Of Mice & Men do not do things by halves, whether writing immense songs, recording them to perfection or performing them with the intensity of a thousand suns in a live setting, every member of the band pours his heart and soul into every second of everything that they do.
It is that relentless quality combined with incredible talent that has seen them achieve Billboard Number 1 albums, Gold records and invitations to tour with likes of Metallica, Linkin Park and Slipknot, in an 8-album career packed with highlights and triumphs.
Being it the soaring passion of Would You Still Be There, the pit-inducing mayhem of Bones Exposed or the pure venom of Warpaint from the band's latest release, Tether, every Of Mice & Men show is an unforgettable experience.
Ahead of their Australian tour with Dream On, Dreamer and Sienna Skies, we caught up with Of Mice & Men drummer Valentino Arteaga for a discussion about their latest album Tether. In the process, we discover a shared musical language drive, and desire for self-empowerment that is set to ensure the next era of Of Mice & Men will be one of untethered creativity.
Maniacs: Of Mice & Men are headed to Australia for the first time in six years, how are you feeling about finally returning down under?
Valentino Arteaga: So excited, man. We love Australia. We cannot wait to come out there. It's been long overdue. We love it out there and we can't wait to perform songs from all of our albums at these upcoming headline shows in February.”
Fans will likely be stoked that you’ll be digging deep into the catalogue, are there any songs in particular you’re excited to play on this run?
"The new album. It’s a basic answer, I know, but we’re proud of our new album, Tether and I’m looking forward to playing those songs live in Australia for the first time.
Is there something in particular about the new material that excites you?
“Every song on the album has its vibe about it. From a live standpoint, being able to play some of those songs, for the very first time in Australia is very exciting for us to think of. The songs have been going over incredibly well live. We call these last two albums that we made ‘headphone records’, because we we weren't touring at the time, and usually we will put out an album and then expect to tour it. We haven't yet, for either of those records, so it's kind of exciting to see how the songs play in a live atmosphere, see what the crowd interaction and everything is like. It's something that we love as a band, being able to have that connection with the crowd. To see these songs be brought to life, outside of just the album is something very special. And we believe that it's gonna be very memorable.”
Tether has been well-received by your fanbase, do you feel like they’ve accompanied you on this journey of musical self-discovery?
“Totally. I feel like since we've leapt to producing everything ourselves, it has been hugely gratifying to see it connect. To be on our eighth album, still being able to connect with our audience and still creating music that not only we love, but our audience loves. That’s awesome. We're the first fans of the band. So if we like the music, you know? We tend to think ‘Hopefully, other people like it’, but we make the music for ourselves. It’s a very personal process for us to bare our souls to the music and to be able to speak that language of music so fluently, so late in our careers. To be fourteen years and eight albums into it and still resonate with the audience in new ways, be it to brand new fans, or fans that have been around since the first album, it’s a really special thing.”
“I think that our audience knows and loves that connection. We will take on any challenge to make sure that we are doing that not only for ourselves because we have to do it for ourselves, but also to do it for the fans. We make music with meaning, you know what I mean? There is meaning behind it, this isn't flash-in-the-pan, face-value music. This is, you know, a deep, deep understanding of the human experience. We create this music about things that we're experiencing. We're not the only ones who experience loss and a need for self-discovery or self-empowerment, We’re not just going heavy for the sake of going heavy. You know what I mean? We need to have that musical release, and I think that it's just amazing that we've been able to connect with our audience still at this point and to still be challenging ourselves. Trying new things, using new sonic textures.”
For you personally, as a drummer, has it been rewarding to step outside of your usual role in the band, and contribute other elements to the sound as you did on Tether?
“To step outside of myself, writing some guitar, using synthesizers using computers, learning and always trying to elevate the sound of the band, that is empowering. Who better to do that than us in the band that have been doing it, you know, since day one? So I feel like, it's just a great experience. We have our fans to thank for allowing us to do this, for allowing us to put out our eighth album and have it be so well received. And to kind of have something for everybody on there, that tells a story of the human experience, you know what I mean? It's just a powerful thing. And we use music to help not only ourselves, but to help others through and understand maybe a little bit more of why we're here or you know, what I mean, like to have some sort of deeper connection with the music.”
When you moved into the production side of this, how much grounding did you have in that space before making that leap, or was it a case of learning on the fly?
“Aaron used to record bands before he joined Of Mice and Men. So he has a lot of the skill set, but when we’re in the demo process, before going into the studio in the past, we always tried to make our demos sound as polished as possible so that we get a good perspective of what the song is going to sound like recorded. When we showed the demos to the label, they were like ‘Great record’, and we told them ‘These are just the demos’. They couldn’t believe it. So we started thinking ‘Oh, dang, you think these are good enough to be put on an album, well we’ll make it sound even better!”
Was it the circumstance of not being able to tour that led to you becoming so invested in and accomplished at self-production leading up to Tether?
“It was out of necessity. Studios were closed in 2020, 2021, 2022, so we worked out this creative workflow that allowed us to self-produce. I know for a fact that if we hadn’t worked with some of the greatest producers of the 21st century, we wouldn’t have the skill set to challenge ideas and know when one isn’t as strong as another one or something like that. It was working with Joey Sturgis, David Bendeth, Howard Benson, Josh Wilbur, you know some huge names in the industry, it was from working with them that we learned these skills. We’ve learned something from each of them, we’ve taken those things and kept them as part of our skill set, and part of our toolkit, as we continued trying to perfect our craft.”
“We’ve figured out a creative workflow that allows us to maximise our output. Because our studio sessions never end, they’re always open until we turn in the final master. In the past, we booked three months in the studio, we’d start on day one, and we end on day 90, or whatever, you know what I mean? And then it's done. But with doing the self-production route, we're able to keep those ideas open and to keep adding to them and to kind of like, elevate the performances. We start at one thing, and then by the end, it could be completely different.”
“There's no time limit other than the deadline of when we're supposed to turn it in. But, you know, the drums are always set up, they're never torn down, you know, like the guitars are always ready to go, the sessions are always able to be edited and added on to and it kind of gave us approach to being able to craft songs. Thankfully, it's connecting with the fans and it's connecting with the audience.”
Of Mice & Men
Australian Tour 2024
with special guests Dream On Dreamer and Sienna Skies
Friday, February 23, Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide
Saturday, February 24, The Metro, Sydney
Sunday, February 25, 170 Russell, Melbourne
Tuesday, February 27, The Triffid, Brisbane
Listen to Of Mice & Men
