11 Questions with Muthers

If you could share one thing with an audience before they first tuned into your music, what would you say?

Lewis Green (guitar): We hope you find something that inspires you!

Jake Parker (drums): Well, if you’re seeing us live for the first time, make sure you’ve got some earplugs on hand; we’re loud!

What’s a non-music thing, a book, a place, a random job, a conversation you overheard, that actually changed how you create music?

LG: The book by Rick Rubens: The Creative Act – A Way of Being. It very much instilled the idea of creating art as a means of internal expression rather than creating something you think other people will like. You find that you can create something that people connect with better than if you had made something specifically to be liked.

Give us a song origin story. Where did the idea come from, and did you know straight away that it was something, or did it take a while to reveal itself?

Emilio Blasich (guiat/vocals): It’s very difficult to say really. I hear faint music in my head constantly (its very irritating at times), usually the fog clears enough, and I can come up with the whole song on the spot, like someone turning up the radio.

When I wrote ‘Rambling Away’, it took a fair bit to effort to coax it out but I definitely knew how I wanted it to sound. I’m sure I had the chorus and had been sitting on the main riff for a while. I think one day it just clicked to put the two bits together when I decided to stop umming and arring and start recording. The bridge was the last bit to write and record and was probably the easiest bit as it all came to me at once.

It’s not available on streaming services yet but is on soundcloud. Just look me up!

Pick a song that you’ve released that could only have been written at that exact moment in your lives. What was going on, and is there any part of you that wishes you could still be in that moment?

Jake Lowe (bass): I’d like to answer this question on Emilio’s behalf. We’re a bunch of 22-year-old, some of us fresh out of uni and the songs he’s written couldn’t have existed when we were 16, just as they probably couldn’t exist when were 30. They speak to the uncertainty, excitement and turbulence of being this age and trying to figure everything out. They’re snapshots of this moment in our lives, and that’s what makes them feel so honest

Tell us about a gig that went somewhere unexpected: a night where the room, the crowd, or just something in the air made it feel like more than a show. What happened?

JL: As a band that’s only just graduated from bedroom jams to live shows, every gig we’ve played so far has been unexpected. It’s a whole new world for us, and honestly, just getting the opportunity to play live is enough. We never really know what’s going to happen when we step on stage and that’s part of the fun. Ask us this question again in a few years though, and hopefully I’ll be telling you the story of the time I crowd surfed to the back of the room.

What’s going on in the world right now, nothing to do with music, that’s quietly making its way into what you’re working on?

LG: I think music on a local level is more important than ever because of the rise of AI. We live in a world where a video can no longer be considered evidence and corporations will pump out “AI slop” just to generate revenue. Now more than ever, people crave the raw expression you can only get at local gigs. The rough around the edges, unfiltered expression of art that you can only get when a group showcases their art. AI will never be able to replace the energy from small live shows.

There’s a sound, an instrument, a texture you haven’t used yet, but it’s there in the back of your head. What is it, and what’s it waiting for?

EB: Well both Church and Hammond organs are joint 3rd in my top five favourite sounds. I think a hurdy gurdy would be a really fun instrument to include as well. I’ve always loved something with a drone. It’s very ominous. For some of my own songs, I like to write string parts and I think this would be really fun to include in some capacity.

Which artist, alive, dead, from any era, would you most want to play your music to?

EB: I’m not sure about who I want to show my music to, but I often think Jonathon Rado would enjoy my music. Theres a list as long as Jake (Jake’s really tall) of musicians I want to jam with though.

LG: Adam Neely, he does loads of band reviews and offers some great advice.

JP: Anyone that will listen. Not Lars Ulrich though.

JL: Back in 2022, me and Emilio went to go see Surf Curse at The Castle and Falcon. It was the best gig I’ve been to, so I would like to return the favour to their front man Nick Rattigan.

Forget the big moments. If your music was the soundtrack to one small, ordinary moment in someone’s day, what would that moment look like?

EB: I used to work a lot of late nights, getting out at 10/11pm after a hard graft into a nice summers evening breeze and walking through town brings me a particular feeling that I try to imbed into the sound and lyrics.

What’s next for you? Tell us what you’re working on and if you have anything exciting in the pipeline.

LG: So far, it’s just pub talk so you’ll have to follow us to find out!

EB: Yeah, we’ve got lots of ideas. It’s just figuring out the best way to execute them!

Any final words to leave us with?

EB: Yeah! We get asked why we are named after the venue/rehearsal space. To say were not isn’t strictly true. We are named after a venue, just one that’s not open anymore.