If it takes Andre Floyd the same amount of time to produce his next album as it did his last, he will be almost 70 years old. But he’s not going to let that happen.
Floyd and the band Mood Iguana, say they are more focused on their music than ever with the release of their third album, Project 2.12. The new album, which is a combination of studio songs and live tracks, will be launched at a CD release party on Aug. 20 in Kalispell.
Andre Floyd with Mood Iguana first formed in Missoula in 1996. Today the band includes Floyd, David Griffith, Ron Reeves and Don Caverly. All four members are featured on the new album, but others make cameos, including friends that have passed away, such as George McGuire, Marc Moriva and Mike Piazza.
“We’ve lost some great players over the years and this is kind of a tribute,” Floyd said. “It’s a legacy of their music. In a small way it’s their last statement before they moved on.”
The band’s bluesy style hails, in part, from Floyd’s time in Chicago in the 1980s, and those influences are on full display on the new album. The playlist includes 10 studio tracks and four live songs. Reeves said that was done to give listeners a chance to hear what the band sounds like without the help of studio production. He described the new album as more “aggressive” than the band’s previous work.
The reason it took a decade to finish the album was relocations, jobs and other life distractions.
“It was like being pregnant for 11 years, or at least what I imagine it’d be like,” Floyd said, laughing.
One of those distractions was when Floyd owned the Blue Heron nightclub in Missoula from 1998 until 2002. During that period, Mood Iguana only performed a few times. After leaving the nightclub business, he moved to the Flathead Valley, where the rest of the band was located and the group was again able to focus on their music. The new album is the result of that work.
“The straight up is none of us are getting younger and this (album) is a boost and helps the band become popular again,” Reeves said.
With the release of this new album, Floyd said he has begun working on the next and hopes to launch it sometime next year.
“I’m not going to let another 11 years pass before I do anything,” he said.
The launch party for Project 2.12 is on Aug. 20 at 6 p.m. at the old church at 704 Seventh Ave. W. in Kalispell. For more information about the band, check out www.andrefloyd.net.