Pre-Show Primer : 'Life' on the Road; Q & A with Here Come The Mummies

We’re in for a funky Friday night at the Gothic Theatre this week with Here Come The Mummies. The eight-piece band bring their brand of ‘terrifying funk from beyond the grave’ through Colorado - and it got us thinking. What is life on the road like for a band full of 5,000 year-old Egyptian Mummies? Among other myths, some claim that Here Come The Mummies are reincarnated Grammy-Winning studio musicians, but manage to keep their identities with this project ‘under wraps.’ No matter who they are - they’ve promised to bring the mayhem, and melt faces in the process.

So, what’s life like on the road for a band full of reincarnated Egyptian Mummies? Mummy Cass & Midnight Mummy helped paint the picture.

How is ‘life’ on the road?

Mummy Cass: It’s like we’re crates of turnips in a refrigerator truck. Lots of being carted around, lots of being shaken up. Then, as turnips often do, we put on a massive funk-rock alien close-encounter every night.

Midnight: Rock out, veg out, rock out, veg out. Rinse and repeat.

How well do your coffins travel on tour?

Mummy Cass: Our original sarcophaguses stay put at The Crypt. They are super heavy. Anyway, we’ve got more plush accommodations now that we’re drawing breath again.

(With MTV’s ‘Cribs’ in mind) Take us through your tour bus.

Mummy Cass: Well, Spaz might be in the front lounge gulping down enough coffee to kill an alpaca, or at night, just enough beer to paralyze a chiwawa. The TV will be on HGTV and no one will change the channel for some reason. Midnight and Dr. Yo will are probably recording on their laptops. Highlander and The Pole will be staring at HGTV, eating “granola.” Back in the bunk area it will be frigid to the point you need a winter hat. HPOD will still be asleep at 5PM. He’ll eat breakfast after the show. Important “business meetings” will be happening in the back lounge, where HGTV will also be on for some reason.

Going back to 1500 BCE, average lifespan in Ancient Egypt was only age 34 for men and age 30 for women. How do you all keep thriving after all these years?

Mummy Cass: That might be the upside of being cursed to wander the Earth forever in search of the perfect riff, not growing old. Plus playing music every night is good for the soul. We were expecting flying cars by now, though.

Midnight: Cheap thermal suits, too. What’s up Modernity?

Tombs are typically dark, cold places. Is it a tough adjustment to be on stage in a hot, sweaty dance party environment with constant flashing lights?

Mummy Cass: Uh, yes it is. Sometimes, it feels like the lights are shining on the back of the inside of your skull.

Midnight: I feel like the lights are in my head, shining out.

Fairly common artist riders include things like La Croix, assortments of local beers, hummus and assorted chips and dips, after-show pizza’s and so much more. What are some of the items on the rider for a band full of mummies?

Mummy Cass: That, and peach cobbler, vanilla pudding, poached salmon, chicken cacciatore, veggie dogs, deli meat, tacos… Salad. Taco-salad. You name it. Sewing kits. Oil paintings from the renaissance. Relish.

Midnight: Fries, roasted potatoes, shish kabobs, baguettes, assorted mustards, Champagne, chocolate covered ants, rosé, port, amarone, chicken nuggets, White Castle. What isn’t on it? That’d be the shorter list.

What does an off day look like for the band?

Mummy Cass: Throwing all that stuff up.

Who are some of the bands you’re currently listening to, or bands that you hope to collaborate with, whether on tour or in studio?

Mummy Cass: Perpetual Groove, who will be out with us this Fall; Saxsquatch, Dopapod, Big Sam, Steven Lewis’ Big Band of Fun, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Galactic, lots more.. plus all the greats of the past who we influenced.

Midnight: that’s true.

Funksters Here Come The Mummies are live in concert at the Gothic Theatre Friday, September 8, 2023 as a part of their Harmonic Gravity Tour with special guests Perpetual Groove. Tickets and info are available at gothictheatre.com. Here Come The Mummies are made up of Mummy Cass (guitar, vocals), Eddie Mummy (drums, vocals), K.W. TuT (bass, vocals), Spaz (keys, vocals), The Pole! (bass), Midnight Mummy (bari & tenor sax, keys, percussion, talk box, vocals), Dr. Yo (sax, vocal, tambo), Highlander (tenor sax), “H-Pod” (High Priest of Death) (trumpet).

UMS Artist Spotlight: DRAMA

DRAMA (Image taken from Facebook Page)

Chicago R&B duo DRAMA were nice enough to chat with us on the eve of their Saturday performance at The Underground Music Showcase.

Ultra5280: If you could sum up the essence of Drama what would it be?

DRAMA: The essence of drama is creating the concept of originality, art and feeling. In general, we’re friends who were brought together by way of music that is way bigger than us. We didn’t know what to expect when we started sharing our art, but our mission was always to love everything we put out and connect with people and their day to day feelings. If you listen to our songs, our hope is that you might find one that will strike an emotional chord.

Ultra5280: Tell us about your music influences. What styles have the biggest pull when you’re creating your music?
Via: Sade and Drake. 100% smooth, simple, clever, relatable and impactful.

Na’el: I gain my influence from many different producers of various different skill sets. Pharrell for his drums, Kanye for his sampling chops, Jon Brion for his beautiful arrangements and overall production. I could go on, but I’ll leave it there for now.

Ultra5280: What was the hardest song to write and why?

Via: Our new single ‘Give No Fucks’ for sure. The beat is unlike anything we’ve done and the process was relatively unorthodox for me. When writing a song, I usually spend a good amount of time listening to the music before words form. GNF came together relatively quickly. The majority of my lyrics come from a dark and cold places of mourning and loss which, for me, help songs write themselves. GNF musically felt like a party everyone was trying to get into, I didn’t even know where to begin. So I had to picture what that might feel like and “what would Pharrell and Bruno Mars do” and let just let it flow.

Ultra5280: I would say my favorite genre of music is sad dance tunes. Why do you think listeners gravitate towards sad dance music?

DRAMA: The same reason the earth is dying but the flowers are still blooming… life goes on.

Ultra5280: What can we expect from your live performance this weekend at UMS?

DRAMA: Lots and lots of love and laughs, possibly some tears and some make out session in the audience… haha. It’s an emotional rollercoaster with us. You gotta come expecting to experience the ride.

Ultra5280: What’s the next move for Drama?


DRAMA: A lot of touring! We’ll be on the road this fall with SG Lewis in North America and back across the pond for some shows in Europe. Looking forward to also releasing our first full album in 2020! :)

Kiana Ledé Making A Splash In The R&B Scene

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Kiana Ledé is R&B’s most relatable, youthful female artist. “I want people to feel like they are heard and understood. I want to make extreme versions of everything. If you’re going through a breakup, when you’re talking about an ex, it almost doesn’t feel like there’s a silver lining. It’s more like ‘this sucks. I don’t know what to do.’ You're in this sad, confusing state and sometimes you just want to feel a certain way. Sometimes you should just feel that way.”

If this is a lesson on being in your feelings, then Ledé’s 2018 EP “Selfless” is the handbook. “Take It All” is reminiscent of India Arie: guitar riffs, soulful and gospel like, it’s a tale of heartbreak and hurt. Then there’s dark and brooding “Wicked Games” a bop sure to make you wail every lyric at the top of your lungs. Breakout single “Ex” has been getting major play on the Denver airwaves. Lede describes her first time hearing it on the radio:

“I was freaking out. I didn’t know what to say or what to think. I didn’t believe it was happening.”

It’s no shock, Ledé’s career shows no signs of slowing down. Back in October she opened for pop star Jessie J. Now she’s teaming up with songstress Ella Mai for a national tour.

“The difference between this tour and the one with Jessie J is my mental state. I’m a lot more prepared for this tour. I know a little bit more about what I’m doing.”

Being honest and vulnerable with her fans takes top priority during her shows and in her craft. “I’m not a good liar. I’ll always be an open book,” Lede says when asked about what she wants fans to take away from her music. “This is all I can be.”

Ledé being her truest self, is what has made her the heartfelt storyteller she is now and it looks like she’ll continue in the same theme of love and relationships, mental health, and overcoming struggle. Her next move move is approaching quickly, a full length album set for release in late spring. “[Fans] can expect a little more selfishness. My life has shifted on focusing on my own shit and myself. I was going through another breakup, so they can expect a little more maturity.”

We’re ready for Kiana to not hold back. Prepare yourself for a performance as dynamic as her songwriting.

-Demi Harvey

For Overcoats, success stems from a telepathic connection

It’s an hour before set time and the inseparable duo that make up New York based band Overcoats is getting ready in the Airstream green room in the back of Denver’s Globe Hall. Hana has discovered she has mistakenly put on JJ’s red boots instead of her pair of red boots.

Overcoats L: JJ Mitchell R: Hana Elion (Photo Cred: Meesh Deyden)

“I was  wondering why they felt so weird,” Hana says, so they switch pairs. From the 10 minutes I’ve spent with them so far, their shoe size may be one of the few distinguishable differences between this formidable twosome. 

JJ and Hana met their freshmen year at Wesleyan University, and have been moving as a unit ever since. They started singing in an acapella group, and after winning battle of the bands together, began making their own music. “I promise I’ll hold on / ’til I’m the last one standin' / ’til all that’s left is one,” and here on their first song penned, they linger, “little memory.” There, in the lingering in-between harmony, is where they’ve led & let us in to the heart of their friendship.

“We got each other the same gift at the airport one time. Rose scented perfume" they told Jon Hart of Kansas City's 90.9 back in October. Even in their songwriting they share an almost telepathic connection. Talking about their creative process when they jetted off to Ireland post graduation, JJ tells in the same interview, "When we came back with what we had come up with [for the 2nd verse of 'Nighttime Hunger'], it was almost word for word exactly the same." 

Special s/o to Overcoats drummer, Joao, for hooking it up w/the double iPhone lighting here (Photo Cred: Meesh Deyden)

In a performance for Audiotree earlier this year, Hana said, "Our friendship is foundational to what we do because we're discussing things like heartbreak, relationships with our parents-- it's pretty intense, vulnerable stuff, & to have that trust and loving foundation there is really important and makes it easy and healing for us to share our experiences with each other and write about them together." Listening to first lines from tracks like "23" and "Walk On" on their first full length album, YOUNG, you immediately get a sense that these two dive deep and true from the get out, a motif that runs through the whole record. 

Complemented by the production stylings of Nicolas Vernes (Dirty Projectors, Daughter) and Autre Ne Veut, YOUNG waves from dance-party rawness, drum-machine centric-- "Leave the Light On"-- to western bell crooner-- "Mother"-- without any sort of confusion. It's no wonder they've racked up accolades like making the list for one of Billboard's Best Albums of 2017 So Far, securing a spot on NPR's Fave New Artists of 2017, to most recently selling out New York City's Bowery Ballroom in November.  

When I asked them what they wanted to achieve heading into 2018, these big-dreaming-make-it-happen babes didn't miss a beat. "We need to make a list," JJ asserts. "We aimed too low, maybe," Hana clarifies, showing their unbridled ambition and faith in their creative work together. "Tiny Desk was a dream. Bowery Ballroom was a dream. SNL is one for me, opening for Coldplay," Hana checks off. "Bonnaroo, Glastonbury... Our goals are festival oriented."

Overcoats performing at Globe Hall (Photo Cred: Meesh Deyden)

They're also gunning for more creative autonomy. "We really wanna be in charge with what’s going on creatively," Hana says about their experience co-directing their latest music video, "I Don't Believe In Us." "We were planning the video while on tour and we decided we wanted to write the treatment ourselves."

"We were insane though," JJ points out. "Everybody kept telling us you should probably choose between a giant flower wall and smoke bombs cause it’s kinduv a lot to pay for both and execute both & we were like 'Na Na Na Na Na Na Na- we want it all.'" So they got 'em both and did the damn thing. Executing your vision as emerging women artists in the music industry can come with its own particular struggles, something Overcoats spoke about explicitly in our interview. 

"It’s really nice to see [...] so many women headlining shows & winning Grammys, and also carrying with that a political message," JJ explains. "I really appreciate that and it makes me more comfortable being in this profession. [But] there are still a lot of incidents where so much of the sexism in the music industry is [...] covert." 

Hana continues, "It's not specifically men saying ‘sleep with me to get to the top’ it’s more like I’m carrying my amp on stage and a guy says to me ‘Aren’t you gonna sweat too much.' It’s little stuff like that." It's also something else to different women in the industry, a reality Overcoats recognizes and shouts out during performances of their song "The Fog." 

"The future is intersectional feminism," JJ improvs between the "freedom is when I'm without you" chorus. "That common ground, that thing where women are coming together and having empathy and understanding each other, that's a real inclusivity," Hana shares. "It’s important to stress what that inclusivity means to us, because inclusivity gets used and it doesn’t actually include everyone." From finding that common experience in their writing process to collaborating with fellow women creatives, Overcoats is "working every day to hold other women up." 

JJ: It is often easier to hate other women, it’s easier to judge them.

Hana: — and we’ve been on the other side of that.

JJ: Yes, yes we have. We’re guilty of talking shit about other women just because society teaches us that that’s our enemy, that’s who we have to beat to get the the top. We’ve been, unfortunately, talked shit about, and neither feels good, really. Understanding what other female musicians go through, and what other female creatives go through, and beyond that, what any women go through [is what] we strive to do. I think [that] has been the challenge and the most rewarding thing.

It's about 20 minutes before Overcoats is to take the stage, and I find myself thinking the same thing over and over- "I feel like I'm getting ready for a night out with my girls," I tell them. "You are!" And it's with that affirmation I realize these two will make it to the top, not by pushing anyone out, but by letting them in. 

Words & Images by Meesh Deyden

The UMS Artist Spotlight: Red Fang

Red Fang (Photo Credit: Tim Tronckoe)

Your mom thinks UMS is cool.

Well, maybe not your mom. But Aaron Beam’s mother holds the 17-year-old sonic takeover of South Broadway in high regard; enough so to encourage her son to play it, anyway.

The bassist and co-vocalist of Portland, Ore. heavy rockers Red Fang said that bit of maternal approval helped lock the band in as co-headliners this year at The Denver Post Underground Music Showcase. The Bedlam in Baker is bringing 300 plus acts to more than a dozen South Broadway venues from July 27 through 30. Red Fang—made up of Beam, singer/guitarist Bryan Giles, guitarist David Sullivan and drummer John Sherman--will close out an evening of particularly hefty aural pyrotechnics on the main stage Friday night, July 28.

“My mom is actually not like super well-connected to the hip parts of the music scene,” Beam said. “But she actually was very encouraging and was like, ‘Oh, that’s one of the biggest music festivals.’ We haven’t really done a lot of festivals in the U.S. and it’s nice to get asked to play a well-established festival that does well enough that my mom knows about it.”

Beam knows a thing or two about the Front Range. The tall, bearded frontman with a professorial visage went to junior high and high school in Fort Collins in the late 80s and early 90s. He played in his first bands there, drawing heavily from the music being made in the Pacific Northwest at the time. (Soundgarden covers were an early staple.)

Ma and Pa Beam still live in Denver, part of the reason the rocker recently came out for a week-long Colorado visit in advance of his band’s UMS slot. (In a case of excellent timing, his girlfriend’s band, Helms Alee, was also in town last week. They helped Mutoid Man steamroll a sold-out crowd at Larimer Lounge July 16.) Boosting his Colorado bona fides, Beam has a go-to South Federal Boulevard pho joint: Pho Le. If time allows, he always tries to get out and spend some time in the woods—or, more appropriately, “the rocks”—when Red Fang plays CO, a throwback to the days he used to hike around Horsetooth Reservoir and other natural areas around Fort Collins. And Beam--a man who people pay to see sing on stage --also has a favorite karaoke spot in Denver: Charlie Brown’s Bar & Grill.
 
“A weird, old wooden bar,” he said. “It’s kind of changed. Now it’s like piano karaoke.”

Red Fang will follow three Colorado-based acts July 28, all hailing from the weightier side of the musical spectrum. Things start in skull-caving fashion at 6 p.m. with Boulder-bred Call of the Void. The four-piece’s screamed vocals, crushing riffs and shifting tempos are bound to leave many in the audience with sore necks on Saturday. Next come critical darlings, Khemmis. Trafficking in doom metal blended with soaring guitar harmonies and flecks of classic rock, Khemmis has a knack for banging heads and breaking hearts in equal measure. Just before Red Fang gets their chance to tear a chunk out of the Denver crowd, Planes Mistaken for Stars will return to the UMS. The Denver-by-way of Peoria, Ill. post-punks came in No. 1 in the Denver Post’s UMS poll in 2003 (back when the Post did such a poll). The evocative, raw hardcore outfit—easily identifiable by frontman Gared O'Donnell’s rasp—released “Prey,” their first album in a decade, last year. Their guitars may be the least over-driven of the bunch, but Planes still packs a helluva punch. All told, the four Friday night bands represent the heaviest slab of main stage performers UMS has possibly ever seen.

Beam, for his part, loves the depth and breadth of dark side of music the lineup represents.

“Having a festival like this, that’s generally not a metal festival, have a sort of a day of heavier music is encouraging to me,” he said. “I think that a lot of times people sort of lump everything into the sort of ‘heavy metal’ category and then decide that they don’t like heavy metal at all. I feel like there is enough diversity in the heavy music scene now that it’s a lot less of a niche genre.”

Beam and his bandmates don’t label their sound. It can be hard do to anyway. The punk and grunge influences are obvious, as are elements of slow-downed metal forerunners like the Melvins and even bits and pieces of fuzzy garage rock. (“Sometimes someone will say, “You’re my favorite sludge band” or whatever. I didn’t even know what sludge was the first time I heard that,” Beam said.) But whatever is going into the blender, the results are distinctly Red Fang. The band doesn’t shy away from hooks for the sake of rattling bones either. “Cut it Short,” the lead single from their 2016 “Only Ghosts” record, features a riff just as likely to get listeners to swing their hips as pump their fists.  That said, the song off “Only Ghosts” (A record Beam is happy to label the band’s best and most coherent.) the four-stringer enjoys playing live the most is “The Smell of the Sound.” That little number is anchored by a fuzzed out bass line heavy enough to create its own gravity. Hear it in all its glory Friday.

“You know, it’s important to have those sorts of categories to drop different kinds of music into so it can help you organize things in your own brain or when you’re recommending something to someone. You can say, ‘They’re sort of like new grunge mixed with like classic stoner,’ or whatever,” Beam said. “Of course, the most effective way is just to listen to the music.”

With more than 300 bands making a ridiculous amount of noise –heavy, poppy and everything in between-- over four days, that’s what UMS is all about.

-Words Joe Rubino

 Red Fang

Friday July 28th / Main Stage / 9:00-10:00 PM

Joe Rubino grew up in Denver's Ruby Hill and Harvey Park neighborhoods. He spent a bulk of his adolescent years browsing the discount metal CDs at the Media Play by the Southwest Plaza Mall. He then spent a bulk of college career slanging weenies at Mustard's Last Stand in Boulder. He's been working in journalism around Colorado for the last 6 years.