ENJOY THE 'VIEW.' Mantis, the Eau Claire-based trio comprised of Scott Burton (guitar, composer pictured right), Sean Carey (percussion, pictured left) and Jeremy Boettcher (bass, pictured middle) will perform its debut record, You Get Lost, on June 4 at the Oxbow Hotel's gallery (516 Galloway St., Eau Claire). The six-track record blends emotive compositions with improvisational techniques. (Photo submitted by Jon Fibeger)

An intersection between compositions and improvisations, downtown Eau Claire will soon experience how deep-seated camaraderie and the thrill of “getting lost” in the moment can transform creative landscapes.

Mantis will perform original compositions from its debut record, You Get Lost – coupled with live improvisations throughout the night – on June 4 at the Oxbow Hotel’s gallery (516 Galloway St., Eau Claire).

The trio, comprising of Sean Carey (percussion), Jeremy Boettcher (bass) and Scott Burton (guitar, composer), has taken the past year to record and follow the seasonal shifts in the Chippewa Valley – the place they each call home.

Scott Burton, Mantis frontman, often describes the origins of this trio coalescing through Oxbow Hotel’s adjoining restaurant and bar, The Lakely. The gallery performance will be a first for the trio – one which represents a reignited effort to bring music back to this pocket of the boutique hotel.

“I was the first person to do shows in the gallery… and now Scott is reshaping it, which is cool. It’s all familial,” Carey said, who also performs under the moniker, S. Carey. “Having known Jeremy for 20 years – (and Scott being) a part of my family – all that plays into it.”

Album cover for You Get Lost pictured above. The image, taken by Norwegian performer Lasse Marhaug, captures the essence of "getting lost" in a visual scene or in music, Burton said.

An “in the round” style and structure – one where the musicians sit in the center of a room, audience around the perimeter, listening in – equally reflects the environment which the three musicians developed through the recording of You Get Lost last spring.

Recorded and mixed alongside Brian Joseph in Hive studio of Eau Claire, both Boettcher and Burton agreed the short, one-day session welcomed a newfound belief not only between players, but within themselves.

From simple guitar and synth recordings – for select tracks which have been a part of Burton’s discography prior to Mantis – to reimagined tracks, the emotive bass and grounding percussive elements lead toward emotional highs on the record, Burton said.

“It’s like you can try to get in trouble a little bit (and) get yourself lost in what is happening,” Burton said. “I enjoy that challenge. … (Mantis) is more about creating a space that is more about focusing on the moment. It’s more about allowing that time to happen.”

“With (Mantis), there is a feeling of freedom to explore,” Boettcher added. “I feel like we really trust each other and I think that helps create an environment where you can (improvise).”

“But then also, I think developing a lot of self-trust allows you to go out on a limb and trust that whatever happens will be fine,” Boettcher continued.

All six tracks on You Get Lost were written by Burton, with the additional writing of recording artist Jneiro Jarel on “If I Could See Heaven Without Dying.” The record was mastered by Chihei Hatakeyama, an ambient music artist from Tokyo, Japan – and one of Burton’s musical inspirations. 

“He was really great to work with (for) mastering the record and definitely brought his own take to it,” Burton said of Hatakeyama. “He gave it a real compressed vibe, almost like the music is a solid block of sound – which is really different from us recording it.”

“(Mantis) is more about creating a space that is more about focusing on the moment. It’s more about allowing that time to happen.”

scott burton

guitarist, composer of mantis

Art and design for the album cover – featuring a photo taken by Norwegian performer Lasse Marhaug – became yet another opportunity for collaboration outside the bounds of the Chippewa Valley.

And yet, as Carey noted, “what is cool about that photo is, it kind of reminds me of campus here a little bit… the little creek running through. It feels like home.”

You Get Lost will release on Bandcamp, various streaming platforms and CD plus vinyl on June 1. Without giving too much of the sonic experience away, local listeners may recognize uptempo tracks such as “Fei Fei” and “The Skyhawk” from previous Mantis performances in downtown Eau Claire.

Burton’s compositions offer a sense of circularity throughout the record, an emotive journey anchored by meticulous fingerstyle guitar work, the steady pulse of bowed bass and percussive elements which dance between structure and liberation.

A crescendo of these interwoven choices manifests in track three, “View” and completes with the title track, “You Get Lost.”

An intimate look at Mantis' one-day recording session at Hive studio in Eau Claire, featuring Boettcher (left) on bass and Burton (right) on guitar. (Submitted photo by Sean Carey)

Track three has been rearranged as an open duration melody, which leads to some of the more blissful movements on the album, Burton shared.

Boettcher on bowed bass carries the melody, combined with Burton’s use of pedals to build drama and Carey’s brushwork to push the song “higher and higher.”

“The chart we were using while we recorded (was) just a crayon drawing of a mountain,” Boettcher added.

This musical trio, it seems, prioritizes moments of levity and laughter – as evident through the longstanding friendships they have carried across their respective musical careers. The camaraderie of Mantis will remain evident from their earliest studio collaborations to their forthcoming presence on the stage at the Oxbow Hotel.

Mantis will perform its debut record, You Get Lost on June 4 within the gallery at the Oxbow Hotel (516 Galloway St., Eau Claire); doors open at 7pm, with music from 8pm-10pm. Pre-order digital and physical copies of You Get Lost online through Bandcamp.