Mint Condition tell us at REMINISCIN' all the things we wondered about the infamous world of touring, slip ups and crazy fashion moments.

Known for their versatility, Mint Condition have come a very long way and are still turning things up with their new album, E-Life. With a string of platinum selling albums, major hits and legendary music, Mint Condition talks about their inspirations, pre-show rituals and touring.

Always up to the challenges of being on the road, Mint Condition maintain their cool edge and continue to woo fans old or new with their new album E-Life.

Describe a typical day on the road....
A day in the life of MC would first consist of a radio station interview (drive time), early morning always makes for interesting interviews as we are usual still asleep.

Secondly, we do some type of press where we typically are able to split up into two groups in order to knockout interviews in half the time.

Thirdly, we usually gear up for our sound-check which can last anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours depending on the situation. However, after our longer sound-checks which we also refer to as “rehearsal,” we usually get back to the hotel with enough time to get dressed and return to the arena/theatre/club for the show.

Moreover, each of us have some type of pre-game ritual that we perform before the show for example, Stokley goes through very “loud” vocal exercises, Rick usually needs something to settle his stomach and me (Jeffrey), I typically do around three sets of dips or push-ups in order to keep the blood flowing.

Lastly, we perform the show where hopefully we establish that we are still relevant in the game of “live music,” which I think we do consistently.

The most embarrassing thing that has happened to you, when you were on stage?
Funny that you ask this because just last week at the Jazz Café during our second song the power went out for about 2 minutes so, we kept going, maintained our professionalism and basically laughed it off.

However, it happened again during our encore “Breakin My Heart” at which point the power never returned, leaving Stokley having to close the show by vocally improvising an ending, I have to say, “He stepped up!”

What do you miss the most...when you are on tour? 
Needless to say, most of us are fathers so; I think I can speak for everyone when I say we do indeed miss our children when out on the road.

However, in my case (Jeffrey), I make sure when school is in recess that my son come out on the road with me at least a couple of times a year in order to stay connected.

Further, if you were to ask everyone individually I’m sure there are significant others, writing opportunities and countless other routines that are missed while we’re out on the road.

What part of the world would you like to tour and you haven’t yet?
We were just mentioning how we’d like to go to places like Brazil, South Africa and Australia. Because we’ve noticed on our royalty statements and through inquiries on the web that these and other places, are on to what we do and continue to mention how they want us to come through some day.

Who was your most favourite band / artist to tour with?
This is a topic we could discuss for hours; between the five of us there are too many groups and too many artists to name. But, since you asked some of the people that come to mind that we would all endorse are as follows; Parliament/Funkadelic, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind and Fire, Cameo, A Tribe Called Quest, JayZ, Coldplay, U2 and Kanye West to name a few. I believe these groups and artists kind of represent or have represented a certain level of originality that people are drawn to and I think we’re in that same mould.

What do you do to keep yourself entertained on the road?
Again, we all have our little idiosyncrasies; those of us that are in school have homework to complete, others like to see the sites that particular town has to offer and still others maintain close proximity with their computers in order to stay up on the world’s events.

However, as a group we often compile “top ten” lists of our favourite women often arguing about who’s list is better, catch up on and discuss each others personal lives and relationships to some extent and we do a lot of people watching; to me (Jeffrey) there is nothing more entertaining than sitting at the airport and just watching people walk back and forth on the concourse because you will always see something or some behaviour you’ve never seen before; trust me!

What has been the craziest outfits worn on stage?
I remember one time years back, our luggage didn’t make the connection on our way out west to do a music festival in Mountain View, California. It was the middle of summer so, in order to travel in comfort some of us had on shorts, t-shirts, ballcaps in other words nothing we would actually wear during a performance back then at least.

Needless to say, we had to do the performance wearing what we had travelled in all day and we looked pretty crazy up there but, we didn’t receive too much flack about backstage afterwards.

How do your outfits get chosen for you? or do you have particulars you always like to wear?
For the stage, we usual hone in on a colour or colours for instance, if we say blue then we typically go out shopping on our own and purchase clothes within that scheme.

So, in the end we usually all have at least one thing such as a shirt or a pair of pants that falls within the scheme and it just comes together from there.

We tend to stay away from the same “cut” of clothes because we all can’t wear and don’t look good in the same cut of clothing for example, one guy may look great in a suit jacket and another may not…..

What was the funniest thing to have happened during a show?
There are too many funny moments to mention but one of the funniest things that happens during a show is when Stokley forgets the words to a song and looks back at us real quick while trying to gather his bearings; some of the faces he makes are hilarious.

Can you name 5 items you must have with in you on tour?
1. Mac
2. Protein Bars
3. Reading paraphernalia; Maxim, Complex, FMP, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, Playboy, etc…..
4. AC adapters (if we’re overseas)
5. A photograph of whomever or whatever you’re inspiration is…

Who is the messiest person on the road?
I honestly couldn’t tell you the answer to this question because we (fortunately) do not share rooms on the road. But, I will inquire about this next time we hit the road!!!

For more details on Mint Condition's
E-Life tour check out:-
myspace.com/mintconditionmusic
www.mintconditionmusic.com

Related Links
Mint Condition - Interview 2006