If you've read my recent review of The Mothers Earth Experiment's self titled debut if you haven't then read it here) you'll know that I absolutely loved their debut record. Bringing 70's prog rock into a new era with an added melting pot of sounds. It was electric and it was fantastic. I loved it so much so that the day after release I went into Swordfish records and picked up a copy, 1 of 500 on splatter vinyl luckily. I had the chance to chat with the band recently about all things influence, creative problems and Record Store Day...
Question: Firstly, where does your incredibly unique name come from?
The Mothers Earth Experiment: The name came from an awareness and link to nature and the environment. We wanted it to be open enough for people to read what they wanted to in it.
Q. Who's your biggest musical influences?
TMEE: Across the band we have such a variety of influences that it would be hard to list, safe to say it covers many genres, decades and themes. It's a large melting pot for us.
Q. Which song do you wish you'd written and why?
TMEE: Like in the previous question, there's such a variety of music we like and take influence from. I'd say we are all fans of songs with a strong message, strong feeling or interesting musicality.
Q. Having so many of you in the group, does that cause creative problems or any other problems?
TMEE: We do have people pulling in different directions creatively but there's always a compromise and in the end we have a creation that we are all happy with, even if sometimes the road there is hard fought!
Q. How did you all end up in Mothers Earth Experiment?
TMEE: We are all friends from childhood really, some of us had played in bands previously and experienced growing up with music together. It seemed to fall into place, there was no audition process, the timing was right and that was it.
Q. What was the feeling like of finally releasing your debut album?
TMEE: The album has been such a long road piecing it all together, writing, recording, pressing etc. And the feeling of finally releasing it was a great feeling of achievement and relief that we are seeing all the work pay off.
Q. How was the album launch party?
TMEE: The album launch party was great fun! It was so nice to see so many people come out to support it and to see our friends and family there was a wonderful feeling. It felt like a celebration of the work that went into the album.
Q. I love the album artwork, how did that come about?
TMEE: That was done by our good friend Jessica Ingram. We did that photo shoot in freezing pool, it was all worth it when we saw the finished cover. We feel it really captures the feeling of the record.
Q. You had a single out on Record Store Day as well, which I unfortunately couldn't get, what was that like?
TMEE: The single was unexpected and materialised very quickly. Whilst planning the album with Swordfish Records, the idea arose to put out a limited single for Record Store Day. The next thing we know they are in shops and by the end of RSD, sold out! We were amazed.
Q.The album delves into many topics, was that fully intentional or is that just where your writing took you?
TMEE: It's really just where it took us. We never sat down to plan what things would be like. Topic wise, it's whatever is on someone's mind at the time or a feeling that someone wants to put across, whether it's something personal or a global issue, it's quite an organic process. I think the album deals with messages of social and ecological consciousness that we feel are important.
Q. There's so many different sounds on the album, how did you manage to blend them all so expertly together?
TMEE: Firstly, thank you! It was more a trial and error really. If something doesn't work, change it. We just played around for a while and felt our way along until it flowed naturally to us.
Q. What's the best thing about being in The Mothers Earth Experiment?
TMEE: I think the openness and lack of creative constraint. We aren't trying to fit a formula so we feel quite free.
Q. What's your favourite gig?
TMEE: I don't think we can pinpoint a favourite gig. The album launch was special to us, but it's great to go to places far from our hometown and play to new audiences and find new venues and music scenes. Some gigs we are supporting some of our musical heros and that's incredible. Each gig has something interesting to offer.
Q. How would you describe your live shows?
TMEE: We try to put on intriguing live shows. We do different things a lot to keep it fresh. We like the idea of it being a complete experience for the audience, whether it's lights, props, projections and many other different things to involve the crowd and make the show exciting, not just another standard gig.
Q. Do you have a pre-conceived idea of what you're about to create when entering the studio or not?
TMEE: When we enter the recording studio we know what we are going to do, even though things do change, we have a plan. In the rehearsal studio its completely open.
Q. The album has very few tracks but they are lengthy epics, was that always the direction?
TMEE: We never said we would definitely create long tracks but we did say we would not cut songs down if we didn't feel it was necessary. We go where the songs take us.
Q. You're signed to Swordfish, how much do you owe to those guys?
TMEE: We owe the guys at Swordfish everything. It's down to them that this album could be released and we can't thank them enough. We are so grateful.
Q. What's the ultimate direction for the band?
TMEE: We aim to be self relient and play to more and more people. To play in different places and even different countries. We just want the message to grow.
Q. Now the albums been released, what's next?
TMEE: Play shows! Play as many shows across the country as we can and maybe even start work on a follow up.
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