“Hiatus,” as defined by The American Heritage Dictionary of The English Language : “A gap or an interruption in space, time, or continuity; a break.”
“Hiatus” is what Gov’t Mule has been on this year, but the band’s members have done anything but take a “break.” Multi-instrumentalist Danny Louis has been feeding the roar of the all-star collective known as Stockholm Syndrome, while Mule frontman Warren Haynes has aired his inner soul man with his Man In Motion album and subsequent live shows.
Meanwhile the Mule’s powerhouse rhythm team of drummer Matt Abts and bassist Jorgen Carlsson have been making some music of their own in the band Planet Of The Abts (or POA, as it is name-checked in the band’s version of “Off The Hook”). Guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist T-Bone Andersson completes POA’s power trio lineup, with the band’s sound ranging from Pink Floydish shimmering soundscapes to full-throttle rock and roll that combines the raw power of the Stooges with Electric Ladyland musicianship. Oh – and a groove that just never, ever, quits.
Planet Of The Abts’ self-titled debut album was engineered by Steve Holroyd, whose studio talents earned him the title of honorary fourth member for the sessions. The band’s live shows have proven that they sound just as powerful and multi-layered in the flesh as they do on record. And POA plans on keeping busy until it’s time to throw the halter on the Mule once again – as well as on standby to take advantage of gaps in Gov’t Mule’s schedule to continue their own musical journey.
There ain’t no flies on these guys.
Matt Abts was kind of enough to share a slice of one busy afternoon to talk about the making of POA’s debut album with us. It was a fun conversation.
BR: Right off the bat, I wanted to say that some folks might look at a side project like this and see it as a potential threat to the main band – in this case, Gov’t Mule. POA, however, feels like a strengthening of the bond that was already there between you and Jorgen – and something that can’t help but be good for Gov’t Mule when you all get back together.
MA: Absolutely – between Jorgen and I working on POA, Danny’s involvement with Stockholm Syndrome, and what Warren has going on with his solo band, we encourage this kind of thing. After 17 years in the Mule, Warren and I were looking for the right time to just give it a rest. There are no bad vibes or anything like that.
BR: Oh, no – I know. You all have a great family; for instance, I owe Warren’s wife Stef and Kendall from her office a thanks for helping me make the connection with you.
MA: Oh, yeah – everybody encourages each other and it’s all good. When we get back together to play, everybody’s really rejuvenated again. It’s a good thing.
BR: I think I may have read somewhere that prior to Jorgen joining the Mule, he hadn’t paid any attention to your early stuff with the late Allen Woody – but he sure nailed that vibe. Not like somebody who had grown up trying to imitate Woody up in his room or anything … it was simply a case of kindred souls who had never met. It seemed like you and Jorgen just melded right from the beginning.
MA: This is true. You know, somebody had to tell Jorgen who we were. (laughter)
BR: No!
MA: It’s true. He did not know who Gov’t Mule was.
BR: Oh that makes it even better – that’s great. (laughter)
MA: Yeah, it is great. Growing up in Sweden, Jorgen didn’t know who the Allman Brothers were … he never listened to them; it was more European music. They didn’t hear “Whipping Post” and all that stuff. (laughs)
So it’s really cool that he wasn’t familiar with us and managed to be such a new inspiration to us, you know? But you’re right: he does have elements of Allen Woody, there’s no doubt about it. I think as Warren put it, it was like going back in the past, but also moving ahead into the future. It was really a unique experience getting Jorgen into the Mule.
BR: How about Planet Of The Abts – did you and Jorgen have a sound in your heads that you were looking for prior to T-Bone, or did you find the sound when you met him? And how did you meet him?
MA: Jorgen and T knew each other when they were growing up in Sweden – that’s the connection. The two of them were playing music together before they came to the United States – although they didn’t move to the US together; I think Jorgen actually came first and T came over later. But yeah – they knew each other back in Sweden. I’d never played with T Bone until POA.
We started this project in Jorgen’s studio about a year ago – he lives not too far from me in the Los Angeles area – and finished it this past April. Jorgen and I had a project we wanted to do and we had a great all-analog studio to do it in. It wasn’t like we’d planned to form POA during the Mule hiatus; it just turned out to be perfect timing. We’ve been doing gigs and we’re just now getting the music out there; we’re really excited about it.
BR: And at this point, you’re self-releasing the album, correct?
MA: I don’t know if I want to be on a label. (laughs) This process has been really great in the sense that we’ve had complete control over everything. Now, that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t switch over to a label if we had interest, but I’m not waiting around. After 17 years in Gov‘t Mule and all the years in the music business, I have some resources myself … (laughs)
Sure, it would be nice to have some funding, but so far we’ve done really well between having Jorgen’s studio to work in and everyone simply putting in their time on the project. There were the three of us plus our engineer, Steve Holroyd, who’s like the fourth member of POA on this particular project.
BR: And is Steve part of your live sound in any way?
MA: No, he’s had nothing to do with the live shows. When we put this together in Jorgen’s studio, there were three musicians and we treated Steve just like the fourth. Everybody put in their time and efforts; we all sang backup vocals when they were needed, including Steve. We just split it 25% for everybody on this record to make it easy. Everybody contributed. It worked out great that way.
BR: I know Danny Louis isn’t an official member of POA, but he co-wrote the opener, “Planet Pt. 1” and plays on it – how did that come about?
MA: “Planet Pt. 1” and “Dressed Up Looking Fine” were the first two songs that we recorded – we did that on Easter Day 2010. “Planet Pt. 1” was an instrumental right from the start, but when we finished it, I knew it needed something. I kept going back and forth: “Should we put some kind of strange vocal on it?” “Should we put some saxophone on it?”
I was leaning toward that direction – horns – and I all of a sudden thought, “Hell – we need Danny Louis playing trumpet on this.” We sent him the files and he sent them back with the horns. We just flipped – it sounded so cool. We were so impressed, we said, “All right – we’ll give Danny a co-write on this.” That’s how that came about. I was thrilled that Danny put the time and effort into it – he did a great job.
BR: Usually what I do when I put an ear to a review album for the first time is scribble down my first impression – just a quick note. Here’s what I wrote for “Planet Pt. 1”: “Psychedelic James Bond movie theme.”
MA: (laughs) You know what? You got that so right on, man – that’s the way I think about it, also. Yeah … I’d love to place that song in the next James Bond movie … (laughs) It’s very dramatic and very movie score-like. To tell you the truth, we’ve already got a company looking to place this music in film or movies.
BR: How do you guys handle all the layers on “Planet Pt. 1” in a live setting? T-Bone’s only got so many arms and there are all kinds of guitar, keys …
MA: When we do it live, T plays keys and guitar – sometimes simultaneously. He’s got a guitar strapped on and a keyboard in front of him. T’s really our secret weapon; he’s a marvelous singer, plus a great guitarist and keyboard player.
BR: Describe the writing process for the album – how much of this stuff existed before you went into Jorgen’s studio?
MA: None of it. What we’d do is sit around and someone would start with, “Well, I’ve got an idea here …” and we’d spend a number of hours doing that; have something to eat; as the nighttime approached, maybe have a glass of wine … and just keep talking about the music and sussing it out in our heads. That’s how every one of the sessions went.
And then we’d say, “Let’s record now.” We’d go in and do it one or two times – and basically that was what you hear; from there we’d do whatever overdubs. It was an interesting set-up in the studio, because they were in the control room and I was in a completely separate room with no visual sightlines to them; we just communicated with headphones.
The whole album was written like that; we’d just get together and everybody would have an idea and we’d build from parts – it wasn’t that much of a preconceived thing. We’d never played the songs before we recorded them; we’d write; we’d record; and then we’d move on.
It was a great way to work – and that’s the way I like to work: don’t beat it to death. Let the creative thing cut in and just go for it.
BR: And if you have three guys who all feel the same way …
MA: That’s right; and there are so many influences that we all agree upon. It was real easy to play with Jorgen right from the beginning when he joined the Mule and when T came into the situation, it just fell right into place.
BR: Cool. So how about we dive back into the tracks?
MA: Yeah – go for it! (laughs)
BR: I loved the mix on “Dressed Up Looking Fine” – you go from feeling like the whole frigging band is right there in the living room with you to a fathoms-deep sound on the chorus. And it sounds perfectly natural … a really nice job.
MA: Absolutely. Between Jorgen and T being from Sweden and Steve being British, I think the whole record has a kind of European sensibility – the background vocals, the production, the mix … everything.
BR: And is that T doing the lead vocals on “Dressed Up Looking Fine”?
MA: Yeah, that’s right – he’s doing the lead vocals on everything except “Off The Hook”.
BR: And “Off The Hook” is you, right?
MA: That’s right. (laughs)
BR: You know what my first-blush scribble on that was? “Iggy Pop meets Deep Purple.”
MA: (laughs) Thank you! That’s amazing – have we ever met before? (laughter) Man, that’s how we were describing it ourselves! (laughter)
“Off The Hook” was a Jagger/Richards song, which you probably know. The first time I ever heard it was on a video from the 60s – the T.A.M.I. Show. The T.A.M.I. version is this real … (sings in laid-back, funky voice) “It’s off the hook/hook/dum-da-doo-doo-da-da” … it’s … I’m not sure what it is. (laughter)
BR: As I remember, it had a real “Alley Oop” beat to it …
MA: Yeah – exactly! So I saw it on TV and said, “This is a cool song … let’s heavy it up.” So we did – we made it into a Jagger/Richards/POA song. (Laughter) We rewrote the lyrics: I used the title and the first verse and wrote a new second verse.
BR: I would guess that the piano riff on “Anything You Want It To Be” was the first thing that existed on that tune. I love how no matter how wild-ass the song gets, the piano always holds its ground – and in the end, reclaims the song.
MA: You know what? You remember when that Elton John/Leon Russell record came out last year? I think I had that in the back of my head at the time … and I knew T played keys really well. I love the piano and I wanted keyboards to be part of the sound of the band. We sat down in the studio and talked about the song for a while and then I went in to lay down the drums. While the red light was on, we went through it – one take – and that was it. We thought that maybe it would make a good demo: “We’ll come in tomorrow and work on it.”
The next day I realized we were chasing something that was already done. I said, “Enough – that’s it. It’s a one-take song.” We just used that first take we did and built it from there.
BR: Jorgen’s bass work on that is great. The way he almost doubles the vocal at times – never in your face or anything; just lovely. There’s a nice Beatlesy drift there in the middle section.
MA: A lot of people have said that; we show our influences very much on the album. There’s some Pink Floyd …
BR: Ah – here’s what I wrote – and all I wrote – when I listened to “Circus” for the first time: “Floyd.”
MA: (laughs) We wear our Floyd vibe proudly – love it. (laughter)
BR: And where did “Circus” come from? Was that another one that spawned from a groove?
MA: I think Jorgen started out with the main riff on “Circus” … and then T came up with the chorus part. Once any one of us had an idea, we’d simply roll with it. “Let’s do this; let’s try that.” It was very democratic and nothing was written in stone. Everything evolved very organically.
BR: “Deep Into Self” feels like the drum and bass are a single instrument.
MA: Yeah, that’s one of my favorite tracks; a lot of people have commented on it. It’s got such a great groove and hook – it’s a lot of fun to play live.
BR: That’s another neat mix: it goes from a real immediate, intimate sound to a center-of-the-earth deepness. Maybe that’s part of that European sound you mentioned earlier – you think?
MA: Oh, yeah. It’s some kind of European sensibility that comes from those three being from there and me … (laughs)
BR: Wherever you’re from.
MA: Right! (laughter)
BR: “Planet Pt. 2” starts off as a total freakout that’s nowhere and everywhere all at once before it returns to the central theme of “Pt. 1”.
MA: That’s right. We have so many versions of that particular song – that’s just one of them. We laid down the track and then Jorgen went back afterwards, took the parts that he thought were the best, and put them through Pro Tools to come up with what you’re hearing. We have so many outtakes of this on tape that we could make at least three more versions of it.
It’s interesting: when my son – who’s seventeen almost eighteen – first heard the record, he liked “Planet Pt. 2” the most. It kind of freaked me out. (laughs) That seems like the most esoteric, crazy bunch of music on the whole record and he loved it – said he liked all the melodies that were happening. I was really surprised to hear that from him. I thought he’d like the vocal tunes more, but that was his favorite.
BR: Hey, you know what – there are a lot of folks whose 17-year-old hardly speaks to them, let alone listens – and likes – their music. Go, Dad! (laughter)
MA: That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Can’t get a word out of him and then he texts me: “Dad – that song’s killing.” (laughter)
BR: “Trying To Be Myself” – T-Bone goes from sounding like Eddie Van Halen to moments of Hendrix to an almost Texas blues vibe – and it all sounds perfectly natural. He pulls from everywhere with his guitar playing, doesn’t he?
MA: That’s a good way to put it. We thought that would be a good piece of music to close out the record: it starts kind of softly, explodes wide open, and then touches back down again to close things out. Like I said, T’s our secret weapon – he’s really an incredible player, singer, and songwriter.
BR: I really felt kind of numb, listening to the album and thinking, “Jesus – where did he come from?”
MA: (laughs) He and Jorgen played a lot of Hendrix in Sweden – Hendrix was the shit, man. T’s favorite musical influences are Hendrix, Black Sabbath, and … I guess they have some kind of affinity for ABBA.
BR: Wait, wait … ABBA?
MA: Oh, yeah – they’ll back this up, believe me.
BR: Hmmm. Are you planning on doing any ABBA covers?
MA: No. (laughter) It’s just a pop sensibility that those guys like.
BR: Well, I guess if I give it a chance, I can see it – the hooks are there on these songs. I mean, there are some great, great jams, but there are also chunks of these songs that stick right to you because of the hooks.
MA: Absolutely.
BR: Well, I take back what I said. God bless ABBA, man. (laughter) So what’s on the horizon for POA?
MA: We’ve basically got the rest of this year to get to it before Gov’t Mule rears its ugly ass again. (laughs) We’re just working hard and working seriously on doing this. I was talking with some people from GABBAfest yesterday – we’ll be at GABBAfest in September.
I’m just kind of doing this on my own. We don’t have a manager; I’m just trying to use all of my resources that I’ve come to know over the last twenty years. With the Mule being on hiatus, I haven’t been home this long for years. It’s been great to have something to do close to home. And when you’re doing it yourself, of course, it never ends. (laughs)
Like you mentioned earlier, Stef’s office – Hard Head Management – and Kendall and Adam over there have all been a lot of help to us … they’re great. We’re just working hard between now and New Years – and we plan on keeping POA together in between Mule breaks.
BR: And the Mule?
MA: Well, we’re doing New Years, of course – and we’ll be playing Jamaica again next year, also.
Taking the Mule into the studio is sitting in the back of our heads, too … I’m not sure if it’ll be at the end of this year or at the start of next. Again, it’s been great to have the opportunity and time to do POA and know that Gov’t Mule will be back in full swing before you know it.
My plate is full, Brian and that’s a good, good thing – it keeps me out of trouble. (laughs) Or in trouble. (laughter)
