Written by Cam Elkins
Weird Music got the chance to sit down with the guitarist of one of the hottest up-and-coming jam bands around, none other than Mungion’s own Justin Reckamp. In just a couple years, the Chicago-based band has rapidly blown-up, now sharing stages with some of the baddest bands around. What’s the story behind Mungion? How are these guys so damn good? We’ve got the scoop… in-depth, and straight from the source. Come and get it.
Justin Reckamp: It’s a great scene right now, I feel like it’s really brewing. I think it’s gonna go somewhere that no one’s expecting it to. Even in the last 5 to 10 years, the “jam scene” is really thriving. There was a long time when EDM was intertwined with the scene, and all these great live bands started coming out in 2008 and 2009. And now they’re starting to emerge, and everybody’s starting to dig into the live show experience. You know, seeing people playing instruments, and communicating and interacting.
Weird Music: I mean it won me over, I’m hoping to see way more dominos fall!
Justin: Yeah man! There’s so many great bands, you know? I feel like every time I go out to a show or go on social media, there’s just another killing band that I’ve never heard before. It’s really inspiring, you know?
Weird Music: Totally! So Mungion has been around since 2015, what does the genesis and first couple of months of Mungion look like?
Justin: It’s been a pretty interesting journey! The group was formed by me. So I knew Sean [Carolan, bass], I kinda grew up with Sean playing with him in high school. We played together in a couple different bands in high school and parted ways eventually. I always knew I wanted to play with him, since he was one of my best friends and one of the best bass players I’ve ever seen. So I always knew that I wanted to be in a band with Sean. Then, he met Joe [Re, keyboards] at Elmhurst College, and we got together and had a little jam session. We actually got together before, back in 2012 and jammed a little bit, and it was just super fun because we knew nothing was really gonna come from it since everybody else was in different projects/groups. But wow, this was awesome and I’d hoped that one day we’d be able to do something like that again.
So the planets aligned, and we were all playing in like 3 different bands, and in the same week all of the bands disbanded. So all these bands broke up at the same time, which was a really happy coincidence, because right when that happened we all got together and we’re like “hey let’s do this, let’s really try to create the music that we love to make and get out on the road and start playing for people so that we can cultivate the scene and build this band.”
So Matt [Kellen], our drummer now, has been in the group for just about three years. Maybe two years. So we had another drummer before Matt named Dave, and he played in the band for a little while but had to split because he moved. Sean and Joe actually met Matt at Elmhurst, so when we needed a drummer, Matt was the first call. It’s been amazing, it feels like I’ve been playing with Matt forever. On a personal and musical level it just works perfectly.
So that brings us to here, and I guess the bands been around for three, four years? Yeah man it’s incredible, for how long we’ve been together I feel like everything’s happening so fast, and sometimes you’ve gotta stop and smell the roses. But it’s been an incredible journey, and I don’t think that when we started the group that we would be playing at festivals like Peach and Summer Camp and Electric Forest, and meeting all of our favorite performers and playing with our favorite bands. That’s when it hit us: “wow, what we’re doing is actually really special to us as well as other people” and that reaffirms our love for what we’re doing, you know?
WM: I love it. And so deserving man. There are a lot of bands out there hovering in this level of growth, where they’re looking to be playing in these bigger rooms and collaborating with these bigger acts, and they’re kind of on the pre-stages of doing that. For Mungion, what was that journey like in going from just a band that was just playing a bunch of shows to where you are now, and what do you think caused you guys to rise in such a unique and fast way?
Justin: I would hold the fans responsible for all of that. When the band first started, we would only play at this tiny little bar in Carrie, Illinois, which is this small suburb in northwestern Illinois where me and Sean grew up. So we’d play at the tiny bar that held like 100 people max, and the first time we played there we had 20 people, and the next time we had 50, and couple months passed and there was a line out the door of people standing and waiting to get in. Once that happened and once we saw that people actually enjoyed what we were doing, we tried our best to navigate through certain markets that would best benefit the group. So we branched out to bigger rooms, and tried to cultivate a hometown/home market scene, you know like a scene in your own hometown regionally. We took a grassroots approach to it, and branched out from there. We also have an incredible team that we’re working with too, our management and booking agent are some of the best in the business and we owe a lot to those guys as well.
WM: I love it. So what’s that experience been like now of going from those smaller rooms to playing bigger rooms and outside festivals? What are the differences of being on those different stages?
Justin: It’s kind of nerve wracking sometimes man, it really is! We’re so used to playing in small spaces, small bars, small clubs, so when we play at a big festival or a big room we’re just kind of like: “oh boy, here we go!” You know? It kinda gets us out of our comfort zone, which is great, and hopefully that keeps happening and we get more used to playing those bigger rooms. But like I said it’s a little bit nerve wracking. It’s an incredible experience too, though, because like I said some of these stages that we’re playing on are the same ones I would go see shows at as a teenager. Sometimes I just stop and think about that and it just knocks me out.
WM: Yeah, I hear you saying that word special, like what’s happened to you is all because it’s special to the fans. The music you make is special to the fans. I wanna link that to you earlier on saying how when you started this band, you wanted to make music that you love. What is it about the music that you’re making specifically that makes it so special to the fans and distinguishes it as the music you love to make?
Justin: So everyone in the band has a really eclectic taste in music, so we all come from different backgrounds. Matt comes from a more gospel/jazz background, Joe comes from a classical music and classic rock background, and me and Sean love bluegrass music and funk and jam music, so I think with all our personalities coming together we’re able to kind of cherry pick our favorite things from all of the different kinds of musical genres and styles that really strike a chord with us. Then, we try and package that up and put it into our music. One thing that I think goes without saying about the live shows is that we really pride ourselves in taking chances and improvising a lot to work with the audience and create something special in the moment that they can participate in. Because without them and without that energy, that love and that positive reinforcement it would sometimes maybe feel a little stale there. If the crowd’s really into it and hanging on every note, that’s usually when we play our best. Our ears are open, and we’re really engaging with the audience.
WM: Wow. On that note, what is it like packaging that up? You just came out with a new album, Ferris Wheel’s Day Off … so I’d love to ask a couple questions about the album, but I guess first on the notion of how influenced what you’re doing is by the unfolding of the moment with everyone participating in it, and all the energy there, it’s kind of like you’re a vessel in a live setting.
Justin: So like what you said, the best nights are kind of when we can get out of our own way, and in the studio I think we like to take a different approach. Some bands like to try and harness that live experience in the studio, which is great, but I don’t know if that can really translate with us. If we wanna capture that live essence, we’ll just release a live record, you know what I mean? But with the studio, I think we like to take advantage of that, and really experiment with different instruments, and different layers and vocal harmonies that we wouldn’t be able to do live because there’s not enough people. You know, just try to build something that we could never do in a live setting. Because it’s super fun too! You know, sitting in the studio, trying silly things, how does it sound if we hang on a glass jar? You can just kinda take chances and make it kinda fun, but the studio is an interesting thing and it took a while for us to get that one right. I’m really happy with how that record turned out for sure.
WM: I’m curious: when you blend different genres, what do you need to be careful of to keep them sounding cohesive? Because I know if done poorly, just mashing stuff together can sound not so good, so what is it about the jamming and the transitioning that you think makes it so packageable?
Justin: I don’t know if it is packageable! That’s not for me to decide [laughs]. We just try and write the best music that we can, you know? And you know if people like it, that’s great. But we’re trying to fill our own musical void first and foremost. And a lot of it is “what does the live show need?” It could be great if we had a bluegrass two-step, and a funky dance tune, and maybe this long, epic; take people on a journey and then bring em back with a 70s funk, Headhunters-inspired tune. It’s like trying to really encompass all of those musical flavors, that’s why I think our live show is what it really stems from, what’s most important to us is the live show.
WM: And that’s so cool because that makes the studio work like a totally different thing.
Justin: Yeah man! It’s a lot of fun, I love recording in the studio. A lot of times we’ll set out to do something and we’ll have a preconceived notion of what it’s supposed to sound like, but after we put it through the wringer, it’s a totally different song, hopefully better than when it started.
WM: Speaking of being better than when you start, what are some tough lessons that you’ve had to learn, maybe individually or as a group, since the band started?
Justin: Oh man, we’re learning stuff every single day dude. Once you’ve lived together with a band and a crew in a very small space for a very long period of time, you’re always learning from each other, you know? Whether it’s how to be punctual, how to be empathetic to somebody if they’re not having a good day, how to bring them up as a group, how to live in harmony with your brothers, is something that took some time to learn, and we’re still learning to do it. But it happens pretty naturally because we’re all so like-minded. As far as musical stuff, every time we play with a band, like we just got off the road with Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, we learn so much from them. Just from hanging out with them, and watching their shows every night, from watching how their crew runs the show, watching how professional those guys are, we really try and take note as those bands take us under their wing because that’s the quickest way for us to learn. We’ve been on tour with so many bands that have been so generous with their time and resources, and all we wanna do is pay that forward. Hopefully we’ll get to a place where we’ll be able to do that, to reciprocate that back to other bands.
WM: Hell yeah. That’s all you can do is pay it forward, right? That’s awesome. I am curious, and I know many people are probably curious about what that was like getting linked up with Pigeons and these other amazing bands that you’re now in the same conversation with.
Justin: It’s great you know? Because at the end of the day, you just realize that everybody shares this common goal: make great music, play for great people that can lose themselves in that music, and then there’s this kind of brotherhood that takes place. We’re all friends with each other, you know what I mean? Us, Aqueous, Pigeons, Twiddle, I’m friends with all those guys, and it’s a family. That was really enlightening to see for us early on, just how much love and mutual respect everyone had for each other. It’s an incredible thing. I hope that answers your question!
WM: Yeah man we’re just jammin!
Justin: That’s all we’re doing man! And it’s all a party. I mean that in the best possible way, like we’re all celebrating life through music, you know? That’s what it feels like to me at least.
Weird Music: That’s beautiful! And that’s what all of us in the crowd are certainly doing.
Justin: Exactly! And that’s where we share that common ground, that’s when the walls kind of come down so that we can all kind of participate in that together. We’re all trying to get to the same place, you know? Us and the crowd. Just that blissful state of where you just kind of lose yourself in the music. And I know that sounds kind of hippy dippy but that’s what I live for!
WM: Yeah, that’s why we all do it! It’s like life celebrating itself.
Justin: Absolutely man! And it doesn’t happen every single time, but when it does happen, that’s what makes it all worthwhile.
WM: Boom. You said it there. So leaving off with it, most people listening, they’ve reached that state and they’ve come out of it, and you know Mungion is one, if not one of the many that’s brought them there… in that context, what do you have to say to your people, Justin?
Justin: I love all of you guys to the moon and back, I couldn’t do any of this without you. If you haven’t seen a show yet, come out! Let’s party, we’re all super nice guys. Check us out! Come to a show when we come through your town!