A Conversation With Bubba Crumrine, Mouth To Mouth To Mouth
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Bubba Crumrine, of the local Ithaca alternative band Mouth To Mouth To Mouth, sat down with me to answer some questions. It’s Dashboard Confessional meets Dinosaur Jr. and their first recorded EP is on sale now at Angry Mom Records (115 The Commons).
Mouth To Mouth To Mouth is composed of Corey Fox Mahaney on guitar & vocals, Bubba Crumrine on bass & vocals, Gabe Millman on drums, and Peter Pillardy on guitar. Members have also been in a lengthy list of other Ithaca bands including Makeshift, Genital Holograms, BRIAN!, Fight A Scary Dog, and several others.
Shea: Describe working at Pyramid Sound Studios. Is this your first recorded EP? Are there other hidden Mouth To Mouth To Mouth tracks?
Bubba: Working with Phil Abbott at Pyramid was such a great experience. We’d only been playing together for three to four months when we set the date to record but right off the bat we all knew this was a project we wanted document properly. Phil was incredibly thorough and helped us get the tone and vibe we were aiming for. He was just the right mix of pushing us for our best, making recording/mix suggestions, and being a good listener to our interests. He recorded, mixed, and mastered the whole thing and we’re very pleased. Sometimes there’s three different melodies going on at the same time plus Gabe’s intricate work behind the kit that could have easily been muddied or parts could have gotten lost in the wrong hands.
So far, those four tracks on the EP are the only ones with proper recordings, however two additional pieces (performed back in August) have video clips up on the Ithaca Underground YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/IthacaUnderground
Shea: What is the main theme or message in your work?
Bubba: To make complex, melodic music that’s enjoyable to listen to without sacrificing technical prowess nor needing abide by conventional songwriting. We play music we’d enjoy listening to. There’s not much more specifics to that. If a piece needs vocals, it gets them. If a piece needs to have a bit more personal, emotional involvement or social commentary, we’ll include it. Each piece is sort of assessed on its own and allowed to grow. Then we feed it what it needs.
Shea: What venues have you played?
Bubba: Locally, we’ve played The Haunt twice (for Big Day In and the Beach Parade farewell/my birthday show), The Space @ GreenStar, Community School of Music & Arts (for the Ithaca Underground stage of Ithaca Festival), plus Blot Spot and Pajama / Kazama (aka Bazooka / Bazooka) both in Binghamton, the Cortland Youth Center, and the Flying Squirrel Community Center opening for the Cattle Drums/Dan Drake tour date in Rochester.
Shea: What does MTMTM’s future hold?
Bubba: We all consider this to be one of our core projects, though we’re on a bit of a break at the moment. Corey’s going to the School of Arts Institute in Chicago while Peter, Gabe, and I are all still here in Ithaca with other projects (namely BRIAN! and the newly formed Phorke). We aim to record our new tracks “Mouth Parade” and “That Felt Weird Coming Out of My Mouth” in late December and play a good chunk of shows.
Shea: Finally, what contact information would you like to give to the community?
Bubba: For booking, the best way to reach out is to contact me, Bubba, via contact@ithacaunderground.com, but make sure you include our band name (or at least MTMTM) in the subject. It’s the same address I use to book for Ithaca Underground so, the inbox can get a bit tricky at times. Our music can be easily found, listened to, and downloaded via our bandcamp page http://mouthtomouthtomouth.bandcamp.com and we welcome folks to find us on Facebook and MySpace (hello…? anyone still here?) if they’re into that.
