Among current music out there, Mother Mother prefers not to be categorized as indie, nu-folk or twee-pop. Instead, they want their music to take them on the journey organically, said frontman Ryan Guldemond before his set at Bluesfest July 16.
“You need to listen to those musical whims that music is screaming at you within the creative process. That’s how we approach it, instead of keeping ourselves in a box that is a ‘rock band’ or a ‘folk band,’“ Guldemond said.
He is responsible for the animated guitar riffs and one-half of vocals with his sister Molly, who is also the keyboardist. The siblings, along with numerous instrumentals, make up the Vancouver five-piece.
“Music is music. Something needs to be country-driven, something needs to be rock-driven, or even have a classical spin on any given moment,” Guldemond said.
In listening to all three Mother Mother records, it’s easy to hear musical influences from each genre.
Their latest album, Eureka, is an extension of their sprightly discourse, Guldemond said.
After releasing consecutive albums Touch Up in 2007 and O My Heart in 2008, Guldemond said there was a delay in putting out Eureka because of “marketing flaws.”
The album was ready in the summer of 2010, but the album didn’t come out until 2011, he said.
The anticipation of new material doesn’t only affect fans. Bassist Jeremy Page said “the most challenging part is when you record the songs, and they’re not out, but we’re still touring. People still very much want to hear what they know. You want to play new stuff, but you also want to wait for when the record comes out.”
However, fans confirmed Eureka was worth the wait, as it debuted in the eighth spot on the Canadian Albums Chart. Fans continued to show their support at Bluesfest July 16. The crowd was exponentially larger than their 2009 visit to the festival, with more dancing and earnest sing-a-longs.
The two first singles from Eureka, “The Stand” and “Baby Don’t Dance,” have both received abundant airplay in the preceding months. Guldemond said his favourite tracks aren’t the most conspicuous but the two they don’t play, “Oleander” and “Far In Time” because they are quite vocally challenging.
“I think that’s probably the root of why we don’t play it. There’s only so many thundering rock songs you can pepper your set with,” he said. “The ‘hits’ take up that territory quite often,” he said.
After producing three albums, Guldemond said the challenge is in showcasing the band’s musical spectrum.
“To thoroughly represent your catalogue as a whole is important,” he said. “That job becomes tricky, as you have a lot of material to pull from.”
While Mother Mother’s stage presence is thrilling, Guldeomond insists he adores “the meek and the timid.”
“They possess that quiet brilliance. Not the quintessential showperson. Like Gillian Welch. Lucinda Williams as well. She’s not flipping out up there, or gallivanting. It’s perfect. If she did do that, she would probably rob the show of its purity.”
Perhaps, purity could plunder if Williams changed her composition. But alas, Mother Mother’s essence could never be dismantled. With three tenacious albums that paint the heavy motifs of humanity, the mystical quintet could be flailing on stage, half-nude, or laying on the floor, quiet, and the audience would still be floored.
