Spinner

Mux Mool Won't Mess With Drake, Lil Wayne or Any of That 'Pop S---'

Tim Saccent

As genre-defying Minnesota-born, Brooklyn-based visual artist/producer Mux Mool prepares to release his sophomore LP, 'Planet High School,' he sat down with Spinner/RPM to discuss his beautiful, frenetic collection of melancholic synth-funk instrumentals, the fate of America's youth, his pursuit of happiness and why he'd rather remix Smokey Robinson than Lil Wayne or Drake.

What does the title 'Planet High School' refer to?

It's about growing up, or not growing up, rather. It's about how I kinda grew up too fast and was miserable all my life until I was maybe 24, and now I don't have to grow up ever. Not like, some Peter Pan s--- or anything, just that I can wear t-shirts for the rest of my life if I want and I'm still stoked on eating cookies for breakfast if I want.

The press release for this album has a pretty bleak statement about the present day circumstance of young Americans in relation to the album's concept. Can you elaborate on that a bit?

I didn't intend for that to sound so bleak. But it's true that young people have less and less to look forward to. The future used to be, at least ostensibly, wide open and full of possibilities, but with a never-ending war that we don't understand, and the status of the economy, it's kinda s---ty right now.

How does your music fit with that worldview?

I would like to show people that you don't need much to be happy, and that the traditional "straight and narrow" path no longer leads to security and fulfillment, it leads to debt and worry. From my personal experience, once I really set all that aside and just worked on what I wanted to work on, that's how I became happy. Everyone's got their cart before the horse. It's not about working your whole life so someday you can have hobbies and relax, it's about doing what you want all the way through.

Listen to Mux Mool's 'Get Better John'

Tell us a bit about the visual show you're putting together for live performances. It sounds really interesting.

I've got a good friend of mine from Minnesota, Papa Matt Visionquest, coming along with me this year for a lot of shows. It's gonna be live, interactive visuals. The crowd can go into a booth and be projected onto the screen behind me and Matt's gonna mess with the visuals. It's gonna be glitchy and colorful and fun. Instead of it just being flat colors or heady laser s---, it's gonna be full-on animated bits that I drew myself and lasers and horror movies and video games. My intent is to try and stream as many of my live shows as possible so everyone can see, and also record the visuals and sync them with the performance and post those online.

How do you decide on artists to remix: You've done really great, broad-ranging stuff, from Snap to Smokey Robinson.

That's always a tough call. Man, I'd be so damn popular if I remixed a bunch of Lil Wayne or Drake or any of that pop s---. I like beats or rap instrumentals, [but] I can't listen to too much modern s---, 'cause the patterns are so formulaic and it's all just 808s. It's not interesting or dynamic music, I'd rather just remix something I do know and like. I don't consider how people are gonna think about it really, or worry about whether or not a song is gonna chart on Hype Machine or whatever. That's just not something that should be in your head when you're writing music. I'm just paying homage to songs and artists I've always liked. I'd much rather get an e-mail from Smokey Robinson saying he liked my rendition, than get tweeted at by some ubiquitous rap celeb.

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M Smith

Lil Wayne
(Verse 3)
I got shot when I was 12,
Lost my pop when I was 14
Shot again at 20
Will I shake these old dreams?
We already have the holy water on my face
And 3 blood drops dried on the side of my eyes
Why we gotta kill our own kind when we rise?
Got me looking down the ladder now when I climb
Pulling up on my nephews
And they don't wanna drive
They wanna learn how to work the tool
And who am I not to do the duty?
And just think, if pops advice get sent through black ink
And that stinks, but homie that's real
And in the hood even steaks smell bad on the grill
I remember when if you was a hustler, you was a winner
Now that's like raking up leaves in the winter
And that ain't even cool, to miss a few summers

February 18 2012 at 12:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
M Smith

Lil Wayne
(Verse 3)
I got shot when I was 12,
Lost my pop when I was 14
Shot again at 20
Will I shake these old dreams?
We already have the holy water on my face
And 3 blood drops dried on the side of my eyes
Why we gotta kill our own kind when we rise?
Got me looking down the ladder now when I climb
Pulling up on my nephews
And they don't wanna drive
They wanna learn how to work the tool
And who am I not to do the duty?
And just think, if pops advice get sent through black ink
And that stinks, but homie that's real
And in the hood even steaks smell bad on the grill
I remember when if you was a hustler, you was a winner
Now that's like raking up leaves in the winter
And that ain't even cool, to miss a few summers

February 18 2012 at 12:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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February 09 2012 at 2:42 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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