Canadian Band Mother Mother Says Be Yourself, Don't Just Build a Better Burger

Vancouver band Mother Mother rocked McMaster University last weekend, performing an impressive set featuring electric and acoustic solos by frontman Ryan Guldemond. Before the show, Guldemond and drummer Ali Siadat were kind enough to talk to viberevolution, providing insights into their inspirations, their views on the music industry, and advice for the younger generation. It was a mouthful - a slathering of inside jokes on a dry bun of humour with a generous portion of tongue-in-cheekiness.

VR: You’ve toured with some pretty good bands, are there any favourite moments from touring that you can share with us?
Ryan: Stories?
Ali: Tour stories?
Ryan: Ali’s an alumni.
*laughter from Ali*
Ryan: I’m serious.
Ali: Yup.
Ryan: Well, we’re pretty guarded about our shenanigans.
VR: So there is shenanigans.
Ryan: Yes, they are few and far between - we’re a very hard working bunch - but when they occur, do they ever.
Ali: There are stories we could tell you if we wanted to tell you.
VR: But then you’d have to kill me.
Ali: We were planning to kill you anyway.

VR: You guys just released an album not too long ago. Do you have anything in the works that your fans can look forward to?
Ryan: Yeah. Yeah, we’re going to put out another album next year - hopefully. We’ve got the songs, we’ve got the intentions. I guess as long as all the, ohh the timing and the business sense works in our favour. But we’re good to go. It’s all the staunchy, middle aged people that get in the way of an ambitious band.
Ali: They always have to sign pieces of paper, all that.
Ryan: Yeah, fuckin’ dirty goats. *chuckles*
VR: Is there a timeline for that project?
Ryan: Well, I think there’s an amount of time that you’re forced to wait, and then there’s an amount of time that would be ideal not to wait, and it would probably be in between those two points.

VR: Can you tell us a little bit about your inspiration for the music and the lyrics?
Ryan: Well I write the lyrics, and I suppose I’m inspired by much of the human dynamic, and foibles that go on, in conversational and interaction based scenarios. I like to employ a dark humour, and I like to make fun of the people.
Ali: I don’t write lyrics. My lyrics consist of boom boom crash crash crash. putaputaputaput.

VR: Did any of you attend post-secondary school and do you have any memories from frosh week?
Ryan: He’s an alumni!
Ali: I went here, yeah.
Ryan: That’s what I’m sayin’! Ali’s the most academic person in the band, and probably not human.
Ali: Yeah, I went here for mechanical engineering. It was my introduction to Canada, in fact.
VR: Where did you come from?
Ali: I grew up in Dubai. I went here, and yeah, Mac was the unveiling of Canada, in my eyes. A solid beginning to a wonderful relationship.
Ryan: I’m bad at school.
Ali: Nah man you’re a legend in your music school!
Ryan: Music school doesn’t count. Music school’s for high school dropouts.

VR: Do you have any advice for any of the incoming freshman?
Ali: Yeah, don’t do music.
*laughter*
Ryan: That was it.
Ali: Yeah, totally.
Ryan: Stay in school. Like, don’t ever graduate. Stay here.

VR: What are your opinions on the music industry in terms of the work that is coming out of major labels versus what is coming out of independent labels or independent artists?
Ryan: I don’t really like the music industry very much, so, my opinion is steeped in a bias. But I think that these days the key to success is avoiding the mold and trying to explore various unconventional and innovative methods to gain exposure, especially in writing. Try and dare to be different, in every sense, from the music to the promotion of it.
Ali: I think any commercial venture on a large scale is based around intentions to make money above all else. I mean that is the corporate model, and I think that when it’s applied to music it has the result of really homogenizing the art form. It’s not about being creative or really necessarily doing anything that is new or boundary pushing and often not even necessarily interesting. It’s just about what’s going to sell. Sometimes that coincides with what is creative or artistically worthy of praise, but for the most part, they’re a bunch of dudes in suits who are afraid of losing their jobs within the next year, I mean these days the way the internet is going. And so, a lot of the choices that they make are based around things that have been known to succeed in the last year or two. They’re all just trying to make the next best selling hamburger.
Ryan: Yeah! Fuck those guys!
*laughter*
Ryan: Cheeseburger!
Ali: Put cheese on it.
Ryan: Cheesedog!
Ali: I’m gettin’ hungry.

VR: So that leads straight to my next question, which is, how important is it for you guys to own your own music, and perhaps even sell your own music?
Ryan: Apparently not very *chuckling* based on our record deal of the past six years.
I don’t know, whatever works. Sometimes you got to share, in order to get the ball rolling. And other times, you’re lucky enough to keep it guarded and still get out there. In our case, there wasn’t a line up of record labels pleading to sign us, so the offer we got was one where we did have a share in our intellectual property. But there are no regrets, because in doing that, we were able to get an agent, get on the road, and start building a fan base, which I think is much more valuable than intellectual property. You know, you own your music but if no one’s coming out to your shows then who cares. But if it’s then other way around then I think it’s a sweeter position. Obviously the ideal is to have both, but that’s hard to achieve.
Ali: Of course for a band like us, I mean we’re perceived as lucky too, because we’re on a indie label, so we’re used to doing our recording with a certain amount of creative freedom, whereas with major labels, unless you’re really big and really established or really lucky, you kind of have to make hamburgers. We’re lucky that we don’t, because we happen to be on a label that doesn’t demand that of us.
Ryan: You better put hamburger in the title of this piece.
Ali: It’s got to be in the headline.
Ryan: Mother Mother says don’t make hamburgers!
*laughter*
Ryan: Mother Mother burger. They ain’t flippin’ burgers! I used to flip burgers, like a motherfucker. Flip that burger! Flip it good.

VR: Do you guys foresee any changes in the industry in the next couple of years?
Ryan: I don’t know. Probably, yeah, something’s got to give.
Ali: Stuff’s changing in a big way. I mean a couple years isn’t necessarily a long time - definitely in the next ten years. It’s been transforming for a while, in a very big way. I think the financial structure has been changing quite dramatically, so the nature of the people in power in music is therefore going to change.
Ryan: Yeah, that’s true.
Ali: There’s definitely a lot less money in it though. So I think that in itself, could do one of two things, its hard to predict. I mean, on the one hand it could take the power of money away from the [major labels] on the other hand it could just starve and choke the developing artist. Time will tell.

VR: This is my last question. Do you guys have any advice for any aspiring artists?
Ali: Stay in school.
Ryan: Be yourself. Mimic not. Yourself sells more than the emulation of some other successful self. Even if you’re not as talented as they are. You have a better shot selling what you’ve got.
Ali: What he said.

Check out viberevolution later this week for a followup on the interview!

For more info on Mother Mother, check out www.mothermothersite.com