INTERVIEW: Blue Man Group, Audio (Virgin)
- Chris Hill
With a limited amount of space for a record review and an interview, a shortened introduction: "THX 1138", Yves Klein's "Blue Sponge Relief (1958)", PVC tubes, satirical art commentary, cacophonous drumming, intelligent humor, stunning visual effects. All this and more describe the Blue Man Group, three New York men who've combined their talents and backgrounds to create the alien entity known as the Blue Man.
Even as their "Tubes" production continues its long run in three U.S. cities (New York, Boston, and Chicago), the Blue Man Group invades a fourth city in March, landing at the Luxor in Las Vegas for an extended run.
A sense of the unique BMG show is communicated by the 14 track cd, Audio. Graphics inside the cd booklet display the BMG's unusual instrumentation: the Backpack Tubulum (an assembly of PVC tubes resembling a Bond jet-pack), Air Poles (thin tubes whipped while gripped in various positions for different sounds, not unlike plastic lightsabers), the Big Drum (self-explanatory), and the Drum Wall (a multi-tiered structure with multiple drum stations). The raw percussive power of the tubular instruments, combined with traditional guitar, bass, and drums, manages to resonate in the ears and the body; tribal rock which creates a primal response.
This isn't a New Age cd, meant to lull and tranquilize. On "Opening Mandelbrot", drums burst forth in a primordial rhythm and a rock guitar enters with passion and verve. "Mandelgroove" begins with a zither sawing away, then splits into simultaneous, thunderous drums. "Tension 2" plays frantic drum rhythms against chopping and echoing guitars, like a modern "Perils of Pauline" interlude.
It's difficult not to think in cinematic terms when hearing these instrumentals. "Synaesthetic" sees a "Walkabout" aborigine wandering through "The Arabian Nights". "Utne Wire Man" crosses "Ran" with "The Road Warrior": preceded by a guitar howling like a coyote in the desert, the Sword Air Poles enter as martial instruments, whipping and dancing through the air in unison. "Drumbone", urgent and speeding, could fit easily on the "Run Lola Run" soundtrack. Regardless of whatever visuals spring to mind, Audio manages to stand as a work unto itself, aside from the BMG stage show.
Taking a break from the pre-production chaos in Vegas, the three founders (Matt Goldman, Phil Stanton, and Chris Wink) sat down for a phone interview with Consumable. Like the merging of their individual selves into the character of the Blue Man, the interview was conducted seemingly with a singular entity, as three different voices spoke for the whole.
CO: So you haven't had your first performance yet?
BMG: Nope, March. Our first preview is February 24th and not even half the show is cued yet, so we're going to get cued and ready to go about the day before the audience gets here.
CO: So it isn't the "Tubes" performance that you've been doing for a decade plus?
BMG: No, it's about half and half. We've got the signature bits from that show, the stuff that we feel like we almost have to do, because we still like it so much. But we've got a lot of new stuff, inspired by the work we did on the album, plus some new character stuff.
CO: Do you ever see a travelling road show?
BMG: We're really determined to figure that out next, after this. We're thinking that a lot of the experiments we're doing in this show will help us understand how we could possibly take it to a tour situation. There's still a lot of things that we'd have to solve. It takes a lot to get it all in place, which is why we can't just go out and go on tour, and set up in one day. It takes us two weeks just to be able to get to the point where we can actually run through the bits. Until we can figure out how to tour, we're hoping that some of our fans will find their way here.
CO: What's the stage show like, for people who are just hearing the album? I read that there really isn't a plot, per se. Is it improvisation? What's a typical show?
BMG: There's isn't a plot, but it does have sort of a shape to it. Maybe one way to describe it, is that the Blue Men come out, and there's an element of improvisation in that they actually look at the audience. There isn't a fourth wall. They come out and they LOOK at the audience. They don't play with them the whole time, but they lead them through what we might describe as a post-modern, freaked-out ritual. And it combines all different kinds of mediums and crafts and images. It's a cultural stew of influences.
Then there's another side that we didn't even hint at on the album, and that's the comedic element. We don't think of ourselves first and foremost as comedians. We try to establish an element of seriousness to the show, before anything funny happens, but that actually helps make it a better kind of humor. It's not trying really hard to be gaggy, but it does happen, and that's another element for people who haven't seen us. It's a very deadpan, Buster Keaton, not trying too hard, kind of humor.
There's also a collision between the ancient and the modern. We play big drums, not just with big sticks, like a world beat band would do, or kodo drummers, but we play them with electronic signs, where the Blue Man rips an L.E.D. sign off the wall, and starts smacking at a 6' drum with it. And that kind of sums up the aesthetic...futuristic and ancient at the same time.
CO: There really is a sexless, modern, futuristic look to the character.
BMG: Yep. Perfect. Thank you. And we try to extract the ego out of it, so that he can look at the world with fresh eyes, in either a naive way or a very knowing way, depending on what the situation is.
CO: So it really frees you three up, if it's a distinct identity, aside from the three of you?
BMG: Absolutely. And also, it not just frees us up, but I think it makes the work more profound, too.
CO: So, for the show, is it going to be you three guys doing all the shows, or are you bringing along understudies? How does it work?
BMG: We have a troupe of Blue Men. We're not the only ones. And it's important, especially in a show like this. Like on a day like today, we had to be out in the audience directing, we had Blue guys on stage, and then after we got the lights set, WE got on stage, so we were sure to be able to do it.
Typically, we'll open the show. But we'll also start rotating one at a time out, so we can watch it. The new Blue Men are great, and they have the luxury of being able to practice and rehearse nothing but the show all day, whereas we have to direct and think about lights and sound and all the other elements that go into making it happen. So we've actually really enjoyed having a larger troupe. And it's not about us. It's not about us, it's not about our personalities, it's about the Blue Men.
There have always been multiple Blue Men. And that's what the project's always been about. The very first public event had eleven people who were blue - men and women - and the project has just gone from there. So we've been joking around recently, like on our EPK (Electronic Press Kit) that we're the founders of the Blue Men, meaning we FOUND the Blue Man, but the Blue Man is everywhere. Part 2 of this interview will appear in next week's issue of Consumable.
