This month, Vancouver alt.pop band Mother Mother is celebrating the tenth anniversary of their debut record Touch Up having been reissued on a national level, commencing the group’s rise to national prominence in the decade that followed.
Since then, the band has issued five albums – 2008’s O My Heart, Eureka (2011), 2012’s The Sticks, Very Good Bad Thing (2014) and their latest effort, No Culture, which was released earlier this month – with each album building upon the success of the prior record.
In an age where music celebrity can be as fleeting as 15 minutes of fame, Mother Mother has proven they are built to last. The group kicks off its 26-date national tour on Thursday at Moncton’s Tide & Boar Ballroom.
“It doesn’t feel like its been 10 years since Touch Up,” Mother Mother guitarist-vocalist Ryan Guldemond says. “I still feel like a kid in a lot of ways, and tend to look back on the past like it’s a bit of a blurry soup.”
With their newest record, Mother Mother hold firm to the belief that love can conquer all in a world dominated by fear and division. While he sought to address the world-at-large with some of the songs, Guldemond says many of the tracks on No Culture evolved from a personal place.
“All of the themes heard throughout the record were born from a personal and individual place, but it was nice to realize these ideas had some reach to them in terms of pertaining to society and the world outside of myself. It’s always most ideal to speak from your own experience. I never worry about over sharing aspects of my life in song; sacrificing yourself and splaying yourself open is ultimately what makes good art,” he says.
“Before I began writing this album, I made the decision to put all my vices away. Being clean and sober offered a new perspective on many things, but it also stirred up a lot of turmoil inside of me that made me question the authenticity of my persona and identity. The whole idea behind No Culture was to show how those two words depict the state of an individual or entity that has stripped away their external affectations. It’s something I wholly believe can’t exist in the grip of mind-altering substances.”
As Mother Mother prepares to embark on what is arguably their largest headline tour to date, including a virtually sold-out Massey Hall performance in Toronto as well as an impressive five-night stand in their hometown of Vancouver that will bring the tour to a close, Guldemond admits feeling humbled at the prospect of playing for so many fans over the course of the next month.
“The fact we are able to sell any significant amount of tickets is humbling, never mind playing some of the largest venues of our career so far. We are looking forward to being back on the road,” he says.
What: Mother Mother with guests We Are The City
When: Thursday Feb. 23, 8 p.m.
Where: Tide & Boar Ballroom, 700 Main St., Moncton
Tickets are $35. Advance tickets are available online at www.sonicconcerts.com