| On an early April evening this year, Ragged Words quite accidentally discovered the wonderful world of The Mules. “So sensational” was the live performance that night that, “they could have made the most idiosyncratic band appear mundane.” Interview please.
The scene is the Brixton Windmill’s solitary male cubicle and I’m ankle deep in I don’t care to know what. The reason being that three-fifths of The Mules, whom I have just interviewed and have no idea of my current unfortunate whereabouts, are taking up all the urinals. “Who was that interview with?” a waiting voice asks. “Ragged Words… I’ve never heard of them,” replies a Mule. “Very long interview. Nice guy but he didn’t ask many questions!” adds another. It’s true. Ragged Words may have only contributed to, at best, two and half minutes of an ‘interview’ that lasted closer to ninety. But they’re an interesting bunch these Mules and I’m just happy to listen.
Interesting doesn’t even begin to explain their music. When asked to name any contemporaries of a similar ilk, singing drummer Ed Seed replies simply that “there aren’t any.” Noted comparisons have ranged from Dexy’s Midnight Runners to The Libertines, encompassing their blend of Band era country music and late 60’s US garage punk. “Country music with a Z” was how keyboard player Tim Burke put it at a recent gig. “One of the things we set out to achieve is to always elicit a reaction whether it’s negative or positive,” says bassist Jim Lesslie. “You don’t want to get shrugged shoulders. It’s better if they hate it.” Ed adds. The indie scene-sters can shrug all they like because it just so happens that The Mules are one of the most fantastically original bands around.
The Mules began when Ed and Tim met at University over their mutual adoration of The Band. They needed a guitarist, curiously discovering Jim in an Oxford bathroom. An original eight-piece was slimmed to five with guitarist Duncan Brown and violinist Nico Beedle completing the line up. It says quite a lot for their musicianship that only Duncan is still playing his original instrument of choice. “It’s perverse musicianship really,” insists Ed. “You’re forcing people to do something their not used to do and once you put them out of their element, they produce more interesting things.”
The fifteen thoughtful minutes spent discussing the aforementioned “interesting things”, reveals a real appreciation of the art of song writing. “Ed makes the blueprint,” claims Duncan. “It can be varied though,” says Tim. “Ed can bring a tiny sketch or a complete song that we can then rewrite as a band. I remember these cassettes of 13 or 14 tracks Ed used to bring us with all the parts done. We’d just think, what the fuck do we do now.” Ed continues: “I used to go home to Wales for university holidays, grab the four track, tune the guitar down to a bass, get the kit out and record all the parts. It’s similar now, I’ll bring in demos with various parts written and it gets put through The Mules machine.”
The Mules machine has not yet had a chance to be all that productive. Their output has thus far been limited to January 2005’s ‘Grab Your Musket EP.’ However a new single, ‘Here To Help’, is due out at the end of the month with their debut album to follow later this summer. Having played these songs relentlessly over the past two years, the band are way ahead. Ed explains: “The time we’re taking off to rehearse this month is for the second album which in my book is written. There are sixteen songs (one more than album one) done and ready to go through The Mules mill. I’m now working on number three.”
With so much written and such obvious depths of talent, The Mules seem a clear candidate for slow burning success. Jim agrees: “We’ve always wanted to be a band that will make a lot of albums, building a slow success and hopefully having a lasting career. We’re not going to become 18% more like The Libertines just because our record didn’t sell very well.” The mention of aspiring to someone of the longevity of Tom Waits, draws considerable oohs and aahs. “Tom Waits is like cheese,” says Duncan. “He gets better as he gets mouldier and more crinkled. Maybe that’s what we’re trying to do a little bit with The Mules is to establish something that can grow organically.”
And what about those Libertines references? “What do the Libertines sound like?” Tim enquires of his fellow Mules. “Actually don’t answer because you’ll just tell me they’re like another band I’ve never heard of.” Out of time? The Mules are certainly that. Timeless may prove a more apt description of The Mules in due course.
Written by Padraic Halpin for www.raggedwords.com, May 2006.
|
