Mutemath Answer Our OkCupid-Cribbed Dating Questionnaire

Louisiana quartet Mutemath haven't release a full length in four years, but the Grammy-nominated crew return with their long-awaited fourth longplayer, Vitals, this November. And we like what we've heard thus far. In recent months they dropped three songs as a teaser and most recently album closer "Remain" offers an almost early Radiohead-esque slow build that pivots on singer Paul Meany's quavering, but powerful falsetto. Where previous albums have worked a bluesier, psych groove, songs like "Light Up" showcase a poppier sensibility. Check out the a live rendition of another new tune "Used To," premiering below. It's a bassy synth song that remains key to their forthcoming record's fresh direction, with Meany describing it as "the foundation of how we wanted the whole album to sound.”

In any case, the band are off on tour for the rest of their natural born lives, well, at least for the first part of next year, and to celebrate their return to the fray we asked them a bunch of silly questions that OkCupid ask all their looking-for-love members to answer.

Age/Sex/Location:

Todd Gummerman (guitarist):

33/M/Nashville.

Darren King (drummer): 33/Male/Nashville.

Paul Meany (singer): 39/Male/New Orleans.

Roy Mitchell-Cárdenas (bassist): 38/Male/Homestead, FL (small agricultural town south of Miami, north of Key Largo).

Self-summary:
Todd: I grew up juggling music, soccer, girls, and video games. Not much has changed in 20 years time. Oh, I did commit to one girl though, and she's amazing.

Darren: I'm your friend's yellow lab that jumps all over you and pees on the carpet because I'm so happy you stopped by to visit. Sorry.

Paul: I'm a New Orleans native raised in an Irish/Italian family. So all that really amounts to is I've never known of anything ever getting done productively if it wasn't over a meal or a drink.

Roy: I'm a father of three, lover of music, and a fútbol junkie.

What I'm doing with my life:
Todd: Juggling. And enjoying my dream job.

Darren: Eat, sleep, family, music, mortgage, clean, talk, move stuff around, drive, laundry, phonecalls, and then I get to travel around to new places and play the drums.

Paul: Filling up the voice memo section of my phone with cringe-y song starts that I trust I will one day revisit and turn into something the whole world will want to sing along to.

Roy: I'm a law school dropout, following my boyhood dreams of being a musician.

I’m really good at:
Todd: Tetris, playing piano versions of my favorite tv theme songs, and working Dumb and Dumber quotes into everyday life.

Darren: Telling stories.

Paul: Believing I'm better than I actually am at anything.

Roy: Organizing anything. Preparing breakfast for my kids. Smelling nice.

The first things people usually notice about me are:
Todd: My chill disposition, my need to compete in some kind of game, and the priority of petting any nearby cats over socializing.

Darren: I have no clue.

Paul: My nose and facial hair are a complete mismatch in maturity.

Roy: Lately, people notice how much weight I've lost since the last time they've seen me (35lbs!) and this usually coincides with how often I change my "look."

Continued below.

Favorite books:
Todd: I prefer authors over books: Tolkien, Stienbeck, Sedaris, Vonnegut, Bukowski, Tom Robbins, Klosterman, A.J. Jacobs, Wodehouse. Also, The Glass Castle was an amazing book.

Darren: Calvin and Hobbes!

Paul: Any autobiographies. My recent fave was Michael Caine's The Elephant to Hollywood.

Roy: A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. The Complete Short Stories by Ernest Hemingway. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I actually have a B.A. in literature; so, this list can go on and on… I'll stop here.

Favorite movies:
Todd: The Big Lebowski, Life is Beautiful, O Brother Where Art Thou, No Country for Old Men, any Wes Anderson film.

Darren: Life is Beautiful.

Paul: Shawshank Redemption and Waiting For Guffman.

Roy: City of God. I've never been to Brazil but this film draws me more to the country. Pulp Fiction. I saw this for the first time at the drive-in with old band mates in high school. It flipped my world around.

Favorite music:
Todd: David Bazan, Chris Merritt, Ohtis, Tame Impala, Weezer, Rage Against the Machine, The Cardigans, The Beatles, Rufus Wainwright, Queen.

Darren: Bjork, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Beastie Boys, Beck, Beethoven, Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, Bob the Builder, Bob Dole.

Paul: I have an eternal love for early 90s hip-hop. The Pharcyde, Leaders of the New School, Das FX… The Beastie Boys /Tribe Called Quest era.

Roy: Lots to mention but I will forever play Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. I just never get tired of it. My father introduced me to the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Kinks. My mother bestowed José Feliciano, Celia Cruz, and Vicente Fernandez. My older sister showed me The Smiths, The Cure, and New Order. My skateboard friends gave me Sex Pistols, Bad Brains, and Fugazi. It's all a part of me.

Favorite TV shows:
Todd: Adventure Time, Seinfield, Frasier, Simpsons, Breaking Bad, any pro-soccer game.

Darren: Breaking Bad, Inside the Actors Studio.

Paul: Right now it's Better Call Saul.

Roy: I don't really watch anything on TV except fútbol matches, that is, when I'm not forced to see cartoons, which I enjoy Teen Titans, Star Rebels, and Sofia the First. When left to my own devices, I follow EPL, La Liga, MLS, Champions League, and others. I'm hooked.

Favorite Food:
Todd: Legit ramen.

Darren: Breakfast!

Paul: Seafood. If you're ever in New Orleans, go to Vincent's and order the Herb Crusted Salmon. You're welcome.

Roy: Mi mamá's breakfast tacos. My wife's picadillo. Mi suegra's pollo a la Dominican.

Six things I could never do without:
Todd: A new book to consume, soccer, a piano, fresh juice, my hearing, my wife that doubles as a best friend.

Darren: Someone to dance with.
Someone to work with.
Someone to complain to.
Someone to encourage me.
Someone to cheer for.
Someone to remember.
Runner up: chocolate and coffee.

Paul: Oh you know, Just your basic 39 year old white dude at Starbucks stuff: Coffee, internet, indoor plumbing, drive thru's and CDs of artists I keep forgetting to pick up on iTunes.

Roy: Hope, a guitar, my family. When I'm out on tour, my iPhone because it's my lifeline to my family. Also smelling good, and headphones or ear-buds.

The most private thing I’m willing to admit is:
Todd: If reincarnation is real, I'd like to find out how to come back as some type of cat. Also, I'm the best secret-keeper… for real.

Darren: A few years back I had a wet dream while napping on the floor in the American Airlines terminal at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Very awkward.

Paul: When I was a teenager, I sincerely once called a televangelist's prayer line to be healed of acne.

Roy: I don't like crowds but would rather talk to people one on one. Also, I drive a mini-van very cautiously around Miami.

On a typical Friday night I am:
Todd: Either playing a Mutemath show, or netflix-and-chillin with my wife.

Darren: Playing a show if I'm on tour or dancing with my daughter if I'm at home.

Paul: Usually not aware it's Friday night. It's sort of a snotty answer I know, but honestly being a musician coerces you into not regarding what day of the week or time of the year it is. It's some weird survival mechanism that develops in order to keep you sane I think.

Roy: Lately, playing a show with Mutemath. If I'm home, singing songs and having a good time with my wife and kids.

You should message me if:
Todd: There is a rummage sale with vintage keyboards or gear involved. If I'm in your town and you want someone to play disc golf with. If you want to hire me to add keys or guitar to your current project.

Darren: You saw who broke into our van last night. Or, if you know where the good treats are.

Paul: You know what day it is.

Roy: You want to hire me to play bass or guitar on your album.

Mutemath's album Vitals is out on 11.13 via Wojtek Records.