MWN: The single “Skeletons in a Spice Jar” is set to be released July 2019 ahead of the release of your new album Animator the fall. I know you can’t give away too much, but can you give listeners an idea of what the song will be like, lyrically and sonically?
Mint Trip: “We all have secrets. The bigger ones get stored in closets, but this one is small enough to fit in a spice jar.”
The lyrics are about self-empowerment and living life on one’s own terms instead of looking to someone else for validation or, even worse, permission. Sonically, this is an upbeat math-pop banger!
MWN: What would you say was the biggest struggle while making Animator?
Mint Trip: We were plagued with “demo-itis”. After the writing, arranging, and 90% of production work is done, you can get attached to how a demo sounds because it becomes so familiar after a certain point that it’s hard to hear the song any other way. As cruel fate would have it, holding onto something you’re emotionally attached to can keep the song from growing and developing an identity of its own. It sucks because you fall in love with certain parts of a song that it just outgrows… All three of us had to overcome that for different parts of different tracks to allow the album to reveal itself to us. It’s just the way it is.
MWN: When you began recording the new album did you have an idea of what you wanted it to sound like?
Mint Trip: Yes – Our original vision was “Grimes turns into a demogorgon and flays Tame Impala while listening to Radiohead covers”, but we wound up having to reel it back a bit.
MWN: How did you decide what songs made it on the album?
Mint Trip: There are a few tracks that didn’t make the final cut, but may end up in our live set or eventual recordings. They were songs we really loved and invested a lot in and visualized as a part of the whole album, but eventually a project starts to take on a life of its own and it was a big moment of growth to accept that certain pieces just didn’t work with the whole the way we wished they would.
MWN: Your mixture of pop and electronic music works really well. Where did you draw your inspiration to that?
Mint Trip: When we first started writing together, we were living in Miami where the electronic scene is huge. We were going out to see artists like Flume, Porter Robinson, Giraffage, and Purity Ring so the electronic influence in our EP Books is really apparent. Another contributing factor was simply necessity. It was an opera singer and two music engineering students in a bedroom studio. All we had was Ableton and an SM57. We recorded bass and guitar DI. Synths and drums were all software.
Moving to LA and working with our co-producer Phil English has introduced a rockier edge to our writing, which helped balance out the sound of our new album. Mint Trip feels more like a hybridized band now than the electronic artists we were when we first came to LA three years ago.
MWN: So, I know the music an artist listens to at an early age can often impact and influence the way their own music. What did you guys listen to growing up? And has it inspired you as a musician?
Mint Trip – Amy: Alt Rock and Prog House Brian: Classic Rock and Motown Max: Punk and Prog rock
What you listen to growing up definitely impacts you as an artist, but it’s not like we’re trying to emulate those same sounds and styles. Mint Trip doesn’t sound like Motown or House. It’s more like the connection to that music we loved growing up is what inspires us to create our own style that reflects who we are.
MWN: How did you guys start playing music together?
Mint Trip:Brian and Max were next door neighbors freshman year of college and joined the music frat together. I was already in the music frat so our meeting was ultimately inevitable and we became friends instantly. One day they needed vocals for a song they’d written and the rest is kinda history.
Fire round questions!
MWN: Favorite love song?
Amy: “That’s All” by Nat King Cole
Brian: “Want Me Back” by Cody Fry
Max: “The Days of Wine and Roses” by Henry Mancini & Johnny Mercer 2. MWN: Your go-to album when you feel sad?
Amy: “Absent Sounds” by From Indian Lakes
Brian: “You Can’t Take It With You” by As Tall As Lions
Max: “Get Better” by Lemuria
MWN: First recollection of live music?
Amy: I grew up singing in church
Brian: I saw *NSYNC when I was six
Max: Trans Siberian Orchestra
MWN: Favorite album artwork?
Amy: “Dive” by Tycho – I have it framed up on the wall in my bedroom Brian: “Cerulean” by Baths
Max: “In A Tidal Wave of Mystery” by Capital Cities
MWN: Lastly, to wrap things up. Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans and people who are going to be reading this interview?
Mint Trip: Milk is just water and eggs. You can find our Twitter.