Trevor Dunn has been a profession musi… Read Full Bio ↴www.myspace.com/whitewithfoam
Trevor Dunn has been a profession musician, as a bassist and composer, for about 25 years. Still you may ask yourself, "Mad what?". "Trevor who?" There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. Back in the mid-'80s he co-founded an avant-rock band called Mr. Bungle and later did time in Mike Patton's cut-and-paste metal outfit Fantômas. He also plays and records extensively with John Zorn among many others [for the full 70+ discography see http://www.trevordunn.net covering a wide range of genres.
In all of these groups Mr. Dunn does what any respectable bass player, who hasn't flipped pizzas since 1986, gets hired to do. Namely, keep his mouth shut and get the job done, which may be the reason his name is less familiar to you then some of his employers [i.e. Yuka Honda, Erik Friedlander, The Melvins, Sean Lennon, a guy from Korn, etc].
It wasn't until 1998 that Trevor stepped out as a leader with his spastic power-chord "jazz" group Trio-Convulsant. A sophomore CD was released on Ipecac Recordings in 2004.
But something was missing. It had been nearly 10 years since Trevor wrote any rock music (Mr. Bungle's last record on Warner Bros. came out in 1999) and he was itching to get back to his roots. Those roots being bands like Cheap Trick, X, The Pretenders and Blondie. Call it jumping on the bandwagon, call it a mid-life crisis, but Dunn decided to start his very own rock band. Enter MadLove.
The name "MadLove" is the English translation of a title by surrealist Andre Breton called "L'Amour Fou" and that's all you need to know about that. If nothing else, it describes the obscure object of desire that drives us all to our insane, inevitable, colorful end.
MadLove recorded in Brooklyn's Studio G in 2008 with a disparate yet psychically connected, hand-picked line-up: Sunny Kim, hailing from Seoul, Korea fronts the band as lead vocalist. Sunny has lead her own band Myth of Mitch and plays with the Prana Trio and a group led by trombonist Roswell Rudd. The all-important guitar chair is held by Icelandic master Hilmar Jensson (Tyft, Kitchen Motors). The drummer, known for his work with Xiu Xiu, Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog and Theory of Ruin is Ches Smith. Keyboardist Erik Deutch who plays with Devotchka and Charlie Hunter is on hand for the live performances. Trevor, of course, holds down his comfortable position as bassist while stepping up as vocalist on occasion.
The music of MadLove fits snugly somewhere in the genre of "rock". There is no question that the songs are guitar-centric. Around power chords constructed with wrong notes, however, there are melodies that weave in and out of comfort zones; there are drum hooks and melodic bass lines that start on the "and-of-four" and there are Fender Rhodes counter-melodies. Some of the songs are fairly commercial; some will never see the light of radio; Some utilize the classic form of verse-chorus-verse, while others dare to hide form within theme and variation. And somehow, it all sounds cohesive.
In writing for this brand-spanking new band, Dunn wrote intuitively, never over-thinking the songs. Yet one gets the sense that he drew upon his many years experience, as a sideman and as a composer, in order to craft music that is at once engaging, thoughtful and fun to crank on the ol' stereo.
"white with foam", the debut CD from MadLove, will be out on Ipecac Recordings in the Fall of 2009.
Absence & Noise
MadLove Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Stillness in the air, the pendulum swing
Empty miracles will follow you home
Listening to the noise of being alone
Fill this heart with an endless sound
Like an ocean fills up a room
That's more than I found while staring at walls
Slight eternities that swim in your brain
Burn the larvae that survive in your veins
Once forgettable they haunt you again and again
In the absence of your only friend
The lyrics of MadLove's song "Absence & Noise" seem to express feelings of loneliness and the struggle to fill an empty void. The first verse talks about the stillness in the air that follows after enemies have left or ceased to be a part of one's life. The reference to "pendulum swing" could be interpreted as the constant back and forth of emotions that one experiences after a certain event. The following lines seem to suggest that in such moments, empty miracles will follow one home, indicating that even though one may have achieved something significant, it still feels incomplete without someone to share it with. The last phrase, "Listening to the noise of being alone," perhaps portrays the numbness and emptiness that accompanies one's solitude.
The second verse of the song speaks about the need for something more profound to fill the emptiness. The singer compares the feeling to a room that needs to be filled with an ocean, suggesting a vast and boundless emptiness that needs to be filled. However, the fourth line seems contradictory, saying that even though the singer found something to fill the void, it was futile as it was only walls they stared at. The last phrase, "The end of the world doesn't matter at all," could be interpreted as a resignation to the fact that even if something significant happened, it would be meaningless if there was no one to share it with.
In the last verse, the singer talks about haunting memories that persist even after one forgets, making their absence more painful. The reference to "eternities that swim in your brain" seems to suggest that memories stick with you longer than one would like, and it may not be easy to rid oneself of them. The phrase "burn the larvae that survive in your veins" probably means removing the painful memories from one's system. The statement "In the absence of your only friend" perhaps refers to the pain of being without someone significant.
Line by Line Meaning
After enemies have folded their wings
Once those who were against me have given up and moved on.
Stillness in the air, the pendulum swing
A sense of quietness that feels like time is standing still.
Empty miracles will follow you home
Small, insignificant events will happen that seem miraculous in a lonely, empty home.
Listening to the noise of being alone
Hearing the sound of your own emptiness when there's no one else around.
Fill this heart with an endless sound
Let my heart be lifted by the sound of something that will barely stop it from breaking.
Like an ocean fills up a room
As water fills up a space, let my heart be filled with something that moves me entirely.
That's more than I found while staring at walls
I want to find more than I have found in despair and loneliness.
The end of the world doesn't matter at all
How I feel is more important than what happens around me.
Slight eternities that swim in your brain
Memories and emotions that last forever and constantly resurface.
Burn the larvae that survive in your veins
Destroy the little seeds of negativity that burn inside and hold me back.
Once forgettable they haunt you again and again
Things that should have been insignificant and forgettable continue to linger and cause pain.
In the absence of your only friend
When there's no one around to help, support, or comfort you.
Contributed by Colin F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.