Interview: Mawcore
Mawcore, a Modern Hard Alternative Rock band, recently released their first official radio single, 'Bottom Feed', from their upcoming album 'Mud Man'. Wanting to know more about these intriguing newcomers, Louder Than The Music spoke to band member Joshua to find out who they are and what they have in store for us.
For those who haven't heard of you before, can you tell us a bit about yourselves and how you got involved in making music?
Joshua from Mawcore: Wow, where do we all start. I think for most of us it goes all the way back to our childhood. Of course it was a different setting for each of us and unfortunately we all haven’t known each other since childhood, but now we do. I think we all have a similar story that begins with us always having this burning desire to play music. It rolls out from Jeff having lost the use of his left arm because of fever, so his mom thought a guitar would be a good instrument to keep him occupied; which was funny, but it’s why he plays uniquely different than many; to Joshua being raised in a strict Baptist background where drums were the devil, but he would sing in front of a mirror just like he was a rocker, to Ben getting an acoustic guitar handed to him as a gift and a few lessons to send him on his way. I think the coolest story as to how we all currently came together is Ryan’s story though. He moved to new town, finally decided he wanted to get back into playing with a band, was looking for gear on facebook market place and on their, someone had taken a picture of a “Drummer Needed” poster we had put around town, so he saved the picture and contacted us through our website. That is definitely divine and here we are today.
Tell us about your new single 'Bottom Feed', what it's about and how it was inspired?
J from MC: It’s always a difficult thing to dive into a song, because while they have story and background, we also want people to put themselves into the story. We try to take our experiences and convey them in a way that other people can work through their own situation. Bottom Feed is the last track on the full length “Mud Man”, because it completes this story of a person who had gone through a life crushing situation that led to a lot of self-hate and guilt, but has finally come to the place where they realize they have been forgiven and they have purpose! Bottom Feed is that raise your fist in the air anthem of a heart that knows it is forgiven and free.
What can you tell us about that new album you just mentioned?
J from MC: We are very excited that we are finally getting to put this album the way we originally intended it. We have this thing for writing from a progressive perspective. We deal with struggles one song at time but they all tie together to bring the listener all the way through to a completed end. Mud Man is definitely that kind of album. It is almost getting a novel and needing to keep reading chapter after chapter to really get the full story. Mud Man actually came over a long period of struggle, self-doubt, guilt and into a place of forgiveness, redemption and rebuilding. We put out a few EP’s, but we always wanted to have it released this way, so we did it. We re-mixed some songs, re-mastered them all and even had one song completely re-envisioned, so we could put the whole story out for everyone. In doing this, we are able to complete this story and get ready for the next one.
If you could work with any songwriter, who would it be and why?
J from MC: It’s probably safer that we don’t work with anyone else, but if we had the chance to choose we would all say someone completely differently. It would need to be someone who has been working with many different styles, because we are such a mutt of influences.
Do you think artists should be more honest in their music?
J from MC: Most definitely, but all too often the industry doesn’t allow that. It’s difficult to demand that people be more honest, especially if you aren’t even sure what you are going through and how that can help someone else. I think this has always been a bigger issue in the Christian music industry than any other industry. So often we are not allowed to really write about what we have gone through, because Christian artist aren’t allowed to be struggling. I think DC Talk touched on it when they sang, “What if I struggle and what if I fall”.
How would you describe your style of music and what are your influences?
J from MC: Modern Hard Alternative Rock, covers it pretty well. We are influenced by everyone from Yes, King Crimson and Rush, to Deliverance, Bride and Sacred Warrior, to Mad at the World, Mortal and Fold Zandura, to Tool, Alter Bridge and everything in between.
How would you define success in your career as a band?
J from MC: Not actually worrying about it. For us, we work at all the things we know we need to work at, but at the end of the day we are musicians charged to share a story that comes from our heart. Success is definitely something that can’t be measured by a specific scale. We have to focus on all that we have been allowed to do and not on the things we haven’t been able to do.
What is your favourite album of all time?
J from the MC: I can only currently speak for myself right now, but for me it would be Lusis by the band Mortal. This one had such an impact on me musically and lyrically. It was just something so fresh and new at the time. Jeff would probably say something obscure as well, like Uriah Heap. Ben would probably throw out something like Alter Bridge. I couldn’t even guess what Jeremy would say. Ryan would probably throw out Blink 182... maybe. Chris would probably say David Crowder and then we would all laugh.
You're stuck on an island, it's hot, you only have enough battery life left to listen to one song on your phone. What track is it?
J from MC: I Need You, by Mawcore, because it has my youngest singing on it and I would want to hear that voice, especially if I was never getting off the island again. Definitely can’t speak for the rest of the peeps on this one.
What does the next year hold for you?
J from MC: So many cool things. With the addition of Ryan we are in full speed ahead writing mode, because we have a whole new album ready to record and get out to the world. Of course we are excited to have Mud Man coming out, but as musicians we always have more music coming out of us and we are definitely excited about the next batch of songs as well. We are working with our booking group on some cool shows. Our next radio single will be ready before the end of summer and we will have a new video to go along with that. We have a video being put together for the current single “Bottom Feed-Forshaw Mix”, so we have a whole new video out there to go with the all new song. So, with all of that going on, we should easily run out of year. We are definitely excited to see how things are moving along. I mean we are here chatting with you and that is pretty awesome. So thank you very much.
