Melodic alt rock band Mute Math — you know, the one with the cool videos — is back in town.They played the old Creepy Crawl a few years back and will graduate to the Pageant’s stage Friday.

After much hand wringing, the band released their sophomore album, Armistice, in August. The recording process was slightly easier than Congress passing the health care bill. They thought they had written an album’s worth of material while on the road only to find that the songs were not to their liking.

So they found a producer, bunkered themselves in a house in residential New Orleans and started from scratch. The results winning for the most part.

The two founders, singer Paul Meany and drummer Darren King (a Springfield, Mo., native), were raised in religious homes, which is reflected in Gospel-influenced songs like “The Nerve.” The uplifting chorus, “Set it on fire!,” could just as well raise the roof of a Baptist church as a concert hall.

While they are not your typical funky New Orleans band, Mute Math did recruit the Rebirth Brass Band to play on two tracks.

I reached Meany a few weeks back as their tour commenced.

RC: Are you guys ready to hit the road?
PM: We’re absolutely ready. We’ve had a lot of preparation and we’ve pushed ourselves hard on the new songs. It will be quite a test for the band, I’m looking for to it.
RC: Tell me how you met Darren King?
PM: He was only 14. He was a young guy, but had a lot of charisma and was immediately likable. I remember thinking he’d be the perfect guy to be in a band with. Years went by, we started writing music together and he moved to New Orleans.
RC: How did you get on the Warner label before releasing anything?
PM: With our manager Kevin (Kookogey) and producer Ted (T), we started Teleprompt Records. It was an ambitious endeavor, kind of an in-house place for Mute Math to develop. It started as just me and Darren and five songs. Ted had friends at Warner and the label thought we could grow into something. It was always a tough plan to plug in because we didn’t know how to classify the band. We definitely drove the marketing guys insane — we’ve watched a few be committed over the years. We took the scenic route but we finally got to where we intended to go.
RC: Why was it so difficult to record the new album?
PM: After touring for the past three years, everyone developed their own take on what the next record should sound like. I assumed we could get off the road and record together, but it was not as easy as I thought. We just couldn’t agree on how to finish a song and we could not produce ourselves. We found a producer (Dennis Herring) and he weaved us through it. He was our judge and jury.
RC: Are your friendships intact?
PM: Its all fine.
RC: How was the CD-release show with Rebirth?
PM: It was pretty phenomenal. They are the most non-game-planned band I’ve ever encountered. Their motto is, ‘Let’s just go and stop when we get tired.’ They brought a lot of spirit to that show and caused some ruckus!
RC: What are some of your favorite New Orleans bands?
PM: All of the Marsalis’s work. Quintron… The scene ranges from quirky experimental all the way to traditional jazz. There’s a lot of talent in that city. Since Katrina, though, artists have dispersed and it’s been difficult to regroup. That’s why we chose to record in New Orleans, to try to continue to bring the spotlight to the city.
RC: Tell me about the recording experience.
PM: We camped out in an Uptown house for three months. The people in the neighborhood were really nice. One time, I was outside and a neighbor was watering her grass while a guitar part was being recorded inside. It was so loud, with the guitar just blaring down the street. The lady was so nice, she came over to me just to shout, ‘SO GLAD TO HAVE YOU IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD!’ I never felt so grateful and awful at the same time!
RC: Tell me about making the video for ‘typical’ (see it here.)
PM: It was tiring, I’ll say that. We actually recorded it and set it up twice. The first time we had planned it and filmed it then did a European tour. We saw it and thought we could do it better, so we set it all back up and did the whole thing again. I heard that song backwards in my sleep for a year — I’d wake up in cold sweats.
RC: Any new video trickery?
PM: Yes, we just filmed the video for “Backfire,” which was the easiest one we’ve done. It was very difficult for the director, though. All we did was show up and take pictures. The director has been feverishly animating it. It’s the same director who did the “Spotlight” video and we really enjoy his work.

Mute Math with As Tall As Lions
8 pm Friday, Pageant, $20/$23
www.myspace.com/mutemath

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