Personnel: Paul Caporino, vocals, guitar; Beck Dudley, drums, vocals.
Formed: Caporino formed an earlier version of Masters of the Obvious
(M.O.T.O.) in New Orleans in 1981, but the current rendition began in February, 1988 when he and Dudley were living in Boston. ”I had sent tapes around, and she managed to become one of my pen pals,” Caporino says. ”I lived in New Orleans, and she lived in Boston, and she suggested I move to Boston, and I did.”
D.I.Y.: When Caporino moved to Boston, Dudley learned to drum. ”She was only drumming for five months when we made our first single,” Caporino says.
Relocation: ”We moved here (in June, 1989) because Boston was getting very expensive, and Chicago was big,” Caporino says. ”Plus Chicago was supposed to be a little more folksy.”
Sound: ”It sounds bigger than it looks, a snack that eats like a meal,” Caporino says. ”We try to make the guitars loud because the drums are very loud.”
Married?: ”We are, but not to each other,” Caporino says.
Influences: Hard to pin down. ”I like `50s stuff, I like `60s stuff,”
Caporino says. ”I also like `70s stuff and `80s stuff.” As for the minimalist drums-and-wires lineup, ”I bought this record a long time ago by a Canadian band called Deja Voodoo, and they were just one guitar and drummer. I thought, well, why not? I knew a lot of bands with two guys who were stymied looking for a bass player.”
Songwriting: Caporino is the songwriter, but ”I don`t really write songs. I`m not someone who sits at a desk and writes them down. When they come they come, and when they don`t they don`t.”
Onstage cover versions: ”We haven`t really covered any songs in a long time,” Caporino says. ”We might do songs by the people whose tapes we listen to.”
Memorable concert experience: ”We used to play in Harvard Square,”
Caporino says. ”We`d play acoustic; Beck had a homemade drum made out of a record crate and some hubcaps and a sardine can. One night one person gave us $20, and another person dropped a bunch of chrysanthemums in our guitar case. We were pretty surprised by that.”
Extracurriculars: Dudley is a graphic artist and also designs M.O.T.O.`s record sleeves.
Namesake: Caporino says the original name was born when he and a few friends were sitting around, and ”somebody said or did something that was obvious, and the other person said in a sarcastic way, `Well you`re a master of the obvious.` ” The band recently adapted the acronym as its full-time name. ”I like M.O.T.O. better because it`s easier and if we keep all the letters capitalized it looks good.”
Recordings: M.O.T.O. has released two EPs on the Connecticut label Tulpa; an album, ”This Corpse Is a Warning” (1990), on the European label Resonance Records; a three-song single on Chicago`s Feel Good All Over Records; and a new single, ”I Am the Cheese,” on Feel Good All Over. The band has since recorded two more singles, ”Magic Words” for the Canadian label Jet-Pac and ”Places We Used to Go” for New York-based Rockville Records.
Goals: ”Just keep playing and we`ll see if something opens up,”
Caporino says, adding with a laugh, ”Scatter the world with recordings and leave a huge legacy.”
Next appearance: None scheduled.
