Talking Mountain

It was sometime in spring when Jason Meyer and Dan Lehmann walked on stage at Box Awesome in front of a roomful of parents and their young kids.

The two, who make up the Omaha-based band Talking Mountain, expected this - it was, after all, an Academy of Rock fundraiser. Still, they didn't expect to be the only band with members over the age of 15.

"We headlined the early show, which was all little-kid bands and then us," Meyer said. "They must've seen a YouTube video of us in our masks and were like, 'Let's get these guys.' I think they thought we'd be cuddly and fun."

Yes, they wear large, fuzzy masks that they make themselves.

Yes, they sing about snowmen, buying boats and dinosaurs.

But no, they are not a children's band. Though the thought did cross Meyer's mind at one point in time.

"When I started the band, I wanted to make a kids album," he said. "The songs we have on our CD now are about a brontosaurus who is also a school bus and ridiculous stuff like that."

Since the band members got together more than two years ago, they have always approached making music with a sense of humor. They decided early on that they wanted to strike a balance between serious songwriting but not taking themselves too seriously.

"We're medium serious. I spend time working on the songs, and we spend a lot of time recording. The songs are about real stuff," Meyer said. "But we do have fun with it. We're two guys who are kind of goofy and like to have fun."

The band has undergone a few changes over the years: It has switched from a trio to a duo multiple times, implemented a growing theatrical element into live shows and even experimented with ditching the synth-pop sound for a rock 'n' roll aesthetic.

"For a while we thought that we should be a rock band, so we got a drummer and stopped playing synthesizer for a while," Lehmann said. "Now I feel like we kind of got over it."

Through trial and error, it seems the band has finally settled on a sound and a lineup.

"I think we pretty much established what we're going to sound like as long as we're a band," Meyer said.

That sound being jangling synth-infused pop. It's undeniably cute and fun, but the guys insist that despite their twee sound, they've actually matured quite a bit in the past year.

"We made some big leaps and bounds in a short amount of time," Meyer said. "We're still goofy, but I think we've grown up a little bit. It was always quiet pop music, but Dan taught me that it's good to yell sometimes."

Reach Liz Stinson at features@journalstar.com.

http://journalstar.com/entertainment/music/article_908250d4-de2f-5b1c-b75f-c8123b682139.html - Lincoln Journal Star

They may sport fuzzy, homemade monster masks while playing songs about abominable (and abdominal) snowmen and wizards, but Talking Mountain is a serious band with serious skills. Well, sort of. They surely know how to crank out memorable, catchy pop songs, but rarely keep a straight face while doing so. That is, unless they’re hiding stern stares under those colorful disguises. But I doubt it. The band’s official name recently changed from Talkin Mountain to Talking Mountain. Is this alteration an indication of their march toward proper grammar and maturity? No, simply put, Talkin was often written with an apostrophe at the end, and they’re not fans of apostrophes. They like “g’s” better.

The band is currently working on a new album, and Omaha’s Slumber Party Records will soon digitally release their album “Old Gold, Ancient Jamz.” In the meantime, you can pick up their cassette release on local tape label I’m Drinkin This, complete with a hand-stitched sleeve that doubles as an iPod or iPhone case. If you don’t have a tape player lying around, their four tracks are worth the investment in the outdated machinery.

Talking with the band, it’s apparent that their hilarious onstage banter is not as rehearsed as one might think. Band members Jason, Dan and Chris have an easy, natural rapport with each other and an ability to keep a joke going and make each other laugh. This is a band that knows how to have fun, and it shows on and off stage.

How did you come up with the name Talking Mountain?

Jason: I had a dream about a mountain that could talk. I could see all the words that came out, but they were upside down and backwards, so I couldn’t figure out what it was saying. When I woke up, I realized how easy it would’ve been to just turn the words around. Then I wanted to have the dream again, but it hasn’t happened.

Chris: Now we’re living the dream. (Laughter).

What’s with the masks?

Jason: I have nervousness and anxiety about performing live, so I like to cover my face to feel more comfortable and it would look dumb if only I was covered up. Plus, both of these guys have beards and when a band that is setting up have beards, nobody wants to watch them.

Chris: But we still show our beards when we’re setting up.

Jason: That’s true.

Dan: We need set up masks.

Jason: Well, when we’re setting up, they might just think that it’s hired hands. They don’t really mind if the hired help have beards. It’s expected.

Dan: Blue collar beards.

Jason: But if we didn’t wear masks, they would be like, “Oh man, the hired help has started a band.” (Laughter).

Does it get hot under the masks?

Jason: Oh yeah, totally. It’s actually really uncomfortable.

Dan: Fuzz always gets into my mouth.

Jason: We don’t even have eyeholes.

Do you picture the audience cheering for you under the masks?

Chris: We actually sewed in pictures of the audience having a lot of fun on the inside of our masks.

Dan: And naked.

Chris: We went to a show where a popular band was playing and took photos of the audience to sew in our masks.

What’s your favorite Halloween costume that you’ve worn?

Dan: Mine is probably my costume from last year. I was Robin.

Jason: That was a good one. For the green underpants, he used a pillowcase with leg holes cut out.

Dan: He was always my favorite superhero.

Chris: In third grade I went as a painter with clothes that my dad had painted in, a paintbrush and a white hat. (Pause). That was actually like the worst costume ever. That was after like four years of going as a pirate in the same costume – it started out really baggy and then got really tight.

Jason: One year my brother and I were werewolves. My mom bought fake fur and glued it to our faces with that spirit gum stuff. It was awful trying to get it off. We should’ve worn like torn up jeans for clothes, but instead she went to Shopko and bought matching sweatsuits. So we wore these brand new blue striped sweatsuits, no holes or anything, with fur only on our faces. (Laughter).

Dan: Classy werewolves.

Given that you wear masks and often have funny lyrics, do you worry about not being taken seriously enough as a band?

Jason: It comes up sometimes. Some of the blogs around town have used the “novelty” or “gimmick” word. I think it would be gimmicky if we were wearing monster masks and all of our songs were about monsters, but I think all of the songs are kind of sad but presented in an entertaining way. You can either sing about how you had a friend that made bad decisions, or you can sing about an apple that wears pants that does drugs and kind of convey the same message, but if people don’t want to get bummed out, they don’t have to.

Do you have favorite karaoke songs?

Chris: The one where the TV falls on you.

Jason: We went to karaoke last night and Chris knocked over the TV.

Chris: It still worked, but I was done.

Jason: It was a little TV and the plastic shell wa - Omaha City Weekly

Now here's a band with some charm, Talking Mountain.

They're apart of the Slumber Party Records platoon, which I've been getting more and more familiar with; it seems every band on that roster has some kind of whimsy about them, and that's especially true of these guys.

Talking Mountain has the straightforward simplicity of the Mountain Goats, but the band also sports the sweet eccentricities of the Unicorns. Though some of their songs are based on acoustic guitar, they're not afraid to throw some Casio keyboards or some group vocals in the mix.

They seem like the kind of band that would be satisfied in making their listeners smile and do a double take.

This hilariously catchy track, "The Abominable Abdominable Snowman," comes from the band's latest release, Old Gold, Ancient Jamz. And you could always check out their MySpace for more music.

MP3: Talking Mountain- "The Abominable Abdominable Snowman"

-Article by Anthony Fantano

http://theneedledrop.blogspot.com/2008/11/mp3-talking-mountain-abominable.html - The Needle Drop

from out of omaha, talking mountain is some excellent pop rock with a sense of humor. they’re a cross between the rentals and harry and the potters… but while bands like harry and the potters can suffer from their one-note shtick, talking mountain’s old gold, ancient jamz maintains a varied, offbeat sense of humor throughout its 8 songs. there’s an ab-obsessed snowman, a wizard, a missing limb, appleshorts/pants… and baseball stars, tecmo bowl and bubble bobble are all name-checked. it’s fun music, and at 8 songs, old gold, ancient jamz goes on just long enough to keep it that way.

http://www.thebatandthebird.com/2009/03/talking-mountain-abominable-abdominal.html - The Bat and the Bird