Evolution in Fast Forward

Born at Burning Man, The Mutaytor Has Developed Into a Full-Bodied Band of Half-Naked Fire-Dancers, Tribal Drummers, and Macintosh-Stroking Minstrels

Alpha freaks, mutation experts, pansexual misfits—these are just a few of the colorful phrases that the members of the L.A. performance band ‘The Mutaytor’ proudly use to describe themselves and their style of performance. Composed of more than 30 full- and part-time members, The Mutaytor blends an effective mix of tribal drumming, live improvisational electronics, fire-dancing, aerial antics, and plenty of skimpy costumes and liberal flesh into a vision of performance for the new century, with roots firmly planted in the past. Throw in their occasional flirtation with a 13-million volt Tesla coil that throws lightning all over the stage, and you have all the makings of a truly incendiary evening. Born six years ago in Burning Man’s surreal Black Rock City, The Mutaytor was incubated in Los Angeles’ underground electronic scene, and has more recently moved towards headlining at larger public and corporate events such as West Hollywood’s annual Halloween Parade, the annual Coachella Music and Arts Festival, and Cirque Du Soleil’s Varekai and Zumanity grand-opening events. And while the group has changed and evolved over the years (or ‘mutayted’ as they call it), it’s core aesthetic remains a reflection of that unique synthesis that has come to be known in alternative circles as ‘Burning Man,’ with its nods to modern-primitivism, sexual freedom, theatrics, pyrotechnics, technology, and individual expression. ‘It takes a veritable army of freaks to throw down The Mutaytor show in it’s full glory,’ explains the group’s founder, 33-year-old Matty Nash. ‘I got my start in the ’90s in Los Angeles’ grunge rock scene, and I was kind of going nowhere. Then I started a tribal drum project in the late ’90s and a new formula started to grow organically. People in the audience just started to approach me wanting to add their own unique form of mayhem to the mix, and they became full collaborators in the group. ‘Too often in today’s society people can’t be who they want to be,’ continues Nash. ‘But Mutatyor gives people the chance to express who they areC9if you want to be in a pink tutu and wear orange, spiky hair, Muytator will allow you to be who you want to be.’ Musically, the group goes beyond the ethereal expectations of a standard electronica sound. Particularly in its most recent efforts, there are the distinct flavors of funk and breakbeat influences that keep the music earthy and accessible. ‘Our earlier music was more world beat meets techno,’ explains Nash, ‘but recently we’ve taken a conscious step towards ‘danceability.’ The result is surprisingly infectious and crowd-pleasing, if not entirely unique. A large part of the Mutaytor sound is due to the innovative use of live computer improvisation to add texture and spontaneity to the mix. Amidst the fluorescent-green drums and cartoonish costumes of a Mutaytor stage show sit two on-stage DJs, entering key commands into their Macintosh laptops to access pre-recorded loops and a whole host of effects and filters. Based around an audio software package from M-Audio called Ableton Live, the Mutaytor engineers have created what they call a ‘dub pscience laboratory’ in order to expand the potential of pre-meditated music. Mutaytor DJ/songwiter Atom a.k.a. ‘Doctor’ Smith explains that his dub pscience laboratory is ‘in effect a multi-track sequencer that revolutionizes the way we take our pre-recorded studio music, chop it up into a grid and create new arrangements on the fly, allowing us to take it to places as weird and ‘out there’ as we want, and sometimes further than we meant to.’ Smith concludes that ‘occasionally the results have been disastrous, but they’ve always been coolC9[the dub lab] has given us more sonic freedom and live artistic control of a real-time moving piece of music that has ever been possible before.’ When queried as to whether the group has any special relevance to gay audiences—other than the half-naked fire dancers—Mutaytor’s founder Nash replied ‘we have gay and bi members in the group, but for us, who you love isn’t as important as how much you love. We try to create looks and fashions and a culture around the band that moves our world forward, because evolution, on its own, takes too long.’ Mutaytor will be performing at Burning Man Aug. 30-Sept. 6. Mutaytor’s newest CD, Family Bizness, will be released in independent record stores this Labor Day. For more on Mutaytor, go to their website.