If you've been following their Twitter feed, Facebook page or peeped their Events tab at their website, then you already know how busy Mint Condition has been. With 7 more months of live show on the agenda, our generation's favorite self-contained quintet continues to move at "The Speed Of Life" and considers off-time a rare commodity. However, just for their loyal SoulTrackers, band members Jeff Allen and Lawrence El----the latter with his preschool-aged son chattering away in the background--- gave us a quick update on what the band is up to, what might be in the works for 2014 and what NOT to anticipate, EVER, from MC.
MELODY CHARLES- Are all of those back-to-back live dates across the US keeping you out of the studio entirely?
JEFF ALLEN- "Actually, we've demoing tracks and sending out songs for other artists (production-wise) and have seen an increase in that demand now more than ever. As far as our next project, we've just been throwing out ideas [[schematics, concept], but if there is anything new, it may come as a part of a repackaged CD from before. For example, Living the Luxury Brown, for some reason, was never released on iTunes. So we may do that and put a couple of unreleased songs on there....we've even been talking about doing another [live performance] DVD, so....anything's possible."
LAWRENCE EL- "I'm hoping the DVD happens: our forte is the live shows, so it's the best format for us to give our fans the best of what we do, that's where you really get it. It's more probable than not. People still talk about the ....Luxury Brown CD being one of the most favorite projects so we hope to give it more of a Definition of a Band-style redo."
MC- So no new music from Mint anytime soon?
JEFF- "Well, the last two [CDs] we kinda rushed, as you can tell. I'm glad we got em' out and fulfilled our obligations and all that, but we're going to make a point to take our time with any new music and just really give the people what they deserve for supporting us all these years."
MC- Are you all doing any new TV-related projects?
JEFF- "There is a possible show coming up, a musical tribute that's not finalized yet and still in the talks. We're up for being the house band to play for the list of artists, something the label is trying to televise for sometime this year. Gotta keep it under wraps until everybody signs though."
MC- What about reality TV? Seems like a lot of artists have chosen that route or are preparing to these days.
JEFF- "Some artists are ready-made for reality TV and are a LOT more interesting than we would be. Just from a story standpoint, I don't know if we have enough drama to sustain a series."
LAWRENCE- "TVOne's Unsung did it right--- it wasn't about airing dirty laundry as its focus was on celebrating our music. If another opportunity for a tasteful presentation becomes available, we would be up to it, but we've learned certain things after being together as a band for so long, such as things to avoid discussing if you want to stay a family and not airing dirty laundry or trying to humiliate one another, we don't have the temperament for that. Luckily, we didn't have to go through hell on a personal level like others had to. I mean, I look at it sometimes to see what they went through and what it was like, but we're just a bunch of guys from the Midwest and if we attempted [to create] any drama, it would just look contrived."
MC- Well, thanks for giving us some of that downtime fellas: any message for the long-time F.O.O.M.s who are selling out these venues to see you all put it down live?
JEFF- "Just that those who have supported and looked out for us for so many years, we definitely all want to reciprocate that feeling. It's been great and we're just happy to be along for the ride."
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