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 FantƓmas. 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.
The Mute Number
MadLove Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There is no other place to go
All the venom
Spit from heaven
Into these eyes
Now you can rest assured
It's already there
For time to make her last mistake
Send you freely
Blind and reeling
Into the night
Before the thought occurs
You're already there
Make this end
Close the door
Count to ten
Then one more
Now and forever
The lyrics to MadLove's song "The Mute Number" is quite open to interpretation, but one can assume that the song is about finding peace in a world full of chaos. The first few lines "Forever, there is no other place to go" could suggest that the singer has come to terms with the harsh reality that there is no escape from this world. Even though venom is being spit from heaven into these eyes, they can rest assured that it's already there. This could be interpreted as accepting the fact that the world will never be perfect, and we need to find peace within ourselves amidst all the chaos.
The next lines "Still waiting for time to make her last mistake" could suggest the singer's desire for the world to change, but realizing that it's not going to happen anytime soon. The line "send you freely, blind and reeling into the night" could suggest the idea of surrendering to the chaos around us and just going with the flow. And before we even realize it, we are already there, already at peace.
The chorus "make this end, close the door, count to ten, then one more, now, and forever" could be interpreted as a call to end the internal struggles and find peace. The counting could represent the process of calming down and finding inner peace.
Line by Line Meaning
Forever
Eternity, with no other options in sight
There is no other place to go
No other options or alternatives to consider
All the venom
All the poison and negativity
Spit from heaven
Thrown down from above, raining down from the sky
Into these eyes
Directly affecting and influencing our vision and perception
Now you can rest assured
You can be fully confident and at ease
It's already there
The negative impact is already present and affecting one's life
Still waiting
Patiently holding on, expecting something to happen
For time to make her last mistake
Hoping that time will eventually fix a problem or error
Send you freely
Allowing oneself to be sent or delivered without resistance
Blind and reeling
Unable to see clearly, stumbling and unsteady
Into the night
Moving forward into darkness or uncertainty
Before the thought occurs
Before having a chance to process or think about a situation
You're already there
Already fully immersed in a problematic or undesirable situation
Make this end
Put an end to this situation
Close the door
Leave this situation behind, cut off all ties
Count to ten
Take a moment to calm down and regain composure
Then one more
Just a little extra time is needed for peace of mind
Now and forever
From this moment on, and for all eternity
Contributed by Alexandra I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
kulesa
Forever
There is no other place to go
All the venom
Spit from heaven
Into these eyes
Now you can rest assured
It's already there
Still waiting
For time to make her last mistake
Send you freely
Blind and reeling
Into the night
Before the thought occurs
You're already there
Make this end
Close the door
Count to ten
Then one more
Now and forever