flyover 6: mutual identities

Versatility and adaptability are crucial traits for proficient DJs. “Play to the room” is a cliche, but it’s still among the first things most lifers will say when describing how they do what they do. Arriving at a gig armed with tracks suited to the vibe of the party is no small undertaking, but the ability to depart from the plan if necessary is what sets the best apart. If they intend to keep raucous crowds of dance music fans happy, musicians who use machines and instruments instead of flash drives and wax also need to be able to improvise while playing and managing their gear.

If you’re familiar with Mutual Identities, you might know the duo's slogan: "an ever-changing sonic experience." A bold claim, but the Minneapolis band's music, eclectic and evolving, delivers on that promise. Originally formed in 2017 as a four-piece indie rock band, MI now operates without a drummer and vocalist, but still aims to fulfill the group’s original goal of making and performing “instrument-driven dance music.”

Today, Mutual Identities is Ethan Sanders and Nathan Graff. With gigs at Minneapolis dance music institutions like Communion and House Proud under their belts, they're used to playing big sound systems as a live act, sandwiched between DJ sets. These gigs come with clear expectations: the music can’t stop, and the crowd needs something to dance to. DJs and live acts alike need to deliver sets with narrative arcs and responsive energy flows. Since there’s no time to tune or gather yourself between songs, and no one in the crowd is interested in frontman banter, most bands aren’t up to the task. Time and again, MI delivers under these difficult circumstances.

These skills don’t develop overnight. Both lifelong musicians and multi-instrumentalists, Ethan and Nathan started playing in bands as teens. These days, they may find themselves performing in relatively unfamiliar settings, but they have learned how to deliver fun and thumping melody-driven sets that blend seamlessly with those from DJs on the lineup.

Their flyover set began as a rehearsal for another unusual gig: a friend’s wedding reception. Given their versatility, MI could emulate a Klezmer band or bust out a cover of “Electric Boogie” if they had to, but this was no ordinary wedding party.

Ethan [above, left]: “It was on a proper sound rig and stuff...it was bangin’, dude. It was so much fun, [it was in] a very intimate space...but it still had all the energy of a kick-ass dance party. That was the coolest wedding I’ve ever been to.”

Consistently funky, vibey, and dynamic, their flyover set is an improvisational hour with intentionality at its core, serving up 60 minutes of compelling "instrument-driven dance music."

Ethan: “It’s not just electro, it’s not just house, it’s not just this or that or whatever, and it gets really pretty, and really melodic, and things that I think sometimes people shy away from in club culture sometimes...we’ve just been playing instruments and writing songs our whole lives, that’s just the kind of music we make.”

Ethan: “Basically what we do is make grooves in every single key on the scale, then we just pick a note and go up a fifth in the scale. That’s how we jam because then when you go to the next thing, everything’s in harmony, so you can take the bassline out [while] the melody keeps going, and then lay down a new bassline, then drop that and make a groove on top of it.”

Bold, friendly, and boisterous, Ethan describes himself as MI’s one-man rhythm section. He works with synths, sequencers, samplers, and leads the live side of MI sets. Soft-spoken by comparison, Nathan uses a keyboard, synths, and samplers to drive the band’s melodies. Nathan found his way to dance music a decade ago via festivals, and decided to try his hand at production around the same time, and still produces dubstep as Coma Dose. Both members of MI are intensely passionate about music and deeply knowledgeable about the gear they use to create it.

Ethan: “Nathan has such a good understanding of the keyboard that he can play these beautiful and open chord progressions and stuff that add a layer to the music that...if the groove was just there, it’d be solid enough to keep a dancefloor person’s attention, but it goes to a different level when Nathan plays in his piano parts.”

The duo’s love for a wide variety of music and genres keeps their live sets and recordings fresh.

Ethan: “We’re not ever trying to arrive at any particular destination...allowing ourselves to not be so caught up with one particular thing, for better or for worse. I don’t think we specialize in anything, but we can do a lot of different things.”

Nathan: “We keep it open and it pretty much just happens. It’s not like we have full control, we’re just kind of like, ‘let’s see what we can do.’ [When it comes to] dance music, I do like it to be hard-hitting...Ethan introduced me to house music, and it’s really nice to make stuff that’s just vibey, [so] you can really just set into a groove.”

Nathan: “I kind of go back and forth [with genres], it’s nice to be able to go back and forth between things. We produce hip-hop stuff too. I like just doing everything...it’s nice to be able to take a break from something after it gets old.”

However, the rigid expectations of current MI gigs within DJ-centric ecosystems can be a double-edged sword, sometimes leaving Ethan feeling that MI is not yet achieving its full potential.

Ethan: “We knew when we started doing this that we don’t necessarily fit in with any kind of ecosystem that exists right now...I want to start a set at like 96 BPM and do vibey-ass R&B and finish at like 145 [BPM] breaks...Mutual Identities at its fullest would be that, this huge and ever-changing sonic experience.”

Given that MI’s load-in is more difficult than that of a DJ toting a flash drive and a bag of records, the duo is always looking to simplify their workflow. Their current setup includes nine components: a plethora of sequencers, samplers, synthesizers, plus a keyboard and a mixer. This can lead to difficulty in spaces more suited to DJs with USBs and vinyl.

Ethan: “Live hardware stuff kind of has this asterisk next to it all the time. First off, our goal is [to] shrink our gear, our live setup. Look at all this dumb shit [gesturing to their crowded studio], we bring all of this to every set we play. DJ booths aren’t that big…[and] this is a rock band’s worth of shit.”

Nathan: “That’s a lot to ask [of event crews].”

Ethan: “That is us at our best musicianship. One of our favorite sets this past summer, I brought my bass, and I was playing slap bass at like 132 [BPM] house, and it was really fun.”

Nathan: “It’s a lot to ask.”

Ethan: “It’s a lot to ask of someone…[it’s hard] to trust yourself enough that you’re gonna play a stringed instrument that well on a big-ass sound system like that.” The duo’s genre-defying tendencies, intense work ethic, and passion for their craft mean there’s always something new around the corner.

Ethan: “We are sitting on a plethora [of music]...some of it’s kind of like UKG house-fusion type stuff, others are just like 124 [BPM] house, we just have like a chugging techno track too.”

Ethan: “There’s a particular energy going on here creatively lately...I’m overwhelmed by the anticipation of where things are gonna go for all kinds of people. Before the pandemic, we were just an internet entity. We weren’t really playing shows...we didn’t have anything to latch onto at that point yet...now we’re kind of going to the next phase of what we’re gonna be doing...comparing our last EP, which still had instruments on it...compared to whatever we release next, they’re not the same at all.”

If you want to hear where Mutual Identities takes its ever-changing sonic experience next, keep an eye on the band’s Instagram and SoundCloud.