Here Come The Mummies bringing mystic funk to The Castle
BLOOMINGTON — Conspiracies and music can steer barroom conversations of pop culture like a snake chasing its own tail.
Whether it's the blood-curdling scream in "Love Rollercoaster" by the Ohio Players or alleged sightings of Elvis Presley after his 1977 death, discerning truth from fiction can be hard when beats turn mystique.
One of the funkiest mysteries to ever drum up a groove is set to get music fans shaking to wickedly good funk music next weekend.
Here Come The Mummies is coming Nov. 23 to The Castle Theatre in Bloomington. The eight piece-band untombed late last century in Nashville is bringing the rhythm, horns and ghastly, groovy funk rock to the Twin Cities.
They not only know how to throw down the funk, but they also put on a show that will give you goosebumps like in the 1986 movie "Little Shop of Horrors."
In this column, I won't do a deep dive into who these hair-raisers and belly-shakers really are, and if rumors of Grammy Award winners truly are shielded within this creepy-yet-charismatic cohort.
Perhaps there are mild-mannered musicians hidden under those wraps. It's just more fun to believe funky horrors beyond comprehension are actually running the show.
What I do know from my research is that their harmonies are monumental, their spirits are juiced and their eyes are locked on the beat. After all, band member Midnight does have a large, hairy eyeball towering over his baritone saxophone.
HCTM's success can be gauged by the expansive discography they've built over more than two decades, starting with the 2000 release of debut album "Terrifying Funk from Beyond the Grave." They've been suspending reality with style at their shows with the album's intro track "Believe: In Things You Cannot See." Later on in the album, they strum into a fiery string fiesta in the song "Ra Ra Ra."
Their repertoire over the years has shown that HCTM can fuse musical genres into a spellbinding frenzy. "Wicked Never Rest" on the 2016 album "A Blessing and a Curse" is a song that speeds into snazzy guitar riffs like in The Clash track "Rock the Casbah."
How these mummified musicians have managed to play with their personas under wraps for so long continues to mystify me. But how they've managed to steep legendary levels of musicianship in fantasy Hollywood show themes is a tale perhaps to quixotic to fit into newsprint.
Some secrets are truly better kept in the shadows. The real question to me: Mummy, mummy, on the stage, who is most prepared to rage?
In an email interview offered on the condition of anonymity so as not to spoil their wildly crafted stage characters, BloNo Beats heard from Mummy Cass, guitarist and vocalist, and Midnight on the following 14 questions.
Why do you wish to keep your identities shrouded in mystery after more than two decades?
Mummy Cass: Baby, when we were cursed 4,000-plus years ago, we ceased to be who we were in the first place. But, over the years, we've come up with nicknames for ourselves, like Midnight, Eddie Mummy and Dr. Yo.
Does the mystery help keep the magic of freakishly good music alive?
Mummy Cass: Definitely. People are free to project their wildest fantasies onto us. We're happy to help.
What would happen if I saw the uncovered faces of Here Come the Mummies? Would my face melt into a misty haze like Major Toht from "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark"?
Mummy Cass: Best to not, buddy.
So, what's life (or afterlife) like on the roll? Oh, and when's the Egypt tour?
Mummy Cass: We like to keep moving. We like to be where the action is. It beats centuries of darkness, with only the sound of sand shifting in the wind.
Before you were excavated from a Nashville recording studio, how did you end up covered in wraps, and why?
Mummy Cass: We got mummified by the Pharaoh's curse. Now, if you tried to pull the fabric away, our bones would turn to dust, and you'd be left with nothing.
Whether it was for 4,000 years or 40,000, how did you spend the time lolling around? Did you learn any new instruments?
Mummy Cass: That would have been plenty of time to practice, if we had been anything like alive all that time.
Tell me about your show preparation routine – what does it take to raise HCTM?
Midnight Mummy: Vodka and 5-hour Energy is a hell of a drug. That, plus seven cups of really stout coffee. Do NOT try that at home, seriously.
Which band member provides the most comedic relief on HCTM's music journey?
Mummy Cass: We all get in on that. Especially when we're all punchy toward the end of a long tour.
Aside from Grammy Awards, are there any other illustrious awards HCTM are rumored to have that people might not be aware of? Anything goes – mountains climbed, hot dog eating contests, video game high scores, etc...
Mummy Cass: Midnight won "Most likely to" in school, way back in ancient times. The "what" we never could decipher. He does have a giant eyeball living on his top hat, you know. Maybe that was it.
Let's relive the release of your debut album "Terrifying Funk from Beyond the Grave." Did you have any sense a funk jam like "Eternity" would be so sweet it seemingly could last forever?
Mummy Cass: Oh, we knew. That's why that song is like eight minutes long.
HCTM's funk has hints of several styles, from classic funk in "Single Double Triple" to Latin fusion in "Ra Ra Ra" and driving funk rock in "Devil Better Run" on the album "Cryptic." What prompts HCTM to diversify its sound across these genres?
Mummy Cass: We're just making the music we hear in our heads, no matter what style. As we wander the Earth for eternity, we gotta keep it fresh.
Midnight: We do not smell fresh, tho.
Before "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," did HCTM make a deal with the devil to acquire their talents?
Mummy Cass: Contrary, we were talented as hell before we got cursed by the Pharaoh. And not just at music, baby, you dig?
Which one of your horns grabs the most attention, and why? And, do HCTM often plan horn solos like in "Everything But" on "Cryptic"?
Mummy Cass: Most if not all of the solos are made up on the spot; we've got a lot of good improvisers in the band. Dr. Yo. probably gets the most attention, owing to the sheer size of the Bari, and the force he blows with.
Two decades is a long time to keep some sick grooves going for. How long do you think HCTM will stay banded for until the time comes to wrap things up?
Mummy Cass: Two decades is nothing to us. We're in our 25th year of the modern age, but our 4,672nd on the planet.
Midnight: I thought it was our 4,754th.
Contact Brendan Denison at (309) 820-3238. Follow Brendan Denison on Twitter:
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