The Gummy Mummies

Members
Josh Seib, Jeb Banner, Simon Hanstad, Finn Swingley
About

Josh Seib- Bass, Guitar, Drums, Keyboards, Vocals. Finn Swingley- Guitar, Drums, Keyboards, Vocals. Jeb Banner- Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals. Simon Hanstad- Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals. Eric Peters- Drums. Jashub (last name?)- Guitar. Bloomington 1995-6. This loose recording outfit revolved around the house that Simon, Josh, Finn and Jeb shared at Smith and Grant. Although the Staple Guns were the ?real? band this moniker was created for all the random group recordings and ideas that were undertaken that same year. Here is another account of the "band". The Gummy Mummies were essentially the alter-ego of the Staple Guns. We were all living together at the time at Smith and Grant in Bloomington and for the first time had something resembling a recording studio in the basement. It was really just a dank (and often dangerously wet) room with christmas lights hung on the walls. I recall the ceiling was so low that Jeb must have hit his head at least a hundred times. So we had all of this gear, 3 organs, at least 10 guitars, at times there were 2 drumsets, and every other esoteric musical instrument we'd all picked up over the years. That year especially there was an incredible comaraderie between Jeb, Simon, Josh and myself. Since none of us were very good drummers at the time (besides Josh), Staple Guns drummer Eric Peters would often sit in on the kit. Though really, there was an open invitation to all our musician friends in town to come over and 'jam'. A LOT of recordings were done at this time, many are completely awful. Some however, had some very nice qualities. Occasionally our musical intuition would take over and we'd be following eachother around corners we hadn't known were there. Alot of the songs on this site are from one session - the infamous brownie session. Josh (bass), Simon (organ), Jeb (vocals, tambourine, some guitar, conductor), Finn (guitar), Eric Peters (Drums) and Jashub Abshire (guitar) all consumed some of the most potent 'magic' brownies we'd ever eaten and proceeded to the basement and just - played. It was all made up on the spot, and though it's not perfect, there was a real joy that day and something kind of special in the connection between the musicians. I think we all look back fondly on that session. So about the name - Gummy Mummies. What does it mean? As I recall, we were beginning to compile some of the various group recordings and needed a name. I don't remember who came up with it, but I do remember it was a play on Pink Floyd's classic "Umma Gumma", probably because the music was so ridiculously psychedelic. It was an enjoyable time and I think there's quite a few tasty morsels, if you're willing to overlook some very bad drum fills, the occasional very wrong note and some indulgently long tracks. Enjoy.

Albums

Chemical Life

10 songs

1 Gummy Mummy Theme
1:55
2 Gimme Life
2:49
3 Enter The Brownies
3:55
4 Death of an Opera Singer
7:15
5 Brownies Seaside Churn
6:55
6 Revival Musak
1:51
7 Carnival
2:06
8 Estee Lauder
2:43
9 Brownies Better Feeling
4:04
10 Brownies Conductor
3:12

Remixes and additional recordings

12 songs

1 Death of an Opera Singer
6:00
2 The Brownies begin
6:34
3 The Brownies Continue
10:25
4 The Brownies Mach 3
5:16
5 The Brownies Days of The Week
3:27
6 The Brownies Jeb Conductor
3:56
7 The Brownies Mach 4
5:46
8 chaostowhereyagoingtocarnivaltochaostobeauty
8:00
9 Revival Musak
1:38
10 The Brownies Circular Streets
8:43
11 The Loudest Song Ever
4:00
12 Give Me Life
2:36