Image of Motherhood and CJSW interviewer Brooklyn Billinghurst (far right).
Motherhood performed during Sled Island on Thursday, 11pm at #1 Legion (Main Floor).
TRANSCRIPT:
Brooklyn (CJSW)
How are you guys doing today?
Brydon
We’re great. You know, we’ve been on the road for a week-ish, a little more than a week, so we’re feeling that a little bit, but feeling good.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
We’re happy to have you! Have you checked out anything at the festival yet?
Brydon
Not yet. Not yet. We were in Edmonton last night.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Oh, okay, cool.
Penny
We literally just drove and parked to do this interview. We’re fresh!
Brooklyn (CJSW)
I am so glad that you’ve made time for this. I’m very excited to meet you guys. I’m a big fan of your music. This is very exciting for me. I’ve been preparing for like, weeks for this, so I’m really excited. I’ll just get you to all introduce yourselves, if you wouldn’t mind.
Brydon
I’m Brydon. I play guitar.
Penny
I’m Penny. I play bass.
Adam
I’m Adam and I play the drums.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Okay, perfect. Thank you guys. Okay, so I have about 10 questions to go through. Just it’s very chill. This is very chill vibes. So just answer how you feel fit. So you guys are from Fredericton, New Brunswick, I see on your hat, also repping New Brunswick. I have never been there. I’ve never been farther east than Toronto. So I’m just curious if you could describe at all, like, what the music scene is like out there, how you feel about it? Anything you could tell me.
Brydon
Yeah, it’s small, so I don’t know. We always joke that, in Fredericton, there’s like one band of every genre.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Haha, okay.
Brydon
So, it’s a good music scene, but it’s not crazy, because it’s not that many [people]. There’s 50,000 people in Fredericton.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Oh, okay.
Brydon
But a lot of really talented people and lots of good music to see if you’re looking for it. We like being disconnected from kind of the rest of the country.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Okay, why is that?
Brydon
Just because then we can do whatever we want. There’s nothing that’s going on, you know?
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah.
Brydon
I guess it just kind of allowed us to make our own style.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
For sure. Very liberating to just be on your own little island.
Brydon
Yeah, it has its pros and cons for sure, but that’s a big pro for me.
Adam
Yeah, scene is pretty interwoven. There’s not a lot of specific niche scenes within it, so everybody just kind of attends everyone’s shows.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
That’s lovely.
Adam
Yeah, it has, like, the benefit of everyone just being exposed to what everyone else is creating, and so that kind of feeds into what makes Fredericton a little special for small town. It’s got real small town vibes.
Brydon
Yeah, Adam and I went to high school together.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah, yeah, for sure. That’s great to hear that it’s so close knit. That makes me warm and fuzzy. That’s really sweet. Did you guys all meet in Fredericton? Or are you guys from different parts of Canada? Oh sweet!
Brydon
At really small place called Belle Isle.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Okay.
Brydon
And then we met Penny in Fredericton.
Penny
Yeah, we started playing together when we were 18-ish as sort of like the dawn of Motherhood, but Brydon and Adam were playing for years before that, too.
Brydon
Okay, fantastic.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
That’s so special.
Penny
We’ve been friends and co-conspirators for a long time now.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
That’s awesome, and it’s great to see you guys taking that all over the country, too. So that actually goes really well into my next question. You guys formed in 2010, steadily putting out EPs and records every few years. What’s the process like when it’s time to record a new motherhood record? How do you guys get in the headspace for that?
Penny
It’s stressful. Very stressful, haha.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Does one of you have an idea and then go, like, ‘It’s time to lock in,’ or you all just like ‘I’ve been working on this,’ and then you bring it together?
Penny
I mean, yeah, it’s sort of morphed over the years. So it used to be more like Brydon and would bring sort of like lyrics and a skeleton of a song, and then we would put our own things onto it. But, as we’ve progressed, it’s become a lot more of writing the music ahead of time and then Brydon’s putting lyrics after the fact.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Okay.
Penny
It’s a lot of phone recordings in our own living rooms and then bringing them to the jam. But a lot of it is just formed, sort of in the jam space, too. We’re really lucky living in a smaller town that we can have a studio space that we can access whenever we want. So, we rehearse like once, often twice a week, every week, so we spend a lot of face time together.
Adam
We also share that space with 10 other bands. So it’s kind of a de facto, like community center, I guess.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Sweet. That’s really cool.
Adam
Yeah, and a few visual artists too.
Penny
We’ve tried to, over the years, become less precious about our ideas, too. Like bringing an idea to the band and then giving the other members space to, sort of mess around with it and change your idea to make it into something new. So, it can still be difficult by times when you are attached to a certain concept, but we’re always just trying to fight for the best song or the best product at the end. So we’ve, we’ve learned how to let the egos go a little bit and just put the song forward to the group.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah. And was that a bit of a learning process to ‘Let the ego go,’ as you say?
Brydon
Yeah, I mean, it’s an ongoing process. It’s pretty easy to get attached to something.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Of course.
Brydon
But then, usually with time, if you did concede something you’ll come around, I find.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Okay, sweet.
Brydon
It’s also about trusting the other two members. You know, I think Penny and Adam are very talented musicians, so, sometimes I need to tell myself that and be like, ‘They’re not gonna have bad ideas. Their ideas are great.’
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Just different!
Brydon
Yeah.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah, totally, totally. That sounds like you guys have it down pat for a little creative process?
Motherhood
I mean… ehhhh. (All laugh.)
Penny
It’s like any relationship.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Haha, another 10 years?
Penny
I mean, this is the longest relationship that I’ve ever been in. So it’s, you know, it’s sort of a family in a way. And there’s definitely highs and lows dynamically. And you just kind of work through that. But yeah, ultimately,it’s built on trust.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
That’s beautiful. Thank you guys for sharing that. So I want to talk about ‘Thunder Perfect Mind,’ which is, I don’t need to tell you guys, awesome. Well, maybe I do need to tell you guys. It’s freaking awesome. I love it.When I was doing some research, I went through an interview with Exclaim!, where, Penny, you mentioned that it’s a concept album, but still easily accessible. I want to know what you meant by ‘accessible’, the accessibility part.
Penny
Well, I said it was the most accessible.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Most accessible! Yes, haha, okay.
Penny
We’re constantly trying to, like, write normal music, but you can never really escape yourself, so it always kind of comes out a little freaky, no matter what.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Right!
Penny
But with this album, we really just wanted to make music that worked live. In the past, we’ve written records that are really great as a listening experience, but some of the songs are hard to translate live, or we can’t figure out how to make it work, or they’re just a different energy. We play like, mostly in bars and like rock and roll shows or punk shows, so we wanted to create something that would just feel good to play to the people, you know, and that people could kind of connect with like through their body.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Okay!
Brydon
Yeah, like rock music that makes you physically move. Which I think is an important thing about music.
Penny
Yeah, and Adam’s always obsessed with groove. Drummer! So he wanted to make sure that we had a groovy element to it this time, which I think we did, and at least in some of the songs.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Awesome. I love the groove on this album. It’s funny that you use that word, because that’s the word that came to mind when I was listening to it. So, mission accomplished! Continuing on with ‘Thunder Perfect Mind’, second follow up question. As that concept record, it was inspired by walks that [Brydon] took throughout Fredericton, I read. So I’m curious, some of my favorite albums in the world are concept albums, and I’m always curious [about]: Did you mean it to be a concept or was it just like, ‘I have a few ideas that are related?’
Adam
Yeah, I’d say so. Pretty successful with it.
Brydon
That’s how most of the other albums, like every Motherhood album, has been kind of vaguely conceptual.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Right.
Brydon
I find with the lyrics, it just makes it easier if there’s a couple restrictions or a goal. But then this one we just decided, like, ‘Why don’t we just do an actual concept album?’ And, flesh it out a little more than we usually do. I was walking back and forth across the bridge in Fredericton twice a day, and one day I saw a giant black cloud covering half the sky, and that was the initial spark, I guess.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah, that’s awesome to hear where that seed came from, because everybody’s gonna interpret it differently. So it’s cool to hear where it came from for you.
Brydon
We want people to interpret it however they want. But, I find it helpful for us, mostly, to just have a more structured goal.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah, of course. Do any of you have a favorite concept album that maybe comes to mind that you were thinking of as you wrote this one?
Brydon
I was, obsessed with The Mars Volta when I was in high school.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Amazing choice!
Brydon
A lot of the same kind of thing where it’s like, there is a concept, but you don’t necessarily need to know the concept to enjoy it, right? Sorry to put you on the spot like that.
Penny
The only one that’s coming to mind is Deerhoof’s “Breakup Song’,” which is l not as much of a narrative as ours. But it’s just they were like, ‘Yeah, we just wanted to make a breakup album that felt good and when you felt free, when you’re out of something,’ and it’s a celebration of a breakup. And I thought that was a really beautiful concept.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Thank you. I would love to check that out. Adam?
Adam
Maybe I’ll call on Deerhoof again. There’s an album called Milkman, which was, at the time, one of the strangest albums that I’d ever heard. It was just about some weird masked figure that abducted children, which is the creepiest thing ever. And anyway, the artwork was super—just a very strange dream-like mystical character. And just write an album about it. I don’t know. You can write an album about anything.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
True. Anything’s a concept if you think hard enough. I want to know, like, being in the scene as long as you have, is there a very special moment you can look back on as a favorite in your career? Not necessarily a defining moment, but maybe one that you’re like, ‘Damn, that was a good night,’ or ‘That was a good session.’
Motherhood
Sled. I think Sled.
Penny
Yeah, actually.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Really? Aww!
Penny
That’s what I was going to say is our last show at Sled was in 2022, and it was the release of our last album Winded. We got to open for Built to Spill at the Palace Theatre. And it was such a crazy night. We played well. Built to Spill were super, super nice, and just then getting to see these rock legends play after us. We were standing side stage being like, ‘This is sick.’
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Absorb it! Yeah, that’s wonderful.
Adam
We weren’t overly exposed to that band at all. Everybody was coming up to us being like, you know, ‘Oh my god, this is amazing that you’re opening for them!’ We’re like ‘Oh, yeah.’
Brydon
We only listen to Deerhoof.
Motherhood
(All laugh.)
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Deerhoof number one fans!
Adam
We were bigger Modest Mouse fans, same of [that] era.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Right, yes.
Adam
Yeah, it’s funny. Sometimes huge bands like that that influence all your friends, just kind of sail past you sort of thing. But yeah, that was a huge experience. That was awesome. Also, we played FEQ (Festival d’ete de Quebec) and opened, not directly for, but it was us, and then, Alvvays, and then The Smile. I was a huge, like, Radiohead fan, growing up, and all of their music is just in my brain, informing the choices that I make.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah, that must have been so surreal. Retroactively. Congratulations. That sounds fantastic.
Penny
Yeah, it is. You know, when you kind of grow up with those sorts of idols, getting to meet them is very life affirming. The other one that I was thinking of was I remember getting the text message when our manager told us that Greg Saunier, not to go back to Deerhoof again, but the drummer of Deerhoof mixed our last two records. I remember getting the text message. I remember exactly where I was when Kyle was like, ‘Yeah, Greg Saunier agreed to mix your record.’ And I got weak in the knees, and was like ‘Oh my god!’
Brydon
And now [Penny’s] new solo record, too.
Penny
Yeah, and he mixed my record too. You get those little moments of like affirmation from external sources that we try not to build our careers on those, because they’re few and far between, but they can be very affirming.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Little cherry on top of the cake. They keep you going for sure. Well, for this Sled Island, what do you hope? It went so well for you in 2022. What are your hopes for 2025 Sled? What do you want people to feel from your show? What do you want to feel from your show?
Brydon
Ready to rock!
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Ready to rock and roll!
Brydon
Yeah, with Sunglaciers and Tropical Fuck Storm. Sunglaciers are buds of ours at the show.
Adam
Yeah, we just want to win more people over, have them leave with with our record and not bring any home.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah, great, fantastic. Well, that pretty much wraps up all the questions I had for you guys. Thank you so much for this interview. I’m a big fan. This was absolutely wonderful.