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In October of 1998 I did an interview with Evan Foster, leader of a Seattle surf band called
The Boss Martians. We spoke on the phone for a few hours and finished the interview. "Where
are you located, DJ?" "Bothell." "Groovy, man, I'm just a few miles away!" The next thing
I knew Evan was at the door. We talked, listened to records and played guitars for hours.
I suppose it was silly, but I was a bit taken aback because Evan Foster, one of the very best
guitarists on the international surf scene, didn't play one surf lick the entire evening.
He played pop, hard rock, folk and everything BUT surf. And he played it all very, very well.
Clearly, this was a young man who could play in just about any band he wanted to. That being
said, it should come as no surprise that Evan, along with Boss Martians keyboardist Nick
Contento, should form a power pop band. They're called The Mystery Action, and their debut
CD has just been released on MuSick Recordings, a label known for seeking out only the best
bands. Mystery Action is so new that there is only one official photograph of the band, and
despite hours of searching the Net, we were unable to find any UNofficial photos, either.
So please forgive the lack of graphic enhancement and just enjoy this little conversation with
Evan and Nick.
Cosmik: Let's start with the name of the band. Mystery Action. What does that mean and how did you come up with it? I keep playing with the words, like "Mr. Reaction."
Evan: Yeah, a long time ago, like high school I guess, I became a total geek for a Scottish rock and roll/art rock-cum-sci-fi-new-wave-yet-sort-of-punk band called the Rezillos, and we kinda messed around with covering some Rezillos numbers. Man, I am nuts for their bass playing - it's like amongst the best I've ever heard in any rock band - so tight its unreal. Anyways, when we were kicking around names we kind of came up with the name of our favorite Rezillos tune, "Mystery Action." I guess other than that its got no significance whatsoever.
Nick: The name was bounced off me and I said it sounded good, and it looked good in writing, so why not. It really has no significance or meaning. You can make it mean whatever you want.
Evan: We don't sound anything like the Rezillos, really, but we still just kind of worship the records.
Cosmik: Mystery Action is also The Boss Martians, a totally different kind of music, different vibe... What made you want to do the Mystery Action thing?
Nick: We basically wanted explore other musical ideas while keeping the Boss Martian a happening act.
Evan: Well, it's actually only Nick and I from the Martians. On bass we have the Guvna [Marty Sparks] and on drums we've recently had the ever rotating cast of musical drummers, but we'll be finalizing the deal soon for road shows and subsequent recordings. For the MuSick record we just used friends of the band, Vic [Hart] and Jim [Kruize], on different tracks, and lately we've been playing with other guys, too, like Jason Reavis [ex-Citizen's Utilities, ex-Cherry Hill High].
Cosmik: Here comes that old standby question, because it's actually interesting to learn this stuff... What are your influences that impact Mystery Action music?
Evan: Well, everything really.
Cosmik: Everything as in... everything?
Evan: No shit. I can dig anything about most records. Some influences on us at this moment might be Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Husker Du, Big Star/Alex Chilton, YOU AM I in the biggest fucking way, Stooges up to '74, Humble Pie, Small Faces, The Faces, CAN, Fountains Of Wayne, Graham Bond Org, Townes Van Zandt, the Move (wood!), Dylan, the Band, AC/DC, Queen, David Bowie, Brian Wilson, The Jam/Style Council/Paul Weller, The Sweet, Gary Newman, Devo, The Posies, Supergrass, way early Cannet Heat, Ike and Tina, Barry White, The Who, The Creation, Loretta Lynn, Sir Douglas, X, Les Baxter, The Wedding Present, Merle Travis, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, the Pogues, Paul Westerberg, Replacements... it keeps going, I guess.
Nick: Evan's not foolin' when he says everything. We don't like to be narrow minded about anybody's work.
Cosmik: Man, I guess so! I'm trying to picture a melding of The Pogues and The Sweet and it's kind of scaring me. How do you use all those influences? How does it melt down?
Nick: Let's face it, most of us have been listening to music since we were born. When you're a child it's difficult to comprehend what effect was put on a vocal or what somebody was doing when they tracked a bass line. Now as adults, you can now listen back to tunes you first heard when you were 6 and appreciate the artistic effort that was put forth in creating it. So, it's interesting to listen to something and say, "that works". Now, that doesn't mean you go off to the studio and rip it off, but instead, get what you get from it. And that's where we're at right now.
Evan: Hey, "Fox On The Run" and "Dark Streets of London" are both genius and they sound great back to back. How does it melt down? I guess it really doesn't for me. Did the Sweet rock? Yes they did. Did Shane MacGowan write some pretty brilliant satire and bollocks-talkin lyrics? Yes, and I gotta say I think he was a lot more "punk," not even counting the Nips days, than a lot of his contemporaries on the same scene at the same time. That guy is pretty dead-on happening in my book. And after I listen to the Sweet and The Pogues, I'll put on Gordon Lightfoot to mellow out before I get weird with Add N to X and then pass out to Rockpile! Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe. YEAH!! I hate the influences thing cuz there are too many great records out there that will always be influencing me.
Cosmik: Nick, it always seemed like your Boss Martian role was to provide a bit of texture, but in Mystery Action your keyboards are a huge part of the sound. Is this more satisfying, artistically?
Nick: To a certain extent, sure. It opens up avenues of sound that's not just limited to the early and mid 60s like the early Martian material was.
Cosmik: How do you separate it in your mind when you play? I mean how differently do you approach being Mystery Action's keyboardist and being the Boss Martian's keyboardist?
Nick: Oh, you just do it. I play what I think is required for the benefit of the tune. You also get reactions from the other players. If something works they'll tell you, if it doesn't they'll tell you that as well.
Cosmik: Same question for you, Evan, because let's face it, you're a well known guitar slinger when you play surf, but you seem to be way more song-oriented here.
Evan: I guess I don't really separate it. It's all supposed to be rock and roll, although with the lighter sound of the Boss Martians it took me awhile to figure that out. At this point I'm really not one for categorizing things so much anymore. It's all about the rock and roll - the song - so the way I guess I approach things is to play what we think the song needs. If I'm overplaying I'll expect a shitty look from someone in the band, if I'm underplaying I'll expect a kick in the ass. So I guess trying to find the right balance for what the song needs, that's more or less what I'm about these days. What I do with the guitar is only one small part of the band. I think the rhythm section is a lot more important to the success of the tune.
Cosmik: When were these songs written?
Evan: Late '98 early '99, for the most part. We actually cut a few more which didn't get put on the album. Like, for example, we cut some more covers like Small Faces "All or Nothing" and "Tin Soldier" and about 4 more originals.
Cosmik: Have you always written pop songs, or was it mostly surf stuff before this album?
Evan: I've just kind of written what I needed to write in the past. I've been kind of writing a little more of what I really want to write these days, I guess. I don't know - that's kind of a tough question. I've gone through some pretty heavy personal shit over the last year and a half with my whole idea of "music" and realizing how I feel about tunes, lyrics and things, so I don't know... I guess I write more of what I'm feeling and thinking about these days. It seems like all the bullshit and dishonesty that pervades the whole rock and roll thing can be a real hard thing to swallow - real disconcerting, real painful at times - and what's it all worth when we're 60 years old? Zero, if you ain't got your friends close by. When we're all geezers of 60 I want to go visit my close mates like Nick down at his New Mexico ranch with his twenty-three year old wife and house staff of six! So I think sometimes you get to a point where all you want do is make honest music. I guess that's kind of what happened to me. Turning 27 kind of opened up some new scary mess to me. I look at myself when I was a little younger and a lot more immature and think about what an idiot I was about some things - often times the wrong things. I would have really disliked me had I known myself. There are a lot of things I would have done different, a lot of people I would have listened to and some that I shouldn't have, really. There are a lot of apologies I would have wanted to make. Bad blood really kills good things and I wish there's some that I could clear up but sometimes we just don't get that chance, I guess. So I kind of found that a way to feel a little bit better about some things is to try to be as honest as I can in something that I found means more to me than anything: writing songs. At the risk of sounding like a dummy, I found that a pretty good feeling is to write and start recording a song - or parts of a song at least - and never have to finish. Never have to give it to anyone and worry about who will slam it and who will like it. Change it all the fuckin time, you know? Listen to some great records - go through some personal crisis, go through whatever neurosis you will, and then keep adding and changing and editing this fuckin long song and let it reflect everything that's happening - never HAVE to be sure that it makes sense to anyone but myself you know? I've got just a few VERY nutty, incoherent and generally bent sounding songs I've laid down that I've been able to do this with and its GREAT to never have to worry about making it any good.
Cosmik: What do you bring to rehearsal? Is it a finished song, or does everyone add to a basic idea?
Nick: That's right. Pits and pieces, whole numbers, we got it all.
Evan: I guess it varies. Sometimes it'll be a finished song and sometimes it'll be in scattered, various pieces. If that's the case I'll have everyone try out some different stuff so I get a feel for what they sound like playing the parts. Then I'll take that home and re-work it. Usually it works out this way. Sometimes I have to hear what something sounds like in reality versus what I think I'm hearing in my head. Sometimes they're two really different things. Sometimes Nick will blow me away with HIS idea of what my idea is.
Cosmik: How much live recording did you do in the studio?
Evan: We laid the rhythm tracks - drums, bass, piano 1, scratch vocal, and rhythm guitar. What we keep and what we scrap and redo with overdubs depends on how the live take comes out. I usually like to get the drums and bass as live and as natural as possible. Nine times out of ten I'll re-do the guitars and Nick will re-do the piano and then cut the organ. Always do the vocals last these days. So for the MuSick album, I kind of built around the drums and bass what I thought it needed. In that regard it was more overdubs than live, which, in the context of the time crunch on the album, worked out better because it was better to get the solid rhythm tracks and then just slice away at overdubs and get the track completed versus running for multiple live takes trying to get that elusive "hot" take.
Cosmik: So does the sound of the album translate to the stage?
Evan: Except for stuff like the hired musicians on the album -- the pedal steel, brass, etcetera -- it's all pretty consistent. Nick has both the electric piano and the Hammond when we play and I use pretty much the same rig I used to lay the tracks - Rick [Rickenbacher] V64 reissue, Les Paul, relic Strat. I've had my eye on a pretty butt-kickin Ibanez Iceman though.
Cosmik: Why did you decide to go with MuSick Recordings?
Evan: Art's a great guy. He was interested in what we were doing, and he was there with the offer. We'll be working with him on a lot of new things in the future.
Cosmik: What was the thinking behind the simple white cover with pink lettering?
Evan: We wanted something really understated. I don't know - if I
remember I talked to Art about it and he contacted Josh Agle [Shag] and we all
kinda bashed it out.
Cosmik: Do you already have songs in the can for the next album?
Evan: Yes and no. We have some tunes we cut for the MuSick debut that are unreleased, but the new material we've been working out is what we'll be focussing on. Yet still there will be TWO more releases with material that we've cut for these sessions: a Small Faces Tribute on Twist Records out of Germany and the VINYL release of Here's to Another Year, which will be licensed to Rockin Bones Records of Parma, Italy.
Cosmik: What's the plan for now? Touring?
Evan: The Boss Martians are still pretty friggin busy as I'm workin like mad on the new Dionysus LP/CD [Move] due out this spring. In December 99 Nick, Joel, and I laid down 14 new originals - Scott was in Europe with his new wife on their honeymoon at the time we cut the basics so I laid all the bass for this album and we'll be finishing up vocals and moving on to mixing soon. I've got some session players on MOVE as well like Don Pawlack from the Souvenirs on Pedal Steel for one tune, a low down Sax player on another, and a Clarinet player on one instro as well to kinda add a little bit of kick to this platter. I'm pretty stoked about all the new stuff so I just really hope everyone finds something they can dig. Steve Marriott's been a big influence on my vocals these days though, so I've been makin an effort to step up more vocally. We've got some guest producers coming in to help out with mixing, like Buck Ormsby from the Wailers, Tim Hayes [ex-Hell Dorados and owner of Fallout Records], and Leon Berman, DJ host of KCMU's Shake the Shack, as well as some others to be announced. Boss Martians will head out on tour this Summer to Las Vegas Grind II. After that we'll start rehearsal on our next bunch of records as I've kinda got us obligated for a while. Nick, am I leaving anything out?
Cosmik: You guys obviously have a lot of influences that can make for a lot of jonesing. Do you think there might be another band spinning off from Mystery Action to do punk someday?
Evan: Hell I'd LOVE to play in a punk rock band but I don't think I'm "punk" enough. That would be Nick! Hammond wielding Punk Rock AND Roll Mutha.
Nick: I might have to do my punk think before the move to Sante Fe.
Evan: I don't know, I guess anything's possible these days - but I guess the idea is to kinda take what we like from other things and let it influence what we're doing however it may.
© 2000 - DJ Johnson