INTERVIEW: Evolving that NOLA sound with Bonerama’s Mark Mullins

The brass kings of Bonerama are taking their high-energy New Orleans sound on the road in 2016, including a stop at The Hall at MP in New York City Friday, March 25. The guys in the band, including trombonist and co-founder Mark Mullins, know how get the audience jumping and swaying to classic brass tunes and reinvented songs tinged with some funky rock ‘n’ roll. At a Bonerama concert, fans can expect the unexpected; they might begin with a spirited original song and then launch into a unique Led Zeppelin cover.

It’s all in a night’s work for the band members in Bonerama.

“Yeah, we’ve got a lot of dates coming up,” Mullins said in a phone interview. “We’re trying to hit markets and cities that we haven’t been to in a while because we get caught up going to the same places all the time that work for us. We get people saying, ‘Hey, when are you coming back to so and so? When are you coming back to so and so?’ So we’re trying to do a better job on getting to more places, and we’ve got a whole bunch of shows that we just announced for the first half of the year.”

Upcoming dates, in addition to Brooklyn, include Clyde’s in Chevy Chase Village, Maryland; Ziggy’s by the Sea in Wilmington, North Carolina; and Vinyl in Atlanta, among other stops.

“They can expect some newer music, a fresher sound because we’re constantly bringing in new music to the band,” Mullins promised. “The band is 18 years old now, and I think since day one we’ve never really been satisfied with the current song list. We’re always trying to make it bigger, so that totally makes every show even more different. It’s kind of like you got more weapons to draw from.”

With so many possible songs to fill a set list, Bonerama can have a completely different show from night to night. New Yorkers catching them at The Hall at MP in March may hear a different variety of songs when the band returns to the area June 3 for Michael Arnone’s Crawfish Fest in Augusta, N.J.

“And then we’ve been recording,” Mullins said. “So we’ve been recording a couple of records. We don’t have a release date yet, but one of them is just a collection of the newer material. And the second record we’re trying to do is a total record of all Led Zeppelin. We haven’t really formally announced it, but we’re talking about it. And we’ve been recording them. That’s a lot of fun to dip into the Led Zeppelin catalog with a band that’s fronted with three trombones and has a sousaphone in it. That’s a lot of fun, and a lot of that stuff transfers so well to brass instruments.”

Mullins said that in New Orleans, musicians are open to many influences, and Bonerama has embraced the world of funk and rock. The trombonist has been embracing several musical styles ever since he was 8 or 9 years old. He believes he was in the fourth grade when he put his first band together, and they would head out and try to play Mardi Gras parades in the Crescent City.

“We did the marching band thing at school, but I begged the school band director to give me some of the phone numbers of the parade captains,” Mullins said. “And I called them directly. I said, ‘I’ve got a band. I’m 13 years old. I go to this school out in the suburbs. We want to play in the parade.’ She’s like, ‘Oh, OK. Well, what’s your fee?’ And I was not ready for that question. I was like, ‘Fee?’ I was like, ‘Oh, wow, they’re going to pay us. Wow, OK.’ There was like six guys in the band. I said, ‘$75.’ And she’s like, ‘OK, you’re hired.’ So we started doing Mardi Gras parades pretty cheap.”

Many New Orleans musicians have a connection to Mardi Gras parades and second lines. It’s a part of the unique culture in Louisiana and provides a fitting start to what can become a lifelong musical journey. For Mullins, that journey continues today.

“The way we do things in Bonerama, there’s no way this band could have come out of any other city,” he said. “A big part of what we do is influenced by what’s born and bred out of New Orleans, right out of here, and the cool thing about coming from here is that a lot of these players, these heroes, these musical heroes of ours, a lot of them are still around.”

Mullins said the recent death of Allen Toussaint was a difficult loss; he called him the “most important man that was alive in New Orleans music.” However, it’s still amazing to the trombonist that he can run into Dr. John, George Porter Jr. or any of the Neville Brothers on any given night.

“To randomly bump into them at a show at Tipitina’s, even if they’re just hanging out, it’s like, wow, this is an amazing city because those are musical heroes of ours, and so many other musicians and fans of New Orleans music all across the world,” he said. “And they’re right here in front of us all the time. It’s truly inspiring.”

When Bonerama heads out on the highways of the United States, the band members become ambassadors for this New Orleans sound.

“When we’re close to the state line, you suddenly feel honored that you’re able to bring this music to people elsewhere, and when you go to Baltimore, or New York, or Chicago or wherever, and you’re on the stage and you’re playing this music that you grew up with, that you love and you’re making people so happy, it’s an amazing job that we have,” he said. “You can’t just give them a half-assed show. There’s a benchmark set for what a New Orleans [band] should be bringing to the table, and we really respect that and aspire every night to meet and exceed that level.”

He added: “It’s truly an honor to be a musician in New Orleans, especially when we try to represent the city the best we can.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Bonerama is currently on a national tour, and they will play The Hall at MP in Brooklyn, New York, on Friday, March 25. Click here for more information.