With influences ranging from Guster to classical symphonies, Mockingblue is a rare gem on the local music scene. Their first full-length album, (released Sept. 17) showcases their unique lineup with a cello, mandolin, acoustic guitar and African drums. With vocals that complement the many levels and breakout solos by all instrumentalists, Mockingblue raises the bar for originality for other local musicians.
The Daily Cardinal spoke with lead singer and guitarist Mike Pietrus about the band's influences, Madison's club scene and who their music appeals to.
The Madison music scene is definitely diverse, but it has also been described as segregated and known for elitism. What is your take on the attitude in Madison?
Everybody wants to be famous and wants to make money and it's like, 'C'mon, you play in a coffeehouse for like 20 people. Why don't you just come down and have a good time? Make good music and enjoy the night.' There's a lot of ego that doesn't need to be there.
What do you think of Luther's Blues [1401 University Ave.]? Have they been receptive of you guys?
Yeah, they're really looking to get the local scene here. There's a lot of really good local bands and I guess that's why on Wednesdays they're looking to have local Madison music nights. [Luther's new booking agent] was like 'Why should we pay for these national acts that can't draw? Why not bring people from here and give them a chance with a nice venue?' and I agree with that. He was the first guy here that was like that, everyone else was like, 'Well, if you're not national then we don't want to hear you.'
What do you think Madison needs most in regards to a venue?
I don't think it needs to add anything. I think that, they just need to improve the Barrymore [2090 Atwood Ave.]. That would be my biggest thing. They need to improve the sound there. Yeah, I don't think they need to add anything, because for a really big show they have the Civic Center [211 State St.] and the Expo Center [1919 Alliant Energy Way]. And for other things you have Luther's, the Barrymore, the Orpheum [216 State St.], the Annex [1206 Regent St.]. It's really good for a small city.
Would you add more all-ages shows and venues?
Oh, definitely. You would get so many more people because the students want to go-especially the ones that are under 21. I mean, why not let them into the show? But I agree with that, more all-ages shows definitely.
How did you guys come up with your sound, because you have a very distinct and unique combination of instruments?
Well, I started writing and singing, playing guitar about six years ago, and then I saw this band from Chicago called Virbo and they had a cello player and it was just straight-ahead rock, but with a cello and I bought their album but they totally under-utilized their cello, and I thought, 'What's the point of having a cello if you don't use it?'
From there, [the band] started playing for a while, but we felt like we wanted to take it to another level, add something to it.
So I started looking for a percussion guy and I happened to see Bill [Zanski] play at some open mics, so I talked to him and he came to play and jammed a couple of times and he worked with Jordan [Smentowski], who plays mandolin, and was like, 'Can he come practice with us some day?' And all of a sudden, within a week and a half Jordan had become part of the band without anyone knowing it. He started writing parts and came to our shows and so we were like, 'Alright, now we've got a mandolin.'
Listening to your CD, a friend suggested that you had elements of Paul Simon in your music.
I'm influenced by singer-songwriters, but I'm not really that down with the genre. I mean, I like Dylan and Leonard Cohen and all those guys, but it's never the thing I just pop in and listen to. It's like the kind of guys that if I were in a room and the musicians in the room were divided into different camps, I would be standing by the singer-songwriters. That's the thing, we kind of built around the songs I already had on the album. So I could definitely see that, Costello, Cohen, even Bob Marley to an extent.
Who do you think your music will appeal most to?
I don't really know because some people that I think would really like it, don't like it, and other people that I wouldn't think like it, do like it. I think the elements of a Dave Matthews Band, Phish, kind of jam thing, I think a college crowd would dig it for that. Also there's just more musicianship than a lot of things out there.
