Interview:
New York Bassist Brings Latest Project To Town
 

By GARY GRAFF of the Oakland Press

» See more SOUND CHECK

With memberships in bands such as Mr. Bungle, Secret Chiefs 3, Fantomas and his own Trio-Convulsant — as well as a long association with John Zorn — Trevor Dunn is a well-known and highly regarded player in the esoteric music community. So his latest project, a more straightforward rock band called MadLove, came as something of a surprise.

“It’s sort of like filling a void, I guess,” says the 42-year-old, New York-based bassist, who also leads an Ornette Coleman cover group called Proofreaders. “I definitely have a lot of outlets for writing, uh, inaccessible music that no one wants to listen to. I just felt a desire to do something ultimately straighter, although I’m not sure if (MadLove) is that straight.

“It was just a desire to start my own rock band and be a leader in that world and to sing a little bit myself. Rock music is the first thing I listen to. I feel like I’ve always played rock music, but a lot of times it’s been like ... something like Bungle, which I always considered a reactionary rock band. So (MadLove) is just some rock music I want to hear, my take on it.”

The quintet’s debut album, “White With Foam,” came out in September, and Dunn intends MadLove to be a going concern. But he admits it’s a challenge, especially with members who live in Iceland and South Korea.

“The hard thing at this point is getting it off the ground,” Dunn acknowledges. “It’s a new band with a name no one’s heard before, and everyone in this band is really busy doing other things, too. It sort of falls between the cracks; it’s a rock band, but with all these players that are known in the jazz world.

“It’s the kind of thing that makes people wary, but we’ll keep pushing forward with it as often as we can and hopefully turn people on as we go.”



MadLove and Child Bite perform Saturday (Feb. 6) in the Pike Room at The Crofoot, 1 S. Saginaw St., Pontiac. Doors open at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10. Call 248-858-9333 or visit www.thecrofoot.com.