From garage bands to Jimi Hendrix, the Central District has a long history of musically-inclined residents. For the past few years, the post-punk band Mutiny Mutiny has contributed to that legacy.The two-person band includes guitarist Jason Dean and bassist Jenn Schmidt. Dean and Schmidt moved to the Central District a few years ago, and since then have drawn inspiration from the neighborhood — from the diversity and history here to the tragedy of Justin Ferrari’s shooting.

Mutiny Mutiny is poised to release their second album, and they’ll be playing a release show at the Columbia City Theater on November 14 at 8pm. CD News sat down with the band to talk about their new album.

CD News: What can listeners expect from the new record?

Mutiny Mutiny: We are very proud of this record, and really hope that listeners will enjoy it. We worked with an awesome producer, Brandon Busch, who really has a good pair of ears and he helped us get the best audio quality that we could. He did a great job, and things are really sounding awesome. The songs on the new record are pretty diverse. We have some faster, angry songs, some slower, moodier ones, some that are really weird and angular, and some that are more melodic. Jenn played classical music for a long time, so our song structures don’t necessarily follow what you’d expect from a typical rock band. They meander a little bit and go where they want to go, which we think is cool. We also worked with a really talented local artist, Stacy Hsu, for our cover art. It turned out amazing and that is 100% because of her.

CDN: What aspect are you most proud of?

MM: We are really proud of the batch of songs we’ve written and the performances we were able to capture on the record. Some feedback we got on our first album was that we sounded a little tentative and like we were holding back a little bit in the studio, which was probably true. This time around we really tried to step it up and bring a lot more energy and better performance to our songs. We also spent a lot of time working on writing stronger vocal parts and using harmonies more. Overall, we feel like this record is a big step forward for us and we’re excited to be able to start sharing it with people.

CDN: How has life in the CD influenced your music?

MM: Well, when you live in a neighborhood that’s produced amazing musicians like Jimi Hendrix and Quincy Jones you better step up your game if you’re going to represent the CD musically. It is such a dynamic neighborhood and we feel lucky to live here. There is constant activity and change, which generates lots of food for thought. You have boxing gyms, some of the best Ethopian food in the country, Hollow Earth Radio and places like The Wild Cat Cafe. We get a lot of inspiration from the energy and diversity of the community. There is a lot going on here, and when you mix that with the deep roots and strong sense of community there’s no shortage of inspiration for new songs.

CDN: Was the “Senseless Theater” song a way to cope with the tragedy of the Justin Ferrari shooting or a way to speak out on a large scale?

MM: Senseless Theater was written both as a coping song and as an attempt to speak out on a larger scale about the many instances of gun violence that have happened in Seattle this past year, one of which was the Justin Ferrari shooting. We live just a couple of blocks from the intersection where that happened and walk or drive through there pretty much every day. The absolute randomness and senseless nature of that incident really hit hard. It really could have been anyone. Not long after that, we were woken up by gunshots right out in front of our house. Our neighbors two doors down actually had bullets come in through their front walls. Jason was going to the studio the next day, and he finished the words to the song on the bus on the way there after that night while the police were walking around outside looking for casings. We tried to capture the sense of fear and paranoia that its impossible not to feel when acts of random and senseless violence take place so close to home.

Look for more upcoming shows from Mutiny Mutiny, to be announced on their website.

You can listen to a track from the band’s album here: