MORGAN Y. EVANS: I don’t know what you guys are trying to pull here. I got this damn CD and it’s all white and blank. What gives?

RYAN MARTINIE: [sounding exasperated] You need a black light.

MYE: I’m just kidding! I’m joking. [laughing]

RM: [laughing] It might set people off, actually. “I got the new Mudvayne record and it doesn’t do anything”!

MYE: Even if they don’t know, it’s a good prank on the people who don’t take the ten seconds to find out. It even comes with the black light!

RM: It’s not exactly the Melvins’ Shit Sandwich release.

MYE: [laughing] Totally. I was thinking of seventies stoners listening to Foghat and looking at dragon posters, which is awesome and all, but this black light art by Paul Booth is so modern and cool that people are never going to leave their rooms and stop looking at it.

RM: It was a really cool thing to have Paul on it. We’re all fans of his art and it was a unanimous decision when his name came up for him to be involved, if he wanted to be. Everybody chimed in and said, “Yes. If he wants to do it, let’s go!” He and Chad spent a long time working on the design and now you’re looking at it. Hopefully, people really do enjoy it. Obviously not everybody knows who Paul Booth is, and not everyone knows who Mudvayne is, so hopefully the two can cross over a bit, too.

MYE: It’s some of the coolest packaging I’ve seen since Tool’s 10,000 Days release and it is cool when a band takes the extra step to make something memorable.

RM: It’s for the fans. It would be nice to gather new people, but it’s for the people that are already into us. Hopefully they are familiar with Paul. A lot of our fans are tattooed and have similar interests as us, a similar counter-cultural idea of living. Paul is another reason for them to go get this, because they’ll want that artwork.

MYE: This is one of your best releases. I was very impressed with it. There are some younger bands, like this awesome band Stray From The Path (on Sumerian Records) who are pursuing their own sounds, and you guys have always had your own sound with a lot of freedom within it. But a lot of bands are scared to do their own thing. This Mudvayne record, in particular, really blends well the weirder stuff with some of the heavy stompy stuff and big choruses. Even when you grow as a band people still get their money’s worth, knowing it is still gonna be Mudvayne.

RM: We’ve always taken part in this pioneering spirit, I feel like. Whether it’s plans coming to fruition or a lucky outcome, that’s never been the only point, but rather being involved in it and staying present and paying attention to where the song wants to take you. Songs don’t want to go to the same place, just like a brush doesn’t want to go to the same place on the canvas every time or lightning only strikes the same place twice in rare occasions. A song really wants to create itself. If you pay attention you’ll end up with songs that sound like themselves and don’t have to take from other things as much. There’s a bit of freshness there. I think maybe the hardest thing for every artist is to not repeat themselves, at least that’s the old adage. Hopefully we’ve continued with the spirit of that and pushed into new areas even this many records in.

MYE: Something like “Beyond The Pale” has an intro that reminds me of majestic metal like “Orion” by Metallica, but you’re doing this really cool spacey bass texture behind it. “I Can’t Wait”, the middle is insane. Anyone who wondered if it was gonna be as crazy or progressive should hopefully realize there is something for everyone to enjoy.

RM: Cool. I would have to agree with you. It’s a Mudvayne record, though. I’d like to think there’s something for everyone on all the records we’ve made. I’m way too close to it to be objective, but I’ve had that feeling before. Making the comparison to Aerosmith. If you go back, and I’m an Aerosmith fan, if you go back and listen to Toys In The Attic or Rocks, there’s one or two songs that are for everybody and the rest are jammy, bluesy oriented rock songs. They are for the fans of the band that want that sound. I feel like we’ve done that unintentionally, with just how we wanna write. We’ve been fortunate to write songs that people are drawn to us for and people can still go, “Hey, they are still doing it!” and hopefully go buy the record and enjoy the rest. Not that we’ll ever be as big as Aerosmith or as cool, but there’s a bit of that going on as far as the songs go.

MYE: “Scream With Me” has a real arena, hard-charging chorus and then you have “Out To Pasture” with a weird structure that exposes people to different textures. I’d heard you wrote this record and The New Game at the same time. Is that true? Seems like a lot of work, and if so, how’d you decide what songs were going to go on which album?

RM: Well, that’s a common misnomer and I don’t know who put that out there, but it’s not true.

MYE: It was in a release and kicking around the Internet.

RM: Yeah, it’s not true. They were written at different times. It’s fine. It’s better for someone to get the real information from the horse’s mouth. We didn’t tour between writing, so maybe that’s where some of the confusion is coming for people. They were written at different times and even if you compare them songwriting-wise and sonically, you’ll really hear that. It’s unmistakable. It wasn’t a matter of how we’d separate songs between the two albums. They were written separately.

MYE: That makes more sense, because the self-titled Mudvayne sounds so cohesive as a body of songs and yet so does The New Game. That made me wonder. I was like, ”Are they that good to have organized all this shit and The New Game at the same time? They’re geniuses.” [laughing]

RM: [lauging] I wish we were that smart, but we’re not.

MYE: Not to underestimate you…

RM: We like to be overestimated. They were done at different times, but obviously for us, you always wanna believe the newest and latest is the best work. You have to validate yourself that you are doing good work. You can’t just hear how good it is from other people. That only goes so far. It’s ego crap. You have to be pleased and satisfied with the product that came out. You have to feel like you put the time into every single song and were present in the studio. Your due diligence was all there and brought you to the point where you are satisfied. We feel we did that.

MYE: The artwork reminded me of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and also the movie The Fly. I was thinking about what Mudvayne has been through and that the band has gone through visual changes or now this one encompasses a lot that you’ve done but does new things too. Self-titled records are usually somewhat iconic. Sometimes there’s a weird one like Motley Crue, which didn’t even have Vince Neil on it…no offense to John Corabi. But, you guys or Clutch’s self-titled, Black Sabbath, the new Hatebreed, Deftones…it’s usually a big statement. How’d you decide to call this Mudvayne and leave it at that?

RM: That was pretty unanimous. A couple ideas were thrown out, but earlier on we’d talked about releasing a self-titled and then the songs warranted it. You have a valid point that bands have done that to make a statement that it is a seminal work or a cornerstone. Well, it’s not exactly all that for us, but I think it speaks plainly of our thoughts that this is the best representation of what the band is right now. Maybe it’s the closest we’ve come to that ever. It’s realized, has less pretense. It is supposed to be somewhat of a statement, a stamp of approval for the band.

MYE: It is very emblematic and would go over great live.

RM: [chuckling] We’ll see about that.

MYE: I haven’t seen you guys since Ozzfest in Connecticut the year Iron Maiden played and people were throwing mud like crazy. It was a great set, though.

RM: I’ve seen some crazy things at shows. I’ve seen that quite a few times, where the sky goes brown.

MYE: Tell me about working with Frankie Nasso, about these themed music videos you are doing for this record. There’s almost a Devil’s Advocate type storyline of the devil’s son. It’s got connections to the cover art of the guy turning into a fly creature.

RM: We’ve worked with Frankie before and have a good relationship. For me, personally, it’s a vehicle to reach people. To put it bluntly, we are sick of performance videos. We hate doing them. We think they suck. When we can just have someone run with a concept and make it cool and we approve or make changes, to let an artist have their run with it is cool. That’s what happened with Frankie, so hopefully people enjoy his artistry. It’s almost an extension of him.

MYE: Like a reaction to your music.

RM: Yeah, that channeling aspect. Not to get too spiritual, but I believe that’s the truth. We pretty much allowed him to run with it and hopefully that’s something other people will feel connected with too.

MYE: It’s visually compelling. A lot of bands will have a half-assed story in a video or just them playing live. Performance videos can still be cool, like System Of A Down’s “Chop Suey!” or whatever, but I know what you’re saying.

RM: They are boring as hell to make. Performance videos are just ridiculous. [laughing]

MYE: I always feel bad for the singers who have to lip-synch in video shoots. You guys with instruments can at least look down and look cool playing.

RM: It’s…It’s really not fun. It’s really stupid. The whole process is stupid. Getting up early to go make this thing that is only gonna be played on one station. I think probably 85% of bands hate making videos, no matter what they say. You can use them to promote yourself, but it’s a pain in the ass. You’ve gotta do it, though. People enjoy that part of it. If you can make it art and make something really creative, then all the better for everybody.

MYE: Do you have any touring plans for this record?

RM: No touring plans. This one is supposed to tide everyone over until there is another record. Who knows? There are no plans for anything right now. This was kind of our way of saying, “Here you go. See you later.” Not, “goodbye”. I don’t know if that is in order yet. Or “thank you” as in STP’s Thank You record. Not yet, but definitely a break. People will see different members out on the road as it is.

MYE: What are you gonna do with your free time?

RM: I’m a semi-professional hobbyist. I’ve got a billion hobbies. I’ve always got my fingers in something else. Right before you called I was reading some Stephen King, Just After Sunset. It’s a collection of short stories. I really love short stories as an art form. It’s somewhat lost as an art form except in periodicals. You can come back to them. I like huge novels, but this is cool and a fairly recent offering of his that has a connection to other things of his I‘ve read.

MYE: Back to the record, “Heard It All Before” is brutal. You and Greg really impressed me on this record. Is that song a message to critics in any ways? You’ve seen a lot of changes in metal and have grown with your identity and kept things going. You’re still slugging along.

RM: I think it’s a personal statement from Chad and a global idea coming from the band that all four of us could feel. During the course of our career we’ve tried to musically or thematically leave things open to interpretation. It’s good for you to bring it up. That’s what we hope… for someone like you to ask that question, but what does it mean for you? What have you heard all before? Was it the lies of a girlfriend or boyfriend or the crap you heard from parents or bullshit from teachers? Everybody’s heard it all before. At some point you go, “Man, I’ve heard that.” You don’t buy it. There’s a global idea of that and people get that.

MYE: Where do you think metal as a whole is headed into the next decade? The movement seems more popular than ever.

RM: How can I make any predictions? It’s a valid art form and each year and every good record that comes out validates it further. You’ll see trends come and go and things like screamo and emo and metal coming in and out of what is considered rock. Different combinations become vogue. Bellbottoms come back. Pink in the Spring is back! Things are the same way with music. People’s tastes wax and wane and ebb and flow. It is reflected in what becomes popular, but there’s always an undercurrent of music that’s happening that runs underneath everything, the salt of the earth music like blues and folk songs that are always gonna feel current even if they are very old. Then something comes along again and catches your ears again. I’m not of the belief that rock’n’roll is dead. I think that it changes and warps into different things all the time.