They were mummified a long time ago and only came out once or twice before getting stuck back in their sarcophagi for several thousands of years. Then the band got together in 1999.
That’s what Mummy Cass told WGLT in an interview for Sound Ideas.
Frontman Cass got together with Eddie Mummy around that time to create their eight-piece fund band Here Come the Mummies. They’re playing the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts on March 1.
“…I don’t know, we heard the drum beat and the groove and kind of all gathered together like zombies, but we want to eat grooves. We don’t want to eat brains,” Cass said.
Much like artists such as SIA or KISS, the mummies let the driving force of their band be on-stage personas. The stage presence comes with a lot of creative freedom.
“It’s been cool. Everybody’s out doing their own thing, having a good time. This is fun, and I think that helps the whole thing,” he said. “There’s nothing but basically the band just having a good time together, and it seems to work with the audience.”
Cass said the anonymity comes with joy, the ability to say something when everybody is thinking about it. So, songs from the mummies might get a little naughty with innuendo.
Ancient love of funk
Cass said his first love was playing in a band. Then the love of funk came from an “ancient” discotheque and funk influences like George Clinton and James Brown.
When bandmates came together, though, it did not matter if they liked the Beatles or ZZ Top. All they needed was to also love playing in a band.
“We’ve got guys that play jazz, we’ve had guys that play speed metal, but they’re all dudes who can play everything and appreciate a variety of stuff. It all seems to come together,” said Cass. “You can get funk in some of the jazz stuff. You can get funk in some of the rock stuff…the first love is when the band gels together…”
Nearly three decades of music has produced 10 full albums and several EPs. It’s a drop in the bucket for being 5,000 years old, but in that time, Cass said there are now mummies everywhere. More than 70 mummies have played in the band.
“It’s kind of like a secret society. There’s a special link that you’ll see another mummy at a coffee shop, if you know what I’m saying,” he said. “I think a lot of the main writers would be myself, Eddie Mummy—Spazzy Mummy writes a lot—and then a couple of the other dudes.”
The Nashville-based band is currently on a road trip promoting their new EP, Road Trip. The inspiration came from the road trip of their last album, House Party.
“We started noticing people coming to multiple shows on a weekend, and we started noticing people starting relationships, friendships, and maybe even more than friendships when they’re coming together at our shows,” Cass said.
“I like seeing people getting together. I like seeing people vibing in a good way with each other. I think we need more of that and getting people all traveling together and maybe coming together over me, like John Lennon said, is a good thing.”
The mummy ethos
A Mummies concert has a distinct vibe and the ethos of the band is evident from fan videos. Cass said it’s a welcoming space, despite the premise coming off as silly.
“Here Come The Mummies loves everybody. We want everybody, everybody’s invited to our party,” he said. “We’re going to have the party whether you’re there or not, but it’s going to be rocking.
“You can be normal; you can be freaky. We don’t care. We just want people smiling.”
Cass said the audience should be smiling and they should be dancing, it’s what the band wants to see. It comes with the territory of being an eight-piece funk band with a horn section that plays all original music.
Here Come The Mummies have been rumored to include heavy-hitters in the music scene. Legend has it the Mummies came together anonymously to evade strict contracts preventing musicians from gigging other places.
Mummy Cass said some of the rumors are true.
“There’s a bunch of session dudes, guys that play with Aretha Franklin and Al Green and engineered big time GRAMMY records and stuff,” he said. “There’s a bunch of us that are doing other things. Honestly, it comes down to, we’re all just letting out steam with this band.”
Cass said the audience needs to have as much fun as they are—but they are serious musicians. He said when everything is firing on all cylinders, that's when the magic happens.
“There hasn’t been a train wreck in this band, as far as someone trying something and going off the rails, and it’s usually something that turns out to be funny,” he said.
Here Come the Mummies will continue their Road Trip tour after playing the BCPA through Illinois and other parts of the Midwest.
Here Come the Mummies play at 7 p.m. March 1 at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts, 600 N. East St., Bloomington. Tickets are $41-$95 at 309-434-2777 and artsblooming.org.
