For singer of Mindless, it’s new album, new hope
By John Benson
The band hasn’t broken through to the mainstream but still has a following.
Buckle your seat belt and hold on, you’re about to enter the world of Mindless Self Indulgence singer Little Jimmy Urine (born James Euringer). Suffice it to say, things could get bumpy.
Perhaps the best place to start is with Urine’s onstage fashion style, which oddly enough mirrors the New York City-based band’s kitchen sink sound – industrial, hip-hop, punk and rock.
The spike-haired Urine, who has no issue mixing and matching with impunity in an effort to create something different, loves neon and has been known to perform in fairy wings, net shirts, tights and more.
Not surprisingly, little thought goes into his costume selection; however, he said he always works his unique ensemble into the act’s chaotic stage presence.
“Before the show I’ll be like, ‘Let’s go with this type of color’ or maybe I’ll put a feather in my hair,” said Urine, calling from Vienna, Austria. “You just don’t know. It’s whatever we pick up. And going around the world kind of helps you out, too.
“Sometimes somebody throws a didgeridoo on stage or a prosthetic leg, and you’re kind of like maybe I’ll work that into the act the rest of the night.”
Formed more than a decade ago, Mindless Self Indulgence is your quintessential fringe band, combining irreverence with a unique sense of music and timing that has resulted in a loyal cult following. While the group has shared the stage with many national acts (System of a Down, Korn, Staind, Mushroomhead) and appeared on last year’s Projekt Revolution tour, it has yet to crossover fully into the mainstream.
Still, a new album brings new hope for Urine, who said the group’s next album “If” further stretches the boundaries and mind space of Mindless Self Indulgence. From his ironic duet with his wife, Chantal Claret, who is the lead singer of rock act Morningwood, on “Get It Up,” to the popish “Mastermind” and “Issues,” fans better be ready for something different.
“I think there are some changes, and we’re always growing, but we never get rid of the Mindless sound,” Urine said. “So I apologize to all of the people who expect us to be The Ramones and make the same exact record all of the time. And I apologize to people who do think we make the same exact record all of the time, but I’m just going to make the record that I want to make.”
When it’s pointed out that “If” will be released Tuesday, which is the same day the band is scheduled to perform in Cleveland at the Agora Ballroom, Urine does his best to shower — depending on your interpretation of his theory— Northeast Ohio with love. Mindless Self Indulgence is also scheduled to play a sold-out show Wednesday at Mr. Small’s in Pittsburgh.
“That’s a good place to be,” Urine shouted. “If there is any place I could be to release a record, it would either be Ohio, Scotland or Australia. Because those places for some reason initially got it right off the bat. We just showed up and people were like, ‘I love it.’ I think you get into a big city and people are a little more ‘Oh, whatever.’ If you’re in a place that’s depressed and made fun of a lot, I think you get our music.
“And if you’re in Scotland and getting beaten up by the English all of the time, you just have to deal with it. And Australians are all criminals, and they get it. A lot of other people get it, but I think it takes them longer. So I’m happy to be in Cleveland on that day.”