Winning is not something I have been gifted with. I haven’t been blessed like Charlie Sheen. I am not the lucky person who wins radio contests, or raffles and drawings. It’s just not in my blood. But my luck picked a great day to change.
MuteMath is a band I have enjoyed since 2007. They are an alternative rock band from New Orleans. Their rock sound is accompanied with a little bit of an electronic sound. And they are one of my favorite bands to watch. They are all very animated, well, Roy Mitchell-Cárdenas, the bass player, usually stays cool and collected near the rear, but his hair stands out the most. And he wears jean on jean better than Jay Leno.
It has been since 2007 that I have seen them live. So, when tickets for their latest show in L.A. went on sale without my knowledge, and then proceeded to sell out before I knew about it, I was upset to say the least.
As their concert came and went this week I was pretty bummed. I am a social network junkie, if you don’t know me that well. So, when I saw MuteMath twitter that there was another chance for me to see them, I jumped on it. It was a simple process, fill out my name, age, the usual, and be entered to see them play at their label Warner Bros. for an intimate show. I entered without a second thought. And didn’t think much about it after because after all, I don’t win things. But August 18th, 2011 was the day all that changed.
At work on my lunch break I got an email informing I was one of ten winners to see MuteMath at WB. Here is the invite:
Invited to see them play, and have drinks and lunch from Ruth’s Chris! Awesome! But there was a catch. The show was at noon in Burbank. I work on Fridays! And there is no way the show and my drive time would be in an hour for me to be able to go on my lunch break. We were already short people. The office manager who does reception with me was out-of-town and one of our opticians was sick. There was no way I could call in sick and have the office struggle. So, I decided to be a responsible adult. I e-mailed WB back and told them I couldn’t go because of work. Thanked them for the opportunity and told them to give my spot to someone else. This was so hard.
Ten minutes later I got an e-mail back. This is what it said, “We will keep you on the list just in case you ‘call in sick’ tomorrow.” How could they tempt me like this?! This was a once in a lifetime opportunity! After contemplating for a while I decided I would just talk to the Doctor and tell him what happened. I expected the answer to be no, but if I didn’t even try, I would regret it.
I took him aside and explained the situation. And to my surprise he said that I could go as long as our sick optician showed up the next day and I had to come to work in the morning and come back after. Woot!!! This was the best news ever. I found out that evening the optician was coming in and I was good to go. I e-mailed WB back and told them I was in!
I got to bring a guest and the person I automatically thought of was my friend David. He’s actually the one that introduced me to the band. We met up at the studio and were the first one’s there. We got to see the band set up and sound check.
The patio filled up quickly around noon and we soon realized that the majority of people who were there worked at Warner Bros. It ended up being a showcase for MuteMath to share some of their new songs to their label. And we got to be a part of it. Pretty cool. The sad thing was they only did a 30 minute set. I think they played 4 or 5 of their new songs and then ended the with “Spotlight,” which is their song that was featured on the Twilight soundtrack. I love that song, and not because it was in Twilight. And it was my first time hearing them play live. It was great!
Paul Meany, the lead singer’s voice has a really unique tone. And like I said earlier he is entertaining to watch. When I saw MuteMath back in 2007 it was at a venue with a really low ceiling. Meany went to flip over his keys when he hit the ceiling. Whoops! And this small show was no different. My favorite moments are when he whips out the tambourine or this fun stage toy:
After the show, when everything was being torn down, the band hung out and people were going up and talking to them. It was at that moment I began to get nervous. This was my opportunity to talk with them and I was chickening out! David and I got in the long line for lunch, that happened to go right by where they were. At one point the line moved, I moved, but David stuck around and got to chatting with my favorite drummer Darren King. By the time I got the guts to go back and try to butt in, the convo had ended and I lost my guts to begin my own chat.
As we were finally nearing the food, Todd Gummerman, the bands new guitarist, came up to us and asked if he could cut to get some food. We gladly obliged as he stated he hadn’t eaten since Thursday’s lunch. We got to small talk with him. And we was really down-to-earth and easy to talk to. On stage at first he seems like he doesn’t quite match the rest of the band, but he is a talented guitarist and is as animated while playing as Meany and King.
We enjoyed the lunch. It was REALLY good. If I ever get a chance to go to Ruth’s Chris, I know what to order now 🙂 The event was coming to a close and the band members were slowly leaving because they had to hop on a flight to New Orleans. This was my last chance to talk to my favorite drummer, King. He was walking by towards the exit and I blurted out “Darren!” He looked over, and then proceeded to walk over to us. In a moment I had thrown my plate of food to David so I could shake his hand and talk like the good Italian girl I am. He was super sweet and when I ask for his picture he said, “I would be honored.” And it wasn’t in a cheesy way, it was totally genuine.
Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to chat with Roy. I really wanted to take a picture with both of us highlighting out lovely brunette locks, but he was first to get in the van. And when we were on our way to talk to Meany, a group of girls, who didn’t even know his name, jumped in front of us to take a pic and then he headed out. I promise I’m not holding a grudge…well, maybe just a little, haha.
But all in all, it was a success! It was one of the best things I have been a part of. And made me really want to work there. We will see. But it did inspire me to get my gears moving faster when it comes to my dream career.
I’ll leave you with this video MuteMath to give you an idea of who they if you don’t know. And here is the link of the performance I saw. I tried to embed this one, but it was cooperating with me. And if you like it, I would encourage you to hop over to iTunes and buy everything they have 🙂 Their new album comes out in October, so be on the look out for that. And I know they will be on the October cover of Relevant Magazine as well.
Until next time…PEACE OUT!
The One... 