Mon Khmer smiling on a couch. — Photo courtesy of the band.

A math-y, funk-ridden band with pedal steel and a lead singer from Northeast India? Yep, sounds like a Brooklyn band.  Despite combining seemingly random influences like “Ennio Moricone, Nina Simone, Neil Young, Durutti Column, Devo, Kraftwerk, New Order, Giorgio Moroder,” Mon Khmer‘s debut album (out now on Daily Vinyl) is a delightful slice of intelligent, seriously grooving art-rock.

Already known for their great live shows, the band has more planned in the coming months. I spoke with bass / synth player Matt Scheiner about recording, what it’s like to throw up on a $150,000 Neve console in Midtown Manhattan, and where to get the best egg bacon bagel sandwich in Bushwick.

BBK: Hello Matt! How are you doing today?

MK: It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood… Just went outside to my bike disassembled and half gone.

BBK: Oh no! Where was it?

MK: The bike racks on Driggs and 7th. It was Pee Wee Herman’d. But not well enough, I suppose.

BBK: Ah yes. Well such are the risks of leaving a bike in Brooklyn, Let’s talk a bit about Mon Khmer. Did you all meet here?

MK: Sort of… We’re from all over the world, and excepting Dave (drums) and Hammarsing, none of us had played together until we were all relocated here.

BBK: You guys recently released your first record. What was the process like for making it?

MK: It was actually a great time.

We worked with David Tolomei, recorded at his studio in LES. It’s a great little facility with lots of toys.

We recorded in the springtime, which I feel was really important to the musical content of the record. Here where the seasons change so dramatically, especially.

Weather has a big effect on mood, and mood in turn has a big effect on the vibe you lay into your music.

BBK: How long was the writing process for the album?

MK: Hard to say. I think some of the songs on the album have been inside Hammarsing for a very long time.

There’s a lot of his homeland in our music.

BBK: Where is he from?

MK: Northeast India. Very very close to Nepal.

BBK: Ah ok. Interesting. So, this is the band’s first album, right?

MK: Yes. It’s currently out as a 12″ from Daily Vinyl. You can get it, as well as the digital download, at www.monkhmer.net

BBK: The album has a pretty interesting mix of things happening in it: pedal steel swoops, math-y guitar leads, very precise drumming.

MK: Yes, my favorite thing about the band.

BBK: Did the band go into recording with some sort of pre-conceived notion about how the album would sound? Or did it develop organically?

MK: Fairly organically.

There’s a fair amount of synthesizer action on the record, that was completely on the spot and isn’t part of our live show.

Like, stuff that we do with other instruments live. David T had plenty to do with how it came out.

Aside from recording it, he definitely earned that Co-Producer credit.

BBK: How did you guys hook up with him?

MK: He was really great to bounce ideas off of in the studio, an excellent creative collaborator.

Weird, actually. Completely random.

A girl I was seeing at the time knew him from way back, and they ran into each other at a show we played at Glasslands w/ Midnight Masses, whose record he did also.

He was into the band and she introduced us.

Serendipitous, if I may say.

BBK: Very serendipitous.

MK: Veryndipitous.

And then we took it out to the countryside and my dad mixed it.

BBK: Your father, Elliot Scheiner. Storied engineer and mixer. How did he affect your life musically growing up?

MK: Pretty intensely. He’s a recording engineer and my mother was acting on Broadway a lot when I was growing up.

So I spent a bunch of time in midtown, between studios and theaters, but the studios especially.

When I was 10 months old, I baby-puked on the Neve recording console at The Hit Factory.

BBK: Haha. That’s amazing. Were you reprimanded?

MK: I can’t remember. I spent half of my free time growing up going to work with my dad.

BBK: How old were you when you started playing music? Were you encouraged to pursue music?

MK: I don’t remember exactly how old. At some point it became natural.

Family business, you know. My mom is also a singing teacher, so music was inescapable for me.

It’s a good thing I like it so much.

BBK: Haha. Exactly.

So the album came out a few months ago. What do you guys have coming up?

MK: We’re getting pumped for CMJ. We’re working on a video that was shot at the end of June for “Anniversary.”

And we’ve been writing a bit, so we’re going to head back into the studio and record a couple new songs.

We’re taking it easy with shows for the moment… Playing w/ Esben & the Witch on Sep. 20 @ Glasslands.

BBK: Cool. So since this is BushwickBK, do you have any favorite Bushwick-area spots? Venues, cafés, restaurants?

MK: It’s really all about Jessie’s on Bushwick & Meserole.

BBK: Yes! I love Jessie’s. That place is so good on a Sunday morning.

MK: Its proximity to our rehearsal space combined with the tastiness of their burritos and juices, reasonable prices and friendly service make it THE BOMB.

BBK: Yes. I agree. Well, Matt, great talking to you. Take care, see you at Jessie’s.