material that all need to be completed in one way or
another- its time to finish them up- im doing things now because the
time feels right-
so thats exactly what i have been doing these last several years-
because i do not work on music everyday- i need that time away from
it to reflect-
People may ask why the move from Metro to Static Sky, a much smaller
indie label? Well to simply put it, i wanted to goto a
smaller label so i could get the attention i felt Mentallo needed.
there is alot of enthusiasm with the label and that is a good thing.
They are very open to everything i have presented to them and are
willing to take what i say into account concerning the promotion,
merchandise and releases. Im getting to do music for the love of it
and thats how i want to keep it from now on without any distractions
of the business. But at the same time i really want to push these
releases because i have spent so much time & effort on them and i feel
Static Sky will put alot of effort as well in promting them too. It's
very much like a much needed re-birth in every sense.. a ressurrection
As for me leaving Metro, there were no hard feelings, I have known
Dave Heckman, even when we were still signed with Zoth Ommog. We were
one of the first flagship acts for Metro. So i Have known Dave for a
very long time. and things are real cool. Metro has done alot for me
and i thank them for that, they are a huge label in the whole of the
indie label industry. And also music and the scene has changed a great
deal since Metro started up over a decade ago. So they must be doing
something right to still be in the game.
Now you may ask what has been happening outside Mentallo these past few years.
Ok here is what has been and is up with Dwayne. Dwayne has had many
different projects he has been working on.
First I will start off with the oldest of his projects, Reign of
Roses, which is still on going, and finally are near completing the
first release after 4 years which will be titled "Through The Eye Of A
Needle". They soon will be label shopping for this.
This project consists of Dwayne doing all the programming & production
and Scott Berens on lyrics & vocals.
i was in fact asked to some additional drum programming on one of the
recent compositions. They have worked on alot of demo's and have alot
of material. Dwayne and Scott have their own way of working on things,
at least with this first release. Dwayne asked me to join for the
second release, im probably going in to revamp or reflesh some of the
unused demo material they never got back around to, just for a fresh
perspective and rework it for a new approach. They definitely are
going to have a strong first release. It is a very palatable album,
and very well recorded, i was amazed.. The programming is tightly
crafted, very well polished and produced. Scott has a naturally deep
warm resonant voice. He stands 6'6. So its not contrived, its real &
emotional and singing just comes naturally to him. As far as laying
down vocal melodies and counter melodies with the music he is a
natural. Their first release is very personal and plays out Scotts
inner demons. Lets just say "Through The Eye Of A Needle" says it all.
I need not say more. I expect this to go places.
Now there is a live project Dwayne has called Sqaurewave. This
consists of Dwayne & Josh Holley on Live synths and I playing drums &
percussion on a DrumKat. This initially started off as a live improv
group just to play live here in Austin for kicks. It was something for
Dwayne to do to take a break from Reign of Roses. It became a more
structred thing after a few shows and we ended up opening for Death In
June. We played the theme from John Carpenters, Escape From New York..
Although we did record a previous performance, this is something for
kicks, to break to monotony of what we are doing, much like when you
get burnout on a project, sometimes focusing on something else helps
out as a distraction. Interacting musically with other people on other
styles of music, or just working on other likes and hobbies.....
Also Dwayne & Josh Holley have another project that they work on twice
a week with Adam Grossman of Skrew and Paul Barker of Ministry.
They dont have a working name yet but they have been rehearsing for
about 6 months im guessing. and i hear they have alot of working
material. They rent a rehearsal space.. They are basically
songwriting for a record- working on demos and such. i believe they
have over 20 pieces. So they will most likely pick the best pieces and
record them for an album. This is a serious thing.
more is to come on this.... Dwayne tells me he is doing this because
he wants to be in an actual band with live playing and minimal to no
programming- i completely understand it though, because its sorta what
i went through when i was recording Algorythum. And this is another
reason Dwayne is letting me in on the next Reign Of Roses, to take
some of the slack off, and i completely understand.
Dwayne is a much better keyboard player now, so i can understand the
whole playing live aspect. He has played live keys for a while now and
he has played guitar for a longtime. So playing comes natural to him.
He used to play trumpet too.
He was working with a female singer several years back. They recorded
several songs but had put that on hiatus to focus more on Reign of
Roses at the time. So we both have been keeping busy in our own
things, even the many other things we have interest in and the lives
we have outside of our music. But know that there is music soon to
come and in the works from both Dwayne & myself.
Now for other news - our entire back catalog on Metropolis will all be
discontinued except for Where Angels Fear To Tread & No Rest For The
Wicked. All discontinued material is avalible for download though
I-tunes and other outlets such as metro's
website. So if you want a
final hard copy of any of these releases... dont hesitate... these
will not be re-pressed.
Revelations 23 [under 20 copies left], Continuum, Burnt Beyond
Recognition, Centuries, Algorythum, Systematik Ruin, Love is The Law,
Vengeance is Mine, & Return To Grimpen Ward. Copies are very very
limited. Get them while they last.....