By John D'Aquila
tipitinas.com

(Photos by Jenny Bagert)

I was not surprised to see Mark Mullins wearing black as he entered tipitinas.com's offices for our Q&A session. Black togs are his custom.

And with his band MuleBone's new CD release, the critically acclaimed Only In New Orleans, not to mention a plethora of other important work, Mullins is clearly "in the black" musically.

Few musicians are as busy as Mullins. He plays with the Harry Connick, Jr. Big Band, with George Porter Jr. and His Running Pardners, from time-to-time with Better Than Ezra, Woodenhead, and his own projects MuleBone and Bonerama. It is a clear case of "have trombone, will travel."

In addition to his wealth of musical work, the 34-year old Mullins is a husband and a new father of a 20-month old son. As he settled in to talk about Only In New Orleans, it was evident that he is very pleased with his latest work. The CD has drawn rave reviews and he is ready to take it on the road to see what audiences have to say about it. But first, a CD release party at Tipitina's Uptown is on his agenda on Feb. 16.

MuleBone is comprised of Mullins on trombone, electric trombone and lead vocals, Jimmy Robinson on electric guitar and vocals, Mike Mayeaux on acoustic and electric guitars and vocals, Benji on electric and upright basses, and Mike Barras on drums.

Tip's -- How is this CD different from the first MuleBone CD and how is the band different?

Mullins -- The personnel changed a lot over the years. John Gros and I started this band in 1996 and it included Stanton Moore and Brian Seeger. We were sorta finding our way, just seeing a couple steps down the line. We finally got a batch of songs together and they were kinda all over the place. Everyone called it southern rock and that was not what we are going for at all. But I guess the B-3 [Hammond B-3 Organ Gros plays] gave it that feel. The stuff we liked at the time was Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam, Janice Joplin and everything in between. But John left the band about a year ago and I already had another batch of songs brewing. Right before John left things were starting to get more guitar oriented anyway. We use to call it trombone driven rock, but it really wasn't that, it was just that I played trombone in the band. It is really guitar driven rock.

So this record is a big departure because John is not there. He is one of the founding members of the band -- in fact he is the founding member. He is the one that gave me the idea to do this. He was like: We should do this rock band with you playing trombone and singing. And I was like: You are crazy [laughs]. So without John there it is bound to be very, very different.

Tip's -- Gros was a big piece of musical space that needed to be filled, was he not?

Mullins -- It was a huge piece of musical space. I was debating on whether we should keep the band going. I talked to the guys, took some time off. It was a divorce, but it wasn't ugly. It was a split and we just had to figure out a solution and what to do next. What we did was we found Mike Mayeaux. Mike is known to be a great engineer, but he also plays guitar and sings his butt off. All the things that John was excellent at like knowing how to construct a song and arrangements. Mike was the perfect guy to fill that void. Mike has been really great. It is a little more modern sound and we are really proud of it.

Tip's - So how has the new material and new sound with MuleBone been received?

Mullins - Well, we have not played too many shows since we came out with the CD. It is hard to get people to come out and hear a rock band in this town. It is a party town and people want to shake their ass. It is hard to shove MuleBone down their throat here, because sometimes you feel like you are shoving it down their throat [laughs]. You have to search to find people who like Pearl Jam and Radiohead. In other cities it is easier, but other cities don't have brass bands playing 7 nights a week, or a Kermit Ruffins, or stuff like that. Other cities just have a rock scene, so it is easier for us to draw crowds out of town. There is so much great music here - how do you put this against ReBirth or Kermit and what they do, which is so much fun and so great.

Tip's -- So, let's get back to the new CD. What is it like, in your opinion?

Mullins -- Any valid rock that has been done is in this album. What we did with this record was construct it so the whole thing didn't grab you on your first listen. And I love those records. After several listens this really starts to grow on you. That is what we tried to do with this. If the record has enough depth, and this one I think does, they will be able to get enough plays on it.

Tip's -- It seems multi-dimensional, in that it has rock songs and instrumentals. Tell us a bit about that unusual mix.

Mullins -- It really is multi-dimensional. I don't know why it took us so long to explore instrumental rock stuff. Some of the last few Radiohead albums were electronically inspired. We experimented with some loops by [drummer] Mike Barras in the studio and superimposed those over these instrumental compositions and with me with the trombone and then [lead guitarist extraordinaire] Jimmy Robinson playing guitar, my God!, it is a lot to draw from. We had a lot of fun doing that. I think you will hear a lot more of that in the next Mulebone record.

Tip's -- Are you satisfied with the reviews it has gotten so far?

Mullins -- The reviews have been astonishing. It is almost like we are in bed with the critics. I am sure a lot of people are hating us for that [laughs]. But what can you do? You send them the record and they like it. Bunny Matthews, who is a historian, a great cartoonist, and knows what is happening on a lot of levels, and especially the rock level - he is one of the original high-profile music writers for the Times-Picayune -- and to have him give us a great review, that is very special and flattering. And we didn't even take out an ad that month in OffBeat [laughs].

Tip's - So, now that you have this record that is a big hit with the critics and is starting to generate some sales, what is next?

Mullins -- We just have to work on building a fan base for this band, locally and on the road. But it seems as soon as we get something going, Harry Connick [Jr.] calls and asks if I can go on the road for a little while and that is hard to pass up. When you get involved with him that is a whole nother wonderful thing, but it is just tearing yourself away from all these other things your are doing.

Tip's - Do you sometimes feel like a guy trying to juggle a bowling ball, a brick and a flaming torch all at once?

Mullins - Yeah. I use to always not be attracted to the jack-of-all-trades, master of none thing. That use to turn me off so much. I just wanted to play the trombone. Now I am playing the trombone, but doing too many things, still.

Tip's - Let's tick off the list: MuleBone, Boneramma, Connick, Better Than Ezra, Geroge Porter, Woodenhead. Do you really want to complain about this?

Mullins - [laughs] I know. It is fun and challenging. You are using different parts of your brain. It is like speaking different languages. Sometimes I really feel fragmented, but other times it is really refreshing to be able to switch gears like that.

Tip's - So Mark, the burning question here is, what is the reaction you get on the road when you break out the 'bone and start hitting rock licks?

Mullins -- It is hilarious [laughs]. It is really great. When we go on the road with Cowboy Mouth and they see this trombone and they are like, what the hell is this gonna be? Then when you are playing, half the room is still talking and doesn't realize it is a trombone. They think it is a guitar, especially with the wah-wah peddle. Then they get the feel for it and they are like okay, and the heads start bobbing.

Tip's - But yet there is a temptation on your part to downplay the trombone because you don't want the band to be gimmicky, correct? And at the same time, having a trombone run through a guitar amp and the use of the wah-wah is what makes this band so unique….

Mullins - That's true. You don't want to deny it. It is there when it needs to be there. It serves a purpose for these songs to make the songs better. Just like any other instrument would, it just happens to be a trombone. It is kinda like the way Dave Matthews uses the violin. It is like an auxiliary color instrument and that is how we approach it. But with running it through the guitar amp and using the wah wah pedal, it enables me to take it to another level.

Tip's - How did this transpire on the record?

Mullins -- On this record, as the songs were coming together, there was less trombone than I thought there would be. There were fewer roles for it to play. But that was before the instrumentals came into play. We found that that could be the balance for it, the breathing room for the trombone. To me, the trombone is my guitar. It is just in the shape of a trombone.

Tip's -- Which brings us to another question: In the future, do you see America's youth, while listening to Mulebone's latest CD, running around the living room playing air-trombone?

Mullins -- Air trombone? Air trombone… Yeah, man, that is the next thing. I would be a happy guy if that happens. [laughs]

Tip's - So, let's talk about Mark Mullins the rock singer….

Mullins [sheepishly] -- I take the George Porter answer on that. I am just a trombone player that has to sing sometimes. I enjoy it. But I have been singing for five years and been a trombone player for 24 years. My singing is in its infancy. It is hard for me to believe that….

Tip's -- …that you are a singer? You see, you can't even say it.

Mullins -- I can't even say it. I can type it sometimes, but that is about it.

Tip's - I have heard you say that you are trying to change the way people think about the trombone. And one of your colleagues, Mark McGrain, a great trombone player in his own right, refers to it as "the weapon of the future."

Mullins -- Yes, I love that. It is an unusual instrument, for sure.

Tip's - There is an old joke: A frog and a trombonist are hitchhiking. What is the difference between then two?

Mullins - The frog is on the way to a gig [laughs].

Tip's - Okay, let's talk about the creative process for a bit. How do you go about writing the songs? Do you write on the trombone? [laughs]

Mullins - [laughs] No. I write on the guitar and mostly on the road. I have distractions here that keep me from writing. [a wife and 20-month old son]. I keep a kinda journal or diary. It is sometimes cryptic, sometimes descriptive of what is going on. So I write the lyrics first, then work on the guitar to find melodies for the lyrics.

Tip's - You cranked out the first album in a few weeks, but spent 8 months on Only in New Orleans….

Mullins -- We spent a lot of time on production. We had the luxury on that. The first album we had to go in the studio and bang it out But on a rock album you like to take your time and work things out. We did this one at Ground Floor Studios in Mereaux --Mike Mayeaux's studio. It was a 3-year process and 8 months to do the production. It was great to have that kind of time. We really tweaked everything.