Mutiny Within Have a Solid Lineup Thanks to a Mother’s Love

"If were going to do this, we might as well do this the best we can," Mutiny Within bassist Andrew 'A.J.' Jacobs told Noisecreep when explaining the reason for the myriad of members that have come and gone from the New Jersey band. "For my ears, the sound wasn't complete," said Jacobs, who even enjoyed a stint as the band's vocalist. So the quest to find a singer who could add to the then-unsigned band's technical, melodic sound ended on the internet.

"I went on YouTube and typed in 'metal recording vocals' or something; the most cliché thing ever," Jacobs laughed while discussing the moment of desperation that paid off in finding their singer Chris Clancy. "It was literally the first video that I watched. He was recording with his band in England, and I lost it. I thought he was great. He sang, he screamed, he had stuff in between."

From there the e-mails began, and Jacobs sent Clancy a Mutiny Within demo song and asked him to put vocals over it. "It was sick. So I asked him, 'Dude where do you live?' And he said, 'England.' Well that doesn't work. That was the worst answer he could have given," Jacobs recalled.

All that answer did was make Jacobs more determined; he had no backup plan -- nor did he plan to make one. "Give up is not in my vocabulary, he said." When a singer with a shattering scream that is married to an opera background is found, it's best not to let that go. Jacobs never doubted the situation. "I wanted the impossible of him quitting his job and flying over. And you know what? That's exactly what he did."

But once Clancy finally made the jump and took that plane ride over to the States, a bigger problem came up. "The hard part was getting him a work visa and money," Jacobs confessed. Eventually the band had to deal with these issues all over again when Clancy's college friend Daniel Bage left England to be the band's second guitarist.

But when it comes to dishing out the thanks and credit for helping the band find its final two members, Jacobs isn't spouting off praise of technology, though he does admit the demo writing that took place before Clancy moved wouldn't have happened without the use of e-mail and Skype. Jacobs thanks his mom. "If she had not have opened up her house, this would not have worked, hands down," he said.

She opened up her house to the entire band. "She has me and my brother, and then we have Dan and Chris living in the house. Then we had the other two guys coming through the house when we were working on music daily," Jacobs explains. "She fed everyone and gave everyone a bed to sleep on. She's the reason this all worked out."

And not a day goes by that Jacobs isn't letting his mom know how grateful he is for her. "I show it to her every day. She almost can't take it."