Mutt Ramon

I didn't quite get it at first: I thought Mutt Ramon was a bunch of kids from Manchester writing mad pop songs while in the midst of a hangover. That was probably the effect of a prolonged exposition to "Phisically Corrupted" and its sticky verses ("my sim card is my memory/I'm corrupted phisically": can somebody get this out of my head please?). But now that "Utterly Mutterly", Mutt Ramon's first album is available, everything is clear: a detailed indie picture, mixing electronic and melody with humor, wit and a deep understanding of how an indiepop record should sound. Most of the time happy, but also capable of wistful moments, this is an album fully formed and perfected, and it shows that Mutt Ramon are no kids, despite having estabilished themselves in the Peoples Republic of Ramonia. We exchanged some emails with the men behind the band, two talented individuals called N and S (Neil and Simon, really), co-workers that were just meant to play songs together. We talked about the album, the band, the lack of a label and the guy who lives in Finland and sends them wondeful hummable lyrics like the one that's buzzing in my head right now.

A little story of the band: how long have you been playing as Mutt Ramon, where do you write/rehearse/ record stuff?? Any previous musical experiences?

S: We were both in a certain indie band around 7 years ago, and did a few gigs in Manchester. However, the band imploded just as we were getting good, and we all went our separate ways. But then a couple of years ago I approached N with a tape of new tunes, and we've been recording and writing ever since.
N : We record in the Peoples Republic of Ramonia, which closely resembles a purple dining room with a computer and a piano (and a fishtank).
S: It closely resembles a dining room because it is one - yours.


What exactly is the role of the Finnish guy? Of course you must know that having a Scandinavian bandmate is the coolest thing for a band these days?:)

S: Of course I know it's cool, although I've never actually said that R is Finnish (he's British but has made Finland his home). He has an open invitation to supply words
for Mutt Ramon songs. Physically Corrupted and Derek Jarman's Garden are his.


Did you start Mutt Ramon with an idea of where you aim to be in two/three years (like getting a record deal, gigging and so on) or merely for the fun of making music?

N: For the sheer torture of it.
S: It's my mid-life crisis. It was either release some records or buy a Harley-Davidson. And I'm too chicken to ride a motorcycle.


Your approach to indie music certainly doesn't give away your age. If it wasn't for some revealing bits of musical knowledge you would seem a band of teenage kids (and I mean that as a compliment). How do you manage to keep this freshness in your sound?

N: Thanks. We stay young through music, and in all other aspects of our lives we behave like we are over 60.
S: Not having a traditional band structure (e.g. guitar, bass drums) helps.


Bands that have to your knowledge influenced you, both in electro and pop sense. Any C86? German electronics?

N: I like Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, New Order, Human League, ...
S: I'm the indie kid (!). But I think the best way to answer this is to list the bands we both like (and there aren't many): Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, The Tiny, Strip Squad, Belle and Sebastian, Suburban Kids With Biblical Names and Gorillaz.
N: ...Goldfrapp, Fischerspooner, ...
S: You can stop now N - no-one's really interested.
N: ...Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada and Nathan Fake.


Mutt Ramon's sound: lo-fi pop-electronic with a strong sense of rhythm and predominant basslines? I wrote "they play with crazy electronic over traditional indie-rock structures", although the album somehow shifted my view on this: What's your approach to music?

N: I think you described us very well. See the next question for more...
S: My approach is to avoid guitar solos at all cost. This is because I'm really bad at them.

How's the process of writing songs for Mutt Ramon? Do you lay out the melody, the guitar or the electronic first? How do you get to the finished song (with strings for example)

N: Generally, S writes the tunes (and sometimes the words) using his guitar and then I come along and pour a healthy dose of electronics on top, and write some more words (or sing Robin's). I have a few rules, which include using synthesised basslines, and a good strong beat from a drum machine. But we sometimes break these rules of course. Luckily for us, both our wives are talented musicians (playing violin and trumpet amongst other instruments), and so we have started to use their skills more.
S: I do try to write words but I tend to give up after the first verse. Or the title. Singing la-la-la for the chorus comes naturally to me.


Songs like "Head Down" or "Strangers" makes me think you must have some dance connections. Do you have specific experiences in the disco/electronic scene?

N: Yeah, that would be me! I grew up listening only to Electronic (and sometimes Classical) music, and it took me a while to warm to guitars. Those two songs were a case of me taking S's demo of guitar and voice, and replacing it entirely with synths. Just to see how far I could get away with.
S: I've been to a few discos in my time. Ha ha. Actually, I didn't really like those songs until N rescued them.


Have the Pet Shop Boys been an influence to some degree? Do you think they deserve the recognition they have today at all? I mean, I remember back in the day most people around here (including me, probably) seemed to think they were worthless.

N: S grumbles about this, but they have been my favourite band since I first saw them perform West End Girls in 1986. They were never worthless in my eyes! People probably said the same about Sparks in the 1970's, but they (Sparks) were Morrissey's favourite band.
S: I'm saying nothing.


All your songs are terribly catchy. Is catchy something you're looking for? What's your relation to melody?

N: S is very insistent that a song must have a tune that grabs you first time and doesn't let go. He dismisses anything which doesn't do this!
S: True.


On the second part of the album the songs tend to get more intimate (ban The Dog Song of course). Did you plan the record as an emotional journey?

N: Plan? What plan?
S: Ban the Dog Song? I wish we could! I'm not sure there's an emotional journey, but I knew how I wanted the album to start and finish. The hard bit was putting the rest into an order that makes listening a pleasure. I hope we've achieved that.


What do you like to write about? I really cannot tell because I probably get about 40% of the lyrics, but there seems to be a lot of humour involved as well as more intense lines as in my favourite song "Worlds".


N: We write about all kinds of things, but rarely conventional love songs. There is humour in there, but with other meanings behind it too. Some of it is quite personal, but hidden under layers of other stuff, and some of it verging on nonsense. S's lyrics are usually about his cat though, which is a grey/blue colour with silvery, boot-like paws. "Worlds" is a philosophical love song, contemplating how long life is, and concluding that it doesn't matter as long as it's spent with the one you love.
S: I do write about my cat, but also about my wife, my children, dogs and monkeys. I haven't done a song about tapirs yet...


You told me you didn't really look for a label to publish Utterly Mutterly (Labrador of course doesn't count, as everybody - except you - knows that label takes only swedish bands:-). Do you think this will change for the future?

N: I told him they only took Swedish bands, but did he listen? If the right offer came along, which paid enough for us to retire happily to large houses in the countryside then we may be persuaded...
S: Is that Labrador's official line? Sounds a bit blinkered. I just want to ensure that we retain the copyright to our songs and recordings. Anything else seems morally wrong.


You have done things real fast: two single and an album in the space of a few months. How long are you gonna keep this pace? Do you have many tunes in your songsbook?

S: Well it's really only one album.
N: Ideally I think we'd just like to produce album after album.
S: Indefinitely.
N: Definitely.

Salvatore

Links:

Mutt Ramon official site: www.muttramon.com
Mutt Ramon@indiepop.it: bands/muttramon.htm