Durham native Mike Merenda on The Mammals concert at The Music Hall Friday

Back in late May, as summer started to take hold and present itself in a most unique (and otherwise infamous) way, The Mammals brightened the spirit of otherwise curiously dark times with their uplifting new release, “Nonet.”

The Mammals will celebrate the release of the record at a socially spaced show at The Music Hall on Friday, Oct. 9. Approximately 200 of the venue’s total 900 seats will be utilized to keep patrons properly distanced.

EDGE caught up with Mammal Michael Merenda, who grew up in Durham, to discuss the record, the times, Daniel Quinn, and the impending gig … Dig in!

EDGE: There’s a lot to unpack here, so we’ll just jump right in and see where this takes us. … Let’s start with “Nonet.” What were the goals for this record? You guys have been at it for two decades now, so I assume you know what you’re after, but, you tell us … What lessons have you learned over the years that inform the way “the new thing” unravels?

Merenda: I have to credit our co-producer Adam Armstrong for the concept behind “Nonet:” Rent a “really nice” studio and invite “all” the excellent musicians you’ve recorded and toured with over the years and make a superb recording with old school values (i.e. arrangements constructed and performed live and in the moment). When Adam pitched this, originally his idea was to do just a couple of songs this way. Our thought was that if we were going to go through all the effort to assemble this mind-boggling super-group within a world-class studio there was no way we were gonna walk out of there with only two songs. We walked out with 17.

EDGE: The opening cut is entitled, “Coming Down Off Summer,” which lends itself to the timely, curious question of, what did your summer look like? Obviously you weren’t running around as you usually do chasing endless festival cheers. How’d this one look? What did you take away from it?

Merenda: By some twist of fate, we were completely slammed this summer. It helped that “Nonet” was released in late May. As the tours dried up, the entire spring and summer became about doubling down on championing “Nonet” in whatever way possible. That meant producing and promoting music videos, jumping on the live-stream bandwagon, managing art direction and social media, reaching out to radio and press ... We also seemed to be one of the few bands who performed a handful of actual shows which were each complicated in their own unique, individual way.

Not to mention interviews, a random film soundtrack gig, endless pre-taped concert requests, the 12 Ashokan instructional Music Camps that Ruthy hosted via Zoom from our feeble internet connection in the studio above our garage, and a fall release of our new Woody Guthrie co-write “Born to Win.” Oh, and homeschooling the children! We simply never stopped working and only now are things beginning to let up a bit. I don’t think we would have stayed above water were it not for the generosity of fans purchasing the new album and our steadfast community of Patreon supporters. The fans truly kept us solvent and inspired.

EDGE: Riffing off of that last bit of sentiment for a moment, you released this album just before summer kicked in, smack dab in the middle of a pandemic. So, how’d the release unfold? The promo cycle for this thing is definitely different than past records you’ve put out before. Why’d you decide to get it out anyway?

Merenda: Though we could not have possibly seen it coming, this record speaks to this moment in truly bizarre and unpredictable ways. “Coming down off summer ...,” “Lookin' for light like a radio signal...,” “I had a dream that I was flyin' above a penitentiary... ,” “There’s a town down by the side of the road and some people trapped there in it... ,” “Someone’s hurtin’ out there...,” “If you could hear the words that I’m thinkin’ about a world on fire...,” “Time made nature, made every last creature, I can’t stand by idly while we’re breakin' it...,” “Maybe we are the ones that we’ve been waiting for...”

It goes on and on. It would have been criminal for us to not release this work during this time. One of my favorite quotes about the release is: “Protest folk records are usually reactionary, but somehow Mike + Ruthy seem to have predicted this moment with their new album.” - WMBR

EDGE: I dig what you’ve done with the title and the fact that the core group of music making Mammals present on “Nonet” is, aptly, nine. When did the title come to you? Was it a driving force, or an “afterthought” once the album was in the can?

Merenda: Once we were all assembled in the studio, we of course looked up what a nine piece ensemble is called and discovered the word “Nonet” (which is found much more commonly in the jazz world where horn sections and larger ensembles are more the norm). It’s not that unusual for a recording to have nine people contributing to the arrangement. What is unusual is for all parts to be cut in real time and not as overdubs (which can easily become overthought and drag a project out far longer than necessary). The immediacy of recording this together “off the floor” was a gift for all involved and I’m not sure I’d go back to doing it any other way any time soon. At this point in our career we’re good enough and confident enough to make music in real time and have it be right the first time.

EDGE: Obviously you (Mike and Ruthy) bounce back and forth between lead vocal duties. How does the actual songwriting process happen? Do you both write collaboratively around the dinner table, or separately? Or both? What are the pros (and cons?) of being in a band with your spouse as it relates to the music making and writing process?

Merenda: We write separately and act as each other’s sounding board. Sometimes songs come fully formed and sometimes they need an outside perspective to be the best they can be. I personally find co-writing from the ground up to be very uncomfortable. Like inviting someone to write in your diary with you. Why would you ever do that?!

EDGE: OK, the big one… How’s Daniel Quinn figure into all of this? I understand the influence is thick (well, you’re pretty outward about it, so, it’s general knowledge I suppose…) So yeah, how’s he figure in?

Merenda: My whole life as an artist has been about inspiring people to bring about a positive change in themselves and their community. Empowerment through music with the premise that truth is revolutionary. For the most part, my touchstones were two-tone ska bands, punk rockers, Ani DiFranco and Pete Seeger. After reading Daniel Quinn a few years ago, I realized our cultural wounds are much, much deeper than I had ever previously considered. But, more importantly, Quinn provided a new perspective on how we might yet recover - as a species - from this inevitable collapse that we’re barreling toward. To me, Quinn transcends politics and teaches cultural practices that are EVOLUTIONARILY STABLE. He affirmed in me the belief that how we live as a culture is essentially wrong. It’s against nature, arrogant, and absurd. Luckily there are thousands of years of cultural precedent for organized ways of living that work well. Ways to live that prioritize people and the community of life over things. I resonated with his work to such a degree that it’s now embedded in everything I do. I truly believe that saving the world is at stake. And this was the first road map I found that made sense of the mess we’ve created. A mess of dark mythology; shared cultural beliefs that are detrimental yet hardly acknowledged by the culture at large. As a writer I have the means to contribute to a new mythology. A new way of thinking. A new vision! So that is my work: manifest a future which is evolutionarily stable with ideas that you can dance to! If any of your readers would like a copy of Quinn’s flagship novel “Ishmael,” please send me your address via The Mammals’ social media and I’ll gladly put one in the mail.

Here’s a favorite Quinn quote to chew on:

“If the world is saved, it will not be saved by old minds with new programs, but by new minds with no programs at all.”

EDGE: You guys always cover a lot of ground, and a lot of it is pretty politically and socially charged, yet, you never present your songs with any sort of angst – it’s pretty level-headed and “calm.” Is this by design? Is there importance in delivering charged lyrical content with a sense of compassion and grace?

Merenda: I’m glad it comes across that way. I would say it’s by design at this point. When we were younger, we achieved some notoriety for being outspoken rabble rousers. We were in our 20s and there was a disastrous, expensive, illegal war being waged, of which we personally lost friends—one notably from the NH Seacoast community. So I felt very justified in speaking our truths... aggressively. These days, with division having reached a fever pitch, our tact is to be a force for healing and positivity. Which essentially means singing about what we’re for over what we’re against. I think we still achieve our same ends but with less people feeling marginalized, slighted, and made fun of. Not much progress can be made by alienating people.

EDGE: You’re playing a socially distant gig at the Music Hall in Portsmouth – putting 200 bodies into a theater that holds over 900. I feel like that may be a strange scene, but, I suppose it’s a “new normal” at least for now. In any event, what excites you about the show? What excites you about getting back “out there” and playing songs for people in the same room as opposed to streaming gigs to their handheld devices?

Merenda: The Music Hall holds a special place in my heart as it’s the theater I grew up seeing so many world class performances within. I applaud any and all arts presenters for attempting to navigate show business in 2020. And frankly, of the half dozen or so shows we’ve done this year, they’ve all been both exhilarating, rewarding, and simultaneously very, very bizarre. There’s just no escaping the fact that things are not normal. While benevolent, life-affirming energy is exchanged, there’s still an omnipresent current of awkwardness underlying everything. Even walking off the stage from a standing ovation, there’s some lingering tension. Which is not to say there isn’t an overabundance of joy, magic and healing that transpires between the musicians and the audience. It’s just that, try as we may to assume a sense of normalcy, we’re still very far from “business as usual.” I am grateful that we have this album to present at this time, and we have graciously accepted 95% percent of offers to play for live humans in a safe environment. The Music Hall will be the first indoor show we’ve attempted during the pandemic. I have complete faith that the folks in charge there are doing everything in their power to provide a safe, enjoyable experience, and I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews about the handful of shows they’ve done so far.

EDGE: Digging further on the last line in that question, what has the dynamic been like trying to present your music to people during this time of pandemic (digitally vs. in the flesh). Is there any chance this mode of communication actually becomes a preferred delivery method much in the same people seem to prefer digital files over the weight and effort of a tangible record? (God, I hope not, but I’d love to hear your perspective …)

Merenda: The live-streamed phenomenon was fun for a couple months, but it’s pretty played out at this point. I actually quite enjoyed performing for folks via the internet, getting better at presenting a higher-quality stream and learning what that means. However, I can speak from recent experience that a screen will never reproduce the alchemy created from a shared live performance experience. Having said that, the community-building tools the internet gives us cannot be undervalued and I know it’s been a lifeline for a lot of folks out there.

EDGE: In parting, let’s talk about your new-new release, “Born to Win,” a cowrite of sorts between you and the words of Woody Guthrie which you’ve put out in the last few days here. Tell us all about it …

Merenda: I stumbled upon this Woody Guthrie lyric in his book by the same title, “Born to Win.” It was written out in verse / chorus / verse form—clearly intended to be a song—but I couldn’t find a single recorded version of it out there—not even an alphabetical title listing at the official Woody Guthrie website. So, I just made up some music! My first attempt was to write something like Woody might have sung in the 1940s. That version was recorded on Jack White’s refurbished Voice-o-Graph machine direct to a 6-inch record while passing through Nashville during a tour in 2017. As much as I Ioved this “authentic” sounding, purposefully-retro recording, I kept tinkering with the music to find a version that could be more energetic and uplifting on a festival stage—something that felt more anthemic and empowering. In experimenting with that in mind, we birthed a modern arrangement during an impromptu recording session at Mass Moca in 2019. Our friends The Restless Age (who were part of that session and also play in The Mammals) took that idea and ran with it, creating their own recording in their studio. After performing the song as “Ruthless Mike” at a house concert last winter, my good friend Robert Sarazin Blake said, “You’ve got to release that song before next year’s election.” And so we did! On Oct. 1st, we released my original voice-o-graph recording, The Restless Age recording, and a live version of both bands performing the song live at an outdoor show in early September of this year. One hundred percent of proceeds from this release benefit progressive candidates in the lead up to the election. Nothing like a deadline to get things done!

EDGE: I assume you’ll be hitting us with that tune as part of the setlist at the Music Hall, but, in general, what can folks expect when they come out to see you play this time around?

Merenda: In order to adhere to regulations put in place by the state for indoor performances, we’ll have a limited time to play. As such, we’ll be performing as a sextet and plan to perform the new single “Born to Win” and our entire album, “Nonet,” probably on shuffle mode. Our friends The Restless Age will open the show with a few songs of their own and if there’s time we may get into the “Nonet” bonus disc as well.

Go & Do

What: The Mammals in concert with special guest opening The Restless Age

When: 8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 9

Where: The Music Hall, 28 Chesnut St., Portsmouth

Tickets: $30

More info: Visit www.themammals.love and www.themusichall.org for tickets