rtists helping out those less fortunate is nothing new but in the case of pioneer indie rockers Mae, helping has been taken to a whole new aesthetic level. Mae, which stands for Multi-sensory Aesthetic Experience embarked on a very unique journey this year. Releasing songs on their own label in a way that would keep the band on the minds of their fans for the entire year, Mae set out to not only kick it up a notch in terms of musical stylings but to completely change the way we experience music. We’ll let guitarist Zach Gehring fill you in on all the exciting details.
Obviously you’re doing something pretty unique with this current album. Can you give us a brief overview of how this is all working and what sparked you guys to go this direction?
Zach Gehring: A lot of events led to the development of this campaign: 12 songs, 12 months, 1 goal–Make a difference. I would say us leaving Capitol Records, parting ways with management and losing two members really opened the door for the three of us in terms of being able to really take our music and lay out specific goals that we alone could pursue. We had no 3rd party interest weary of the idea financially which was a big factor. We simply wouldn’t of been able to do this on a record label, or at least not in the way we wanted. Also, we wanted to harness the influential capacity of music, and use it to help us get our ideas and aspirations across to our fans and anyone else who is willing to listen. Music has been such a strong force for us growing up, and we wanted to translate that into something good. To have the ability and opportunity to really affect people with music is an amazing thing and we didn’t want to shirk the responsibility if given the chance. We wanted to do something that went beyond a financial commitment, we wanted to get our fans directly involved with us in our ideas and goals we set for ourselves.
such as this.”
Was this something you knew you’d be doing while you wrote the songs?
ZG: Yes, and you can definitely see that in some of the songs we have released this year, most notably, the track that we released in January of 2009, “The House That Fire Built”. Although, I wouldn’t say that every song we’ve released has implications or hidden parallels that align with our campaign. Some are just songs, and some others reflect our ambition for this year.
How has the response been from fans?
ZG: The response has been great, and honestly, if it wasn’t, it would make this much harder. The campaign was designed to get our fans directly involved in a way that requires both band and fan to be a part of it. Part of the reason for this campaign was to break down the barriers that can develop between artist and fan and display the symbiotic necessity of both in a relationship such as this. We wanted to do what we could to build a strong fan community, and if you head over to whatismae.com/maeteam you take part in what is going on with fans all over the world. We need the fans, every musician or artist does.
Musically, how do you feel that Mae has stepped it up since the last record?
ZG: With these new songs, we were able to really become self indulgent again when it came to wrong writing. We have a few songs that are over 6 minutes long which is something we had to abandon when on Capitol. The songs are more ambitious for sure, we were able to explore with more abstract ideas. We used a brass section for the first time in Mae’s history, not to mention flute.
You released the album on your own label, Cell Records. What is current relationship with Tooth N’ Nail Records?
ZG: Tooth N’ Nail is involved in the distribution of our releases, so that we are able to put them in stores. We have always had a very good relationship with Tooth N’ Nail and they very understanding of our desire to remain an independent entity in terms of creative and business practice.
Where does Mae draw their inspiration from?
ZG: The never ending scope of human experience, both personally experienced and from an outside perspective.
How has your faith played a part in your career?
ZG: Faith is a part of our architecture being that we were all raised in the church as children growing up, but throughout our career we have deconstructed our faith, analyzed it, challenged it, and really done our best to purge any conditioning that could serve to restrict our understanding of the human experience (which I mentioned above). The three of us have dealt with the issues in our own way and I will not speak for the others in my band. The term “Faith” is something I can’t speak of with finality at this point, in terms of how it has played a part in our career. I think that more importantly, it is in constant conflict with who we are becoming as individuals. It bleeds into our music inevitably, and we would never fight that because it is useless. Although, the topic of faith would be much better served by discussing it as a primal force and and evolving idea of our individuality, rather than the collective idea in relation to the entity of MAE.
Do you feel like artists need to invest more of their time in humanitarian work considering the voices and influence they have on so many?
ZG: I am reluctant to speak about the rolls that artists or musicians should play in humanitarian work, or social arenas in general. Every artists is inspired by something different and if those inspirations evoke some convictions that lead them into that realm, then they should definitely explore it. What I think is more important would be the investment of time and energy into social awareness by every individual, being that every individual is a part of the larger community.
Can you tell us a bit about what this tour is going to look like?
ZG: I don’t want to reveal too much, but I will say that we have been able to introduce a new aspect of the MAE experience into the show. We have sonic, visual, and now TOUCH. We are playing a good mix of songs from all of our releases.
The “TOUCH” theme extends itself into community projects our fans are organizing across the country in each of the cities we play. To find out more about this and to get involved, please visit www.whatismae.com/maeteam and become a part of our 2009 campaign: 12 songs, 12 months, 1 goal–Make a difference.
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