Press

GU MAGAZINE

Their Name is MUD

By Jac Perry
March/April 2007

It's 1:30 a.m. Guam-time and my cell phone rings a dedicated ring tone—the heavy riffs of AC/DC's "Back in Black" signaling MUD lead guitarist, Mr. Alan Kao, calling. I greet him to begin genuine, albeit sycophantic banter. After much laughter Kao elaborates for me what he briefly mentioned in an e-mail. "We went on our first tour, we rented a minivan that was a total piece of shit, and it died in the middle of the dessert. We had four cell phones and none of them worked! We had to sleep on the side of the road where all the huge trucks where flying by. We were afraid to go outside because of coyotes." Vermin never got the best of MUD that night. The next morning, highway patrol discovered the van, called a tow truck and the band was rescued.

Four gentlemen and a beauty are the framework of MUD, the latest in creative rock/metal/punk whose members are native to Guam and famed in San Francisco, but gaining attention everywhere.

With our island in their hearts and their music on their minds, Kao, along with Ralph Blas, Jared Cruz, Nikki Aclaro and Aris Nicholas embarked onto the San Francisco music scene—an impressive attempt in a city where music acts grossly outnumber venues. Over the years, MUD's popularity landed them gigs at major Bay Area venues like Slim's, Bottom of the Hill and The Warfield, along with a title in the lineup of the 2006 Vans Warped Tour and the headline act at San Francisco Live 105's Official Warped Tour After-Party.

While MUD describes their sound as, "A blending of punk's energy and the edge of metal," it has been compared to such well known acts as Jawbreaker, The Deftones, Letters to Cleo, Green Day and The Foo Fighters. To this, Blas responds, "Isn't it all just Rock and Roll?" Without being subversive, the story of MUD is the mettle of Rock and Roll.

Each member of the band is grounded in our island's spirit of generosity, humility and hospitality, even while their popularity is hurling America's attention to Guam's position on the proverbial map. Kao and Blas moved from Guam to California with their band, Acid Jazz, whose music can still be heard on Guam's THE ROCK 105.1 FM. When Acid Jazz broke, MUD was created.

Kao, who has an affinity for cats, James Bond and Adam Sandler films, titled the band. "I saw an African tribal design called 'Mud Cloth' on a coffee cup. I liked the 'Mud' part but not the 'Cloth,'" he said. Kao can be caught on stage wielding a pink Hello Kitty axe or a ukulele.

Principal songwriter and bassist Blas, described as the shyest member of MUD, moved to California with Kao while together in Acid Jazz. In photographs, Blas appears not shy but very comfortable in rock star persona. He is careful, thorough and intelligent. Blas was in the middle of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" by Milan Kundera (no easy read) at the time of this interview, which gives you an idea of the creative thinker behind the band.

Blas comes from a musical family and background. "My personal biggest influence is probably the pala-pala bands that I grew up with and played in. That scene taught me a lot about music and playing. Like everyone else, though, I got caught up in the MTV thing. The cha-cha and jitterbug thing started to fade for me. Then I discovered the Ramones and Nirvana and I got hooked," Blas says.

Although Blas experienced what he called a struggle, his dedication soon paid off. He recounts a night the band was playing a show at a large venue and MUD arrived early. While waiting for the show to start, Blas sat down and had a drink with a group of guys who said that they had seen MUD perform and told Blas how much they liked the band. "It turned out they were members of the band that opened that night. As they were setting up, one of the guitarists started playing one of our songs, 'Apartment 4.' I thought that was kind of cool. You know? Someone else, other than you, playing a song that you wrote. There's a nice feeling you get when you here your music being played on some stranger's radio," he says. Very cool, indeed.

Drummer Jared Cruz played with Acid Jazz in Guam years before, "When MUD's drummer quit, we asked Jared to join. Jared is the fourth drummer to play for MUD," says Kao.

Resident joker and former radio traffic personality for Power 98, Cruz has been playing the drums since age three (if flailing on Tupperware counts). "I've known Alan and Ralph since I was a wee tot of 18 or so. We played in Acid Jazz together for many years. That's when I learned how to fake song playing with such expertise and finesse. There was no better venue to showcase my lack of musicianship than in front of a hundred underage drinkers at Port Authority Beach. Playing before many a drunken mosh pit made me think about actually doing it long term," Cruz remembers.

"I initially wanted to play piano or guitar but thought that drums would get chicks. I couldn't be more wrong," laments Cruz. "After a show, the drummer is always the grossest, so there went that theory. And a piano player at any party or whatever is always scoring." "I had played in different cover bands on island and found out that Alan and Ralph had something going that only played originals. This intrigued me. Their constant haranguing to come check them out in San Francisco also had a lot to do with it. You realize that orchestras and symphonies are all cover bands, and of old dead guys, too," reminds Cruz.

Frontwoman and lead vocalist, Nikki Aclaro played for several local bands before moving out to join MUD. "When Ralph and I decided that we could do more musically with a female vocalist, we called around Guam looking for one and Nikki's name kept coming up. I've known Nikki's dad, Mars Aclaro, while growing up in Guam so we asked her to join," Kao said. "Every member of MUD past and present is from Guam."

A dedicated and ambitious Aclaro spent most of her life learning and developing her style. "I went to the college of 'stay at home and practice,'" she says. Early in life, Aclaro had aspirations of becoming, "a ballet dancer, then a chemist, then later I figured out that I'm not that graceful or great at math but could play a tune or two, and set my heart on being a musician. I love it!" Aclaro's soft, sylphlike presence and angelic features are the background on the canvas of her vocal style that ranges from pretty fluid to "angry chick," according to Blas. Aclaro remembers, "When I first started out with MUD, we played smaller shows, and sometimes the other bands on the bill did not fit us. In one instance, we played a hardcore festival and the crowd was not responsive. I actually caught a kid mocking me and I asked him if it was karaoke night and he shut up after I had embarrassed him in front of everyone."

Aris Nicholas is the latest addition to MUD. "I play the keys. I have been playing for about a year," he says. Nicholas played bass for a few other bands before MUD asked him to come on board.

"I was in another band called The Paper Planes. We played major San Francisco dive bars but Al and Ralph, the original members of MUD, came out to support. That was cool," he says.

Nicholas left Guam to pursue a music career, however, his parents encouraged him to go to college. "I took a few music industry courses at night to keep my interest fresh and new."

Between Nicholas and Blas, hands down, Nicholas is the crowned prince of shy. Amusing and clever, Kao has a business as well as an artistic attitude toward the success of the band. Last year, MUD was signed with San Francisco indie label Talking House Records and is currently working on material for a record due for release this year.

Talking House Records was not the first label to offer MUD a deal. Several other record labels approached the band in the past. "The reason we finally signed with Talking House Records is because they really believe in what we are doing. We are not just a tax write off for them. Most record companies don't take the time to develop their artists, it's all about how much money you can make for them now and when the buzz is over, they drop you and move on to the next hype. Talking House Records is all about developing the artist for long term success," Kao says. "It's hard work. It's all about writing cool songs, playing great shows, building a fan base and creating a buzz about your band."

Tracks from MUD's current CD, "Where is Tomorrow," have received domestic and international airplay on major stations including San Francisco's LIVE 105, UC Berkley's KALX 90.7 and Guam's THE ROCK 105.1 FM.

MUD is scheduled to shoot a music video sometime this year with filmmaker Alex Munoz who also is from Guam. "Our immediate plan is to complete recording on the new album, play the South by South West Music Festival, the 2007 Vans Warped Tour and maybe some shows in Japan .We plan to release two albums and tour a lot in the next three years," Kao said.

The nascent emergence of MUD onto the 21st century music scene deserves homage. Cheers gentlemen and lady. Biba MUD and Biba Rock and Roll!

MUD pays honorable mention to Paul Shimizu of Shimbros, Inc., Ray Gibson of Sorenson Pacific Broadcasting and Albert Juan of THE ROCK 105.1 FM for their instrumental roles in getting the band ignited.