Musuji Drop New Album, Perform Final Show
by Tim Wenger
One of Denver’s most unique acts has called it quits. Musuji, who have been rocking around the country since 2007, performed their final show July 18 at Herman’s Hideaway. The show also served as the release party for their new record Perspectrum, an album that certainly captures the maturity of the band and leaps boundlessly across genre lines like few records this year have done.
Life, which in Musuji’s case has involved everything from newborn babies to changing band members, has stepped forward and forced the band to end its reign as Denver’s weirdest rock and roll band. “We went through one lineup change with a guitar player about a year ago,” says bassist Thom Whitney. “Nate (Huisgen) from Yerkish filled in for (former guitarist) Pierce (Strickland). It was going really well, but he has to move back to New York City, so at the time it’s like, he’s moving, our plans have kind of stalled.”
Whitney and vocalist Arnie Blomquist both recently became fathers, another reason the band has slowed as of late. “We took like three months off,” says Whitney. “We had babies a month and a half apart. I called Arnie to tell him I was having a kid the day he found out he was having a kid. I called him and he was in that ‘right after’ shock. Being a father is the most amazing thing ever, and it’s the most time consuming. We definitely had to take step back.”
The guys, including drummer Lucas Strickland, agreed that music will continue to be a part of their lives, and have not ruled out the idea of reunion shows in the future. “Music is so important to us, it will never be totally gone,” says Blomquist.
“Music is a part of us at this point,” says Strickland. “Until we’re like 97, we’re still going to be playing.
The new record contains four songs, all named after colors. It is their first record where most of the recording happened live, with all members playing at once, instead of broken down into stages. “We took a different path on this album, I think,” says Blomquist. “We were wondering what it compared to with our other music, because this was the first recording with Nate playing guitar.”
“It is very different,” says Whitney. “A new member of a band is always a strange thing. When you have a band mate, you get to know them so much quicker than you get to know any other human.” After putting over 90,000 miles of touring in together and with the departure of Huisgen, the guys felt that it was time to throw in the towel and move on to different things.
“We’re still going to jam whenever we get the chance,” says Strickland.
The new record is available at the major online retailers. Relive some of the epic past moments at facebook.com.musujimusic.
Category: Buzzworthy
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