MM9 are one of Australia’s most exciting new electronic rock outfits. To coincide with the release of their debut album The Air Between, the Sydney lads are about to embark on a national tour. I recently caught up with the band’s drummer and sample guru Ben Ellingworth to chat about the album, life on the road, and why he loves being on stage.
While you’ve got a loyal following, many Aussies may not be familiar with your music. How would you describe your sound?
Energetic, hard electro rock.
You’re about to release your debut LP The Air Between. What can you tell me about the album?
It’s a real progression in sound and style for us, and hopefully its the kind of record that reminds people why they went mental at the last MM9 show. It’s different from the previous releases but it’s not a complete departure.
The album was mixed by Mike Barbiero, who’s worked with some massive names like Guns N’ Roses and Metallica. What did he bring to your sound?
His attention and passion for what he does makes you realize why he has such an extensive discography including Anthrax, John Lennon, Thrice, Cypress Hill, Madonna; the list is ridiculous. The perfect blend of clarity and depth yet still keeping the energy of the raw live feel was amazing for us, he really captured an MM9 live show on record.
You’ve recorded a couple of EPs before this. How did that process prepare you for putting together the full-length album?
The first two EPs were both recorded quite differently, and I think we were very much still discovering what we really wanted to achieve. Every band has to spend a fair bit of time discovering their strengths, and with us it’s within the live show so with the full length album we really wanted to capture as much of the live energy of the band as possible.
As well as getting a lot better at pulling sounds, we all individually had a clear idea of what was needed to get the sounds from our amps, drums etc. Dan (who co-produced along with all his other duties) has gained so much experience over the past few years with all his remix/production work as well as mixing previous MM9 Releases had such a clear vision for sounds. There was very little in the way of editing with this album and I think that helped maintain the live element.
Originally there was the option to go over to the States and be there for the mix, but a sudden shift in the Aussie dollar changed things quite a bit. Files had to be sent back and forth with all of us receiving e-mails up to five times a day with different versions, and everything had to be orchestrated in order for the changes to be made correctly. That was a whole new experience for us. It really helped us learn how to articulate what we wanted from our music.
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