The Groove Comes First! This is the motto of the Kansas City/Lawrence based instrumental trio Mouth. The band dubs their sound as Cosmic Funk. Consisting of pulsing rhythms, copious amounts of bass, and soaring textural layers Mouth creates funky vibes on the fly that range in influence from funk, fusion, and reggae to dubstep, house, and hip hop. This combined with extensive amounts of improvisation leads every night to be a one of kind evening. By using a plethora of modern, custom equipment, including live looping, the band transforms the traditional 3 piece setup into what sounds at times like full Cosmic Funk Orchestra. Mouth has been causing riots on dance floors since late 2008, and they continue to push the boundaries further and further at each show.
The nature of improvisation means that no two performances are ever the same, so we try to record as many of our live performances as possible. We've made many of these recordings available for free download, in the column to the right.
Zach Rizer, our bass player, is currently accepting a limited number of serious students. If you are interested in taking your bass playing to the next level and live around the KC metro area, visit Zach's website to learn more!
Matt Gader
(guitar) Stephen Gunn
(percussion) Zach Rizer
(bass) Dan Gable
(sound & dub)
Our Discography
Below is our discography. We've only listed our major releases on this page.
Studio Recorded Releases
The New Era Of Funk
EP Volume 1
Release date: Feb 1st, 2012
Availability: Online shop & at shows
Recording Type: Studio
file type: CD / MP3 256 kpbs
Info: Mouth decided to record The New Era Of Funk in their basement after only releasing live recordings for two and a half years. The writing process in the studio lead to new sounds and textures that could only be produced in a studio environment. Hermon Mehari and Brandon Draper provide guest tracks on the tune Moufhaus, otherwise everything you hear is played by the members of Mouth.
The New Era Of Funk is a three track EP. The digital download features a bonus tune tacked on to the end of the third track.
Tracklist:
- SNAKE CHARMER
- MOUFHAUS (FEATURING HERMON MEHARI & BRANDON DRAPER)
- THEME FROM THE END OF THE WORLD (+BONUS TRACK)
Live Recorded Releases
Word of Mouth, Volume 2
Future Funk For Your Listening Pleasure
Release date: Thursday, July 29 2010
Availability: By Special Request (Contact Us)
Recording Type: Compiled Live Performances
file type: MP3 256 kpbs
Info: We're proud to release "Word of Mouth, Volume 2" as a free download with the launch of this website. Click below or in the column to the right to download it. "Word of Mouth, Volume 2" features the best live cuts from the last 10 months of our performances around the Midwest. In this time many of the musical ideas we'd experimented with before began to coalesce, and we made some drastic changes to our sound. New tunes, new gear and effects and many collaborations with other artists makes "Word of Mouth, Volume 2" a dramatic leap forward from "Volume 1."
Tracklist:
- I Can't Go For That (Intro Jam)
- Purple Patch
- Wintermute
- The Nautilus
- Cloud World
- Final Battle (Happy Ending)
- Bad Wolf
- Cash Up Front
- XIII Second Ghost
- Worm Sign
- Caravan
- Proton's Bounce
- Yellow Patch
- The Gunslinger
- The Force Theme
- Radionic Jam
- Form & Funktion
- The Nautilus Reprise
- 1 A.M. at the Record Bar
Word of Mouth, Volume 1
Greatest hits from our Cosmic Infancy
Release date: Friday, October 10 2009
Availability: On COMPACT DISC by Special Request Only
Recording Type: Compiled Live Performances
file type: N/A
Info: In addition to releasing free recordings of our shows, we've started to release a series of albums collecting the best moments from our live performances. The first volume in this series, "Word of Mouth, Volume 1," was released on October 10th, 2009, and included 11 live recordings made between January and April of 2009, our first four months performing together as a band. "Word of Mouth, Volume 1" received positive reviews in many local publications.
Tracklist:
- I'm A Doctor
- Billy Pilgrim Becomes Unstuck In Time Volume 1
- Billy Pilgrim Becomes Unstuck In Time Volume 2
- Purple Patch
- File's Done
- Jackpot Jam
- Beepilepsy
- McCollum
- Cloud World
- Form & Funktion
- Zelig
Holiday Mixes
Escape From The Moon
2011 Holiday Mix
Release date: December 2011
Availability: N/A Limited Release
Recording Type: Compiled Live Performances and Studio Remixes
file type: MP3 256 KBPS
Info: We're proud to say that this is the 3rd year in a row that we have put together a holiday album featuring one of the band's favorite action-movie heros, Snake Plissken. Our general idea for our holiday releases has been to invent a sound-track to a movie we wished existed. We try to use the song titles, moods in the music, and cover artwork to tell the story. The entire story-line to date has been a three year running joke between Dan and Gunn.
The music featured on this year's album is mostly improvised jammage from our 10/27/11 Live on KKFI 90.1FM radio broadcast. To mix things up we hid a few surprises on there including an old Jazzhaus favorite and a Smoking Elephant Remix. There are a few special guests on this year's album as well, big thanks to Brandon Noone (DJ-Highnoone) for his scratch work & Matt Hill of The Floozies for his scrunch-face inducing key rippage.
Tracklist:
- Snake Gets The Call (Pool side, Miami Sunrise) 8:45
- Stealth Mode Engaged (Lunar Landing) 6:21
- Final Communique: Orders (Dark Side Recon) :40
- No Guns, No Light (Guards Everywhere) 13:27
- UBERMAX Lock Down (Shank Or Be Shanked) 5:52
- UBERMAX Confusion (Snake's Quick Escape) 8:39
- Battle With Warden Armstrong (Rover Chase) 4:44
- Get Out! She's Gonna Blow! (Moon Party I, & III) 15:11
Escape From The South Pole
2010 Holiday Mix
Release date: December 6 2010
Availability: N/A Limited Release
Recording Type: Compiled Live Performances and Studio Remixes
file type: MP3 256 KBPS
Info: This year's release is a follow up to 2009's Holiday mix titled Escape from the North Pole. Both albums are a soundtrack to a movie that we wish existed. The song titles tell the plot and the album art sets the tone. Both contain unreleased live cuts and secret tracks. Even though 2009's album isn't available any longer, the track list helps tell the story leading into this years release.
Tracklist:
- Revelations of The Penguin Overlord
- Call To Duty (The World Needs Snake Again)
- Snake Rides South On His War Sleigh
- Snake Meets His Contact (She's Hot)
- March Of Nimrod's Penguin Army
- The Battle Of McMurdo Sound
- Storming The Penguin's Lair
- Nimrod's Last Breath
Escape From The North Pole
2009 Holiday Mix
Release date: December 6 2009
Availability: N/A Limited Release
Recording Type: Compiled Live Performances and Studio Remixes
file type: MP3 256 KBPS
Info: One night, Dan and Gunn had the idea to pull together a bunch of random projects, create a theme, produce artwork, package it together, and release it on the internet as a free download. Escape From The North Pole was the result. The whole project only took 3 hours from conception to finish. This was also the first Mouth album to feature 'Print Your Own' artwork.
Tracklist:
- The Godfather Christmas
- The Briefing of Snake Plissken
- Armored Transport Sabotage
- Elf Brainwash Serum
- Comatose Visions Pt. 1
- Comatose Visions Pt. 2
- Transport Ambush and Rescue
- Escape Into The Blizzard
- Rebirth
- Decent Into The Ice Palace
- Final Battle (Happy Ending!)
Masterlist
We have archived everything we've ever recorded and plan on releasing it all at some point. Until then, here is our masterlist. Our most up-to-date archival reference.
Total Shows: 63
Total Database Size: 825+gb
(show full list)
- Demo Session 10-12-08
- Jackpot 1-16-09
- Raoul's 2-11-09
- Davey's Uptown 2-19-09
- Raoul's 2-24-09
- Raoul's 2-25-09
- Raoul's 3-11-09*
- Raoul's 3-25-09*
- Crosstown Station 4-01-09
- Project X 4-11-09*
- Jerry's Baitshop 4-19-09*
- Crosstown Station 5-27-09*
- Jazzhaus 6-19-09*
- Jazzhaus 8-14-09
- Jardine's 10-10-09*
- Jazzhaus 10-23-09
- ScionLab (x3 sets) 11-13-09*
- Jazzhaus 12-12-09*
- Beaumont 12-18-09
- Jazzhaus 1-29-10
- Jazzhaus 2-20-10*
- Kitchen Pass {Joplin} 3-20-10*
- KKFI 3-24-10
- recordBar (Reach) 4-23-10*
- Bottleneck 4-29-10*
- Jazzhaus 5-14-10
- recordBar 5-21-10
- Bottleneck 6-16-10*
- Jazzhaus 7-16-10
- Danny's 7-24-10*
- KKFI 7-29-10*
- D'Luxe 9-11-10*
- Riot Room 9-18-10
- Jazzhaus 10-01-10
- Halo Bar {STL} 10-30-10
- Bourbon Theater {Lincoln} 11-20-10*
- KKFI 12-02-10*
- Granada 12-20-10
- Jazzhaus 1-28-11
- Cervantes' {Denver} 2-09-11
- The Summit {Durango} 2-11-11*
- Chupiros {Grand Jct} 2-12-11*
- Jazzhaus 2-25-11
- Crosstown Station 3-11-11*
- Jazzhaus 3-25-11*
- Halo Bar 4-01-11*
- Bottleneck 4-30-11*
- Cervantes 5-11-11
- The Summit {Durango} 5-12-11*
- The Eldo {Crested Butte} 5-13-11*
- Paddys Pub {Vail} 5-14-11*
- Festy Fest 5-20-11*
- Wakarusa 6-04-11
- Crosstown Station 7-02-11
- Bottleneck 7-29-11*
- Crossroads 8-13-11
- Cannabis Revival {Joplin} 9-24-11*
- Bottleneck 9-30-11*
- KKFI 10-27-11
- Bottleneck 10-28-11*
- Riot Room 12-28-11
- Jazzhaus 12-29-11
- KKFI 1-19-12*
*denotes a recording that to our knowledge has never been released.