Mint Condition – Interview

What’s up?

Rick: Not much.

You guys are in rehearsals?

Rick: Yeah. We are just getting ready to go out and promote the upcoming record.

What did you guys do with your time off?

Rick: Basically, we were looking for another record deal. We toured overseas and everyone kind of picked up hobbies. Some of the guys do artwork now, a couple of the guys fly, and I’m a photographer.

So you were actually able to enjoy the time off?

Rick: Yeah.

Did you miss music?

Rick: Definitely. I missed it and everything, but I also enjoyed my time off and the hobbies that I picked up.

How did you choose the first single?

Rick: It was the one track that kept coming back. Actually, it was one of three or four, but after we kept playing for people that we know, each member would come back and tell us which tracks people thought were hot. Elektra wanted that to be the first single and we knew it was one of the tracks we were getting a good response from so we were like, ‘Cool.’

Listening to the album, a few tracks stuck out. Could you give me a little insight behind a few of the songs? First is “Who Can You Trust”.

Rick: That was a life experience, from like watching tv shows. The president, too. It was like for a while there you couldn’t trust nobody.

What about “Be Like Something”?

Rick: Those songs have a lot to do with the album title. The title deals with relationships and who can you trust. Also, sometimes you just have a bad day, and sometimes you just got to not get upset and come in with an uzi and kill everybody. Sometimes you are going to have problems and things aren’t always going to be cool.

What about “Pretty Lady”?

Rick: One of the guys is always having a baby around the time we are putting out a record by the person he impregnates. (everyone laughs)

You guys also have some hidden tracks. What are their titles and why did you put them on as hidden tracks?

Rick: We recorded a bunch of songs for the record and picked the best ones. But a few of them were really good, but they didn’t flow so they ended up as hidden tracks.

So how do you guys put your songs together?

Rick: Basically, there really is no one way that we do it. Sometimes we come up with them together in rehearsals, or someone may bring one to us and then everyone adds to it. But then again someone may have a whole song done, and if it’s written it’s written.

How long did it take to write and record Life’s Aquarium?

Rick: Probably about five to six months in between still doing hobbies, flying, and doing other sorts of stuff.

How did you come up with the album title?

Rick: The title sort of represents life as we saw it. When we look at life we see diversity, a lot of different people. We see good, we see bad, and we see opposites. So the title was fitting of the way we thought. Actually Stokley, the lead singer, said something to us once which was, ‘Life is like an aquarium and the challenge in our aquarium is to learn how to live together without having to live alike.’ It was kind of an inspiration to us.

How would you compare this to previous releases?

Rick: This album is more focused. Normally we would record twelve tracks and that would be all we do, but this time we cut about twenty-six or twenty-eight songs and we picked the best ones. It flows.

What are your plans for the coming year?

Rick: Maybe some production. Maybe start a label, but we don’t want to take to much time away from Mint Condition.

Do you think that you bring a different flavor to R&B, compared to most of the R&B on the radio today?

Rick: Well, it depends on the producer in the group. Some cats are into a lot of different things, so our stuff is different. But a lot of the guys are into a lot of the music that you hear today as well. We just try to be original and try to be true to ourselves.

Do you feel that if one member of the band left, it’d be impossible to replace him?

Rick: Ummm. Yeah. Definitely. It wouldn’t be the same, but I think you’d have to adapt just like a team would.

Did you guys keep in contact when you had your time off or did you need that time away from each other after touring?

Rick: No. We keep in contact. We talk every other day. A lot of the time when we were off, we were trying to find the best home for us after we asked for our release from our previous record company. We didn’t want to go to a label that has a thousand acts and we get lost in the shuffle. We wanted to go to the perfect place and we felt like Elektra was that place. They understand the group, and the first time we turned in the record to them they liked it. Our previous record company, when we turned a record in, they said, ‘You’ve got guitar solos on there. Nobody does that anymore.’ And we are like, ‘Haven’t you ever heard Parliament Funkadelic?’ That is what we are about, not what the label is about. Once Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder started saying they loved the record, when they first heard it, then all of the sudden the label heard it.

That’s why they work in the office and don’t make music.

Rick: Right. (laughs)

Do you have plans for New Year’s?

Rick: No, but hopefully we’ll be home. I don’t want to be gone. I want to be with my family and not have to worry about what might happen.

+ charlie craine