Umphrey’s McGee is progressive. Be it in the Chicago sextet’s recent leaning toward intricate and complex progressive rock excess, or in the way the band connects to its fans and markets its music.
Mantis, released in January, brought with it one of the most innovative pre-orders in recent history, while also further separating the band from its jam band roots. Rather than giving the album away (Radiohead), or selling the album as various household objects (of Montreal), the band turned the pre-order into a video game of sorts.
The more people who pre-ordered Mantis, the more levels of bonus material Umphrey’s McGee would unlock and supplement the album with. In all, nearly 80 tracks and videos – all nine levels – made its way onto fans’ hard drives.
“We’re very, very happy considering the state of the music industry and record sales and stuff,” percussionist Andy Farag said. “We worked on it for two years; we’re really happy with how it came out. … It’s something that people have never really seen before.”
The tracks ranged from live takes on Mantis songs, as they were being created on stage – Umphrey’s McGee regularly creates new songs on the fly as improvisations dubbed “Jimmy Stewarts” – to cuts from the band’s out-of-print debut, Greatest Hits Vol. III. It was also a chance to hear some of guitarist Jake Cinninger’s original demos and Farag’s hobby, beat-making – allowing fans to gain unique insights other bands just don’t quite offer.
“All this bonus stuff is stuff that would normally sit on the shelves and never be heard, so we’re just trying to take that approach, getting people really interested in hearing this stuff too,” he said.
But Mantis isn’t where the progressive mentality stops. Shortly after hitting the road behind the album – Umphrey’s McGee plays Rams Head Live! in Baltimore on Saturday – the band decided to try something new: entering the stage to a pre-recorded track, then jamming on it.
“We’d talk about walking on to a dramatic intro and we finally did it in Atlanta and used this original song that Jake did and thought that was good, got a lot of feedback on it,” Farag said. “Jake had a lot of others so we learned those and we thought it’d be cool to do an intro every night where we’d walk on, the music would fade, and we’d start playing. … It’s a dramatic start to the show.”
Keyboardist Joel Cummins posted an account of this idea on another means of Umphrey’s McGee’s connection to its fans, the band blog The Floor.
The Floor acts as a window into the band’s lives. All six members post, as do other members of the group’s staff, though soundman Kevin Browning handles most of the work. They blog so much, Farag said, they’ve started a band saying for blog-worthy items: “Dude, that is so Kenny Bloggins,” a reference to one half of 1970s pop duo Loggins & Messina.
One recent post documented a somewhat mysterious aspect of the band’s live show. Apart from the normal microphones, the band has a series of talk back mics on stage. These microphones allow band members to talk to each other – through earpieces – while playing. It’s a key aspect of the band’s fluid and seamless improvisations each night.
“We try not to use them too much, but it does help out,” he said. “A perfect example is what Kevin put up on the blog. If someone is playing something or we’re jamming and one guy hears something and you can go and [say something, or] practice harmonies.
“The other reason is we have a bunch of cues for what chords to go to, so it’s a combination,” he said of the band’s on-stage hand signals. “An important part is to always have eye contact. I do see a lot of bands out there who won’t even look at each other when they’re trying to improvise. And sometimes cool things happen just from hearing what another person is playing, but I see too many bands not making enough eye contact, because then you can get lost and confused sometimes.”
The band also puts every show it plays for sale, both at the show and after, via www.umlive.net while offering free, hour-long podcasts that compile highlights of recent shows on a biweekly basis. It’s clear with all these ways to gain insight into the band, and methods for absorbing the group’s music, Umphrey’s McGee doesn’t hold anything back.
“I think it’s a great way to get people interested in the band,” Farag said. “In this day and age you can get all this stuff; people take the approach in terms of music-sharing, people are able to burn discs, the digital revolution and all of that, it makes it extremely easy to get music.
“Some people’s approach is to try and stop it and try to make money off of it,” he added. “Ever since we started with letting people tape the shows and giving out tapes and CDs, it’s like we’re trying to get people as much content as we can.”
Umphrey’s McGee plays Rams Head Live! in Baltimore on Saturday. North Mississippi Allstars and Hill Country Revue open the show. Tickets cost $24 in advance, $27 Saturday. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.
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