Quick & Dirty - Mother Mother
By: Andrea Dyer
July 23, 2009 – Vancouver, Canada
The summer festival circuit is well under way. While most bands were still anxiously awaiting their first opportunities to play, however, Vancouver's modern pop-rock sensation Mother Mother were already a few steps ahead. They'd already breezed their way through the heat and excitement of March's South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.
"We were there a couple years ago and played at one or two things, whereas this year we played about seven different things, which is what you want to do," vocalist and guitarist Ryan Guldemond explains. "Otherwise you get kind of chewed up and spit out only to be a couple Gs out and just as unfamous as you were before . . . A greater sense of productivity and worth was felt this time around. We were still a couple Gs out and perhaps just as unfamous as we were before, but the illusion of relevance was successfully cast."
All joking aside, the relevance of the band¹s latest album, O My Heart, is in no doubt. With the experience and friendship of super-producer Howard Redekopp (Tegan and Sara, The New Pornographers), the record is a captivating blend of boy-girl harmonies; an ode to musical pleasantry.
"During that record, Howard showed us not only how to translate our sound onto the recorded format, but also how to gracefully navigate through what inevitably comes in tow with making an album a sea of emotional turbulence, self-doubt and paranoia," says Guldemond.
Back on the road again to promote the record, Mother Mother kicked off a west coast Canadian tour with Said The Whale before continuing on with a barrage of dates, including appearances at the Dawson City Music Festival and Ottawa Bluesfest. They're just a couple of the many festival appearances for the band this summer. According to Guldemond, that's no coincidence. "[Festivals] have this benevolent charm and the food is quite good and the hotels are nice, and often you don't have to use your own gear. They pay better as well. One could stay at a festival forever."
Video: "O My Heart" by Mother Mother
