We asked Joe Horton from Mixed Blood Majority a few questions ahead of their upcoming visit to 7th St Entry on Saturday, June 10. See what he had to say below, and purchase your tickets to see Mixed Blood Majority with Andrew Broder and Ness Nite.
Blog by Les Poling
Les Poling: I’m sure all three of you have been pretty busy with solo work and other projects during the last couple years. When you aren’t performing or making music together as Mixed Blood Majority, is it hard to maintain the collaborative energy that comes with being in a group? Or does that kind of come naturally?
Joe Horton: Crescent Moon and I see each other a lot working on F I X stuff, but going into our recent Art-A-Whirl show, the three of us hadn’t been in the same room for months. I was definitely worried we’d be rusty, but right away it was clear we were better than we’d ever been. Part of it is we’re always improving on our own and bringing that energy back to the group. Part of it is we’re so excited to be on stage together that the shit stays electric. We don’t have time to get sick of each other.
LP: You released your sophomore album, Insane World, back in 2015. It seems like the world’s grown even more insane since then – have recent social/political developments affected the way you guys approach making/performing music, both individually and in terms of Mixed Blood Majority?
JH: Of course. The title Insane World came from the idea that reality is fundamentally absurd and that there is no such thing as sanity. When we were writing the record, it felt like political absurdity and existential absurdity were represented equally in the lyrics, but after it came out the political climate shifted so hard that people read the album as way more political than we intended.
When it comes down to it, the music is about the fight for freedom. Not just political freedom, although that’s obviously an important front, but freedom to engage the mystery of reality. Freedom to engage oneself.
I can’t control the way people perceive the music and wouldn’t want to if I could, but I learned an important lesson about how context continues to affect art even after it’s released. Everything I do going forward will be shaped by that in ways that I’m not even totally conscious of.
LP: Can we look forward to new Mixed Blood Majority music anytime soon? If so, how do you think it compares to your previous work?
JH: I’m not sure we’ve answered that for ourselves even. Beak is working on a ton of mega-secret projects. Kill the Vultures (Crescent Moon and producer Anatomy) are about to hit the road again behind their latest record, Carnelian. Anatomy and I are going hard on an album. I’d be surprised if Mixed Blood didn’t make more music, but at the moment it’s hard to see when it would happen.
LP: Finally, what are you looking forward to most about your upcoming show in the Entry?
JH: Everyone says it because it’s true… First Avenue is the best. We haven’t been back since our CD release in the Mainroom and The Current Birthday Party shortly after that. It’s like coming home.
