Mudvayne is a band that has always been shrouded in mystery. From their elaborate stage shows to their curious costume make-up, they’ve always managed to push boundaries and make their fans think. They continue this tradition on their self-titled, upcoming release (due 12/22), which will be the first album ever to use only black light reactive ink on its packaging. Why would they do such a thing? Bassist Ryan Martinie answers this and other burning questions about the album and their songwriting process below. 

What made you decide to release a self-titled album after all these years?
Well, that’s interesting. I think the feeling within the band is that this is a good representation of where we’ve come from. Historically speaking, I think we feel it’s an important record for us. When we look back on this one, it will have something special for each one of us. It holds a lot of personal gravity to it.

This is the first album ever to black light reactive ink on the packaging. Whose idea was that?
That was Mr. Gray; he’s always full of shit and full of wonderful ideas.

Does that concept hold a deeper meaning?
That’s up for debate. That’s for everyone else to decide. There’s always a bit of that in all art. It’s not about what it means to me or what it means to any of us; it’s really about every single person’s own interpretation of what it is. We’ve always tried to leave things pretty open-ended. We’re not trying to tell you how to think or what you should do. Whether it’s a painting or a movie or a song or a band, you have to build your own relationship with it. What anyone else thinks should have no bearing on what any individual thinks about this work or any other work of art for that matter.

How would you say this record compares to New Game?
Making comparisons is not something we do with our own records; I don’t think that serves us very well. That gets into dangerous territory – maybe this won’t be as good, or this one’s way better. I don’t think in those terms. This is an individual album that has its own space and its own vibe. Is it comparable? I don’t know. Once again, that’s up for everyone else to decide. This record has some things on it that we haven’t done; I can say that with certainty. I’m very proud of the things that are on this record that I think pushed our band outside the box that is Mudvayne.

Jeremy Parker was your producer. What did he bring to the table?
Jeremy’s a friend, we’ve known Jeremy for years now and he’s got a great creative mind. He’s a sax player so he’s got the musicality of an artist but also that technical side that can really make things happen in a studio setting. There’s an exciting vibe for each member on any given song, any given situation, any given day.

We’re just normal people. We have our moods and are scared to death of recording certain songs. You’re so nerved-out because you record something that stays forever, so you’re overly concerned and neurotic about the process. He facilitates getting through all of that with each individual.

Did you do anything differently to prepare for this album?
No, I don’t think so. Our tried-and-true method is really that there is no method at all. Being open and honest and allowing the songs to decide where they want to go is the most important thing we do. Trying to control something – and even that word, control - I think that’s a derogatory term when you’re talking about art or songwriting. Allowing the songs to come forward and have a life of their own is how we approach every record, every song.

Did any events in your own lives influence this album?
I don’t think you can separate yourself from the experiences that you have. Our brains are like hard drives, I think. You can hit delete, you can do whatever, and it’s still there. Whether we can access the information we’ve been exposed to or not, it’s still imprinted on our brain. To say any one thing is more important, I don’t know that our brains work that way. I’ll speak for myself and say that mine doesn’t. 

Yes, we’re a rock band, we have our guitars, and we have our drums. It’s bombastic and it has that essence to it, obviously we’re drawn to those things. But I think that those things are each built from each one of our life experiences and we’ve all had different ones.

Some of your fans are disappointed that you guys haven’t been wearing your stage make-up lately…
We stopped? Unfortunately, that’s what happens when people get one static image from one media source or another or one show or another.  On any given night, there could be some theatrical element with costuming, or not.  It depends on what you see, where you’re at, what city you’re in and where we’re at that day.

We’ve never been pinned down by the imagery we put out. Although we have a lot of fun with it, it’s not something that we’ve chosen to stick with. That doesn’t suit any of us. Why would we write the same song, why would we wear the same crap over and over? That’s not how we work as people or as a band. I think there comes a time when you just go, what’s next? What can we do? What we haven’t done, other people have. Artists try to put a new spin on an old thing.

If you could tour with anyone, who would it be?
Someone asked me that question and I said AC/DC. Heck yeah! But I don’t see that in the cards for the future. There are plenty of bands that I would love to tour with. But there are bands we would be able tour with and there are bands that wouldn’t want to tour with us. We’re not gonna go on tour with Radiohead, I imagine, although we’re fans.