MUTEMATH: Before

The last two years of high school were hard times in my life.

For the first two years I fit in well where I wanted to, I was friends with a lot of people, I was a major personality in my 400-student, senior high, youth group, and I had a well-paying job at American Eagle that provided me with a continuous supply of very cheap, fashionable clothing.

Then one day my world crashed down around me. Some of my closest friends hurt me deeply. I lost confidence in myself, and thus also lost confidence in God whom I though would protect me.

I stopped listening to the factory-molded CCM that had for so long filled my music libraries, and sought out the more independent and underground of the Christian music world. As time went on, that also led to a discovery of quality secular music, aside from oldies and jazz. One of the first artists I came across on a Pandora-esqe online radio site was a band called Mute Math. They had only recently released an EP entitled Reset, and I soon found myself downloading it to enjoy the album in its entirety.

It was not long after that when I learned two of the members of Mute Math were originally a part of another old Christian band I was once a fan of--Earthsuit. I began following Mute Math pretty loyally, although I never had a chance to see them live for at least the next two years. At the time, I was into a different music scene which took most of my focus. Jazz, at the time, was much more important to me.

I asked for a turntable for Christmas, and my parents got it for me. The search was on to find my favorite artists on vinyl. But then I saw an advertisement for an exclusive Mutemath vinyl. They had just begun touring in promotion of their premier, self-titled album. Unable to attend the show in my area, I wasted no time in at least ordering the vinyl.

Then the hard times got worse with more friend drama. I felt like an outsider, and was ever-conscious of my brokenness. The album arrived in the mail not long after, and it became all that I ever played on that old turntable of mine. Their music was exactly my style. It was obscure and fresh, electronic and acoustic, and all around different from anything I had heard before. The lyrics spoke into my life, and a lot of the things I were feeling were touched on in one song or another.

It was music to get me through a hard time.

Tonight I am attending their concert, which is part of a promotional tour for their sophomore album. And let me tell you, I am excited!