Mother's Children

     Mother’s Children don’t care what you call them as long as it’s not pop-punk, which I don’t see any danger of that anyway. With influence’s ranging from Nick Lowe, The Raspberries, The Zombies, Sweet and ELO, Mother’s Children craft songs like a gourmet chef cooks fine food. Their last LP, Lemon, was anything but. Instead Lemon is filled with the kind of American meets UK power-pop songs that most bands dream of writing for a single and Mother’s Children filled an entire album them. Mother’s Children don’t like being called pop-punk, but after listening to their songs you may come to agree with one reviewer that they are “Power Pop, with Actual Power.”

Interview by Ed Stuart

Who’s answering the questions?

Kenneth James; Singer / Lead Guitarist / Song Writer

Give us a brief history of Mother’s Children? How did you meet? What other bands you have played in and currently do play in?

We’ve been a band since 2008, so about 7 years. I broke up Sick Fits a year prior to do something new with our singer; Michael Hurts. The Million Dollar Marxists; another Ottawa group, broke up around the same time. The ex-Marxists went onto to form the Sedatives and the White Wires, while Tim and Davey went onto join us. It’s been the same fab four up until last year when we got Seiji, the current Average Times bass-player on bass for us. Two of us also back up Ian Manhire from the White Wires in Voicemail. Voicemail has been playing for about two years and has recorded about two albums but hasn’t released anything yet. I played in a version of The Barracudas, for a tour once, which was pretty neat.

Who is in the band and what instrument do they play?

Kenneth James – Lead Guitar, Vocals

Michael Hurts – Guitar, Vocals

Tim Ostler – Drums

Seiji W. Hewett – Bass, Vocals

How is the Ottawa music scene?  Is it competitive or like one big family?

Well it’s the only music scene I’ve been in, so it’s hard to tell. It’s definitely way better now, than when we started out. I’ve read about how great Ottawa’s bands and scene are lately. It feels like there’s a more positive energy and bigger crowds now at punk/underground shows than there was like 10 years ago. The Ottawa Explosion surely has something to do with that. There aren’t really any bands like Mother’s Children, so there’s no competition. Even if there was, it wouldn’t matter to us, because we just want to make music on our own terms.

What bands did you have in mind when starting this band?

I’m not lying even a little bit when I say that I wanted to be in a band that sounded like The Raspberries, Cheap Trick, The Sweet, The Zombies and T.Rex. I assumed with that mix of influences we’d come out sounding like Supergrass. We even had an organ player in the beginning. Over time, the band developed a more fast-paced, straight-ahead approach, which some people say is called Punk Rock. But those old influences are still very much looming in our songs.

In an interview with AUX, Kenneth mentioned Sparks’ Mael brothers, Nick Lowe, Ray Davies, Jeff Lynne, and Roy Wood as influences. What was about these musicians that drew you them originally?

Sparks for everything. The songs are fun, hook-filled, and occasionally epic. And the lyrics are perfection to me. Just the right amount of weird. Same thing about Ray Davies (the Kinks) and Nick Lowe. Although not as weird; it’s the unique way they are able to throw a story into a simple pop-song that is a major inspiration to how I write lyrics. Lynne and Wood, well you can follow their careers from the Move and the Idle Race who were psych-pop bands, and watch them evolve into the hugely successful Electric Light Orchestra. Quite the musical journey, and the tunes were always top-notch. Another influence to my lyrical writing is John Waters movies. I love just how declarative his characters are. The acting is bad, but the actors speak with such conviction you just have to listen! That’s kinda like our music.

In the same interview with AUX, Kenneth spoke of a very interesting band philosophy “I don’t like pushing my music on anyone, especially since there are just so many bands and varying tastes out there,” he says. “But I’d like people to know how to find us when they’re ready.” One could make the argument, that when a band plays live they are indirectly pushing the band on the fans especially since the only other alternative for the crowd is to step outside the venue to not hear them. Can you elaborate more on that quote?

Yeah, sometimes you’re gonna have to listen to bands you hate, and sometimes you’re gonna BE the band people hate. I guess I’m just a sensitive “artiste.” I’d rather stay underground than be shrugged off by a cold, indifferent public. Yet I refuse to make the music that the public wants to hear, HA! I sometimes feel we belong in a different, simpler time. As a kid I grew up with the Oldies AM radio station playing all the time, and I never knew that they were “Oldies” until I got older. You are right though. All bands have to push themselves to get anywhere, especially when they’re just starting out. When you make music that isn’t the accepted norm, sure, you get creative satisfaction, but the fallout is a lot of folks just won’t care, and that can sting. We prefer to play small venues and house shows. I feel they have a more open-minded and fun vibe going down. If the crowd is up-front and responsive it’s the best thing in the world. If they’re not, I kind of feel foolish. I think we come off as kind of reserved compared to some of the bands we play with. Running around the stage or being super intense just isn’t our thing. I just want to sound good. So yes, you must go outside your comfort zone a little bit if you’re gonna blaze your own trail. A LOT if you’re gonna try to change anything for the better.

In an interview with 53^rd and 3^rd, the band didn’t really seem to enjoy being labeled power-pop, but then at the end it was stated “Call it anything you want really, just don’t call it pop-punk,” which begs the question, why not pop-punk?

HAHA! I guess we don’t leave a lot of options for ourselves do we? I dislike labels, but I understand it’s important to be able to categorize bands. I’ll accept “Power-pop” as a title. Our music is certainly heavy on both those things. Someone once said in a review; “Power Pop, with Actual Power,” which was great. I love Punk Rock, it’s truly thrilling. I have hundreds of punk albums and we play with punk bands all the time. We get a kick out of playing fast and loud, but I just never felt the music we were making was punk music. I guess I just don’t wanna set the wrong expectations.

What are some things you like about all the digital avenues presented to musicians nowadays (Bandcamp, blogs, blog writers, Facebook, smaller record labels, internet magazines, etc.) to help bands today?  And some things you don’t like?

There’s a lot of shit talk in some places, but all the other stuff is great. There are many web-zines and blogs worldwide who have reviewed us and said wonderful things about our records. There was a time when the only reviews I ever read were in an actual magazine. You used to have to create a website from scratch, with pages and everything. Now we just have a band camp and we make money without really doing anything. We’re not about making money, we just want our music to be accessible, and all the resources you just named are great for that. Small record labels however, are the true heroes. I know how hard putting out records is. Without them we’d be nowhere.

Where can people hear Mother’s Children and what’s next for the band?

HUGE Cross-Europe tour with Calgary’s the Mandates in May 2015!

Our bandcamp has pretty much all the songs. (motherschildren.bandcamp.com) It’s all on vinyl too. Our newest one is on Mammoth Cave Records in Canada (www.mammothcaverecording.com) Resurrection Records in the USA (www.getresurrected.com) and Taken By Surprise in Europe (www.takenbysurprise.net) We just recorded a few new songs this month. There will be a new 45 coming out soon to hold you over until our next full record.

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Nervous Talk

     The stream of fantastic band’s coming at us from Vancouver seems to be never ending. That stream turns into more like a raging river when listening to Nervous Talk. They ride these rapids hard hanging onto a raft inflated with influences ranging from 1970’s style power pop like Cheap Trick, or even catchy pub rock like Rockpile. Throw in some 1990’s garage punk that you might have heard exploding out of Fink or Jack Oblivion’s amplifiers back in their prime and this might get a bit closer to describing their full range of sound. Nervous Talk just released their debut 7” on Mammoth Cave Recordings and it very much reflects this broad range of influence. It’s a bit hard to describe it all accurately, but once you listen to this record you’ll sink right into it just like in your favorite pair of black Converse All Stars.

Interview by Jay Castro

Please introduce yourself (or selves) and how you contribute to the Nervous Talk Rock N' Roll machine?

J: I'm Joel and I sing and play guitar not the fancy parts.

T: Todd, sing and LEAD guitar.

Where are you all from originally?

J:  I'm from all over the prairies, but I spent the most time in Lethbridge, Alberta.

T: I'm from Vancouver Island. I lived on a boat for a third of each year until I was 15.

How did you all meet and start playing music together?  Are any of you in any other bands?

J: We all met each other through our previous bands. I met Shane, our bass player, when he was playing in the Hot Blood Bombers. Trevor, our drummer, was playing in a shitty band called Hazard Lights when I met him. Our bands hated each other. Todd was in Timecopz when I met him. I moved to Vancouver last year and wanted to start something new right away, so I called Todd and showed him what I'd been working on. A few weeks later, Trevor & I were playing some Spits songs for fun and I asked him to join. Shane followed soon after and here we are. Everyone, myself excluded, is in at least one other band aside from Nervous Talk. None of them are as good.

T: Joel originally asked me be a part of the new Moby Dicks lineup that he was thinking of forming. I told him I would give it a try, but a few minutes later we just decided to start a new band. I also recently joined B-Lines on bass and have been playing with them for a while.

You have a new 7” coming out soon Introductions b/w Shut It off, care to elaborate on any details about the release?

J: It's out now on Mammoth Cave Records. 3 songs. Art by Todd/Tony from Noodles//Pans.

T: Our friend Drew recorded us a couple times for free with his Tascam 1/4 inch 8 track. There was a pool table in the same basement so good times. We got hot dog stuffed crust pizza and it wasn't that bad.

Did you have a particular sound or concept in mind when starting out the band?  On the new 7” the song “Shut It Off” is a complete Rip Off Records style barnburner and “Introductions” seems like it has a bit of Power Pop or even a Glam influence.

J: The first song I wrote for Nervous Talk might have been Introductions. I'd played a lot of poppy sort of stuff in other bands, but it always had a kind of weirdo/primitive edge to it. I wanted to play classic pop kind of stuff without yelling myself hoarse about hot dogs or science. Todd's stuff has a harder, darker feel to it, much like his personality.

T: We've had a handful of songs with fairly different styles so far. I think we're still trying to find the right mix, but as long as we are liking each song for what it is we'll play it. Joel's dream has always been to have a band and its first release be called "Introductions." Do you get it? It's like an introduction to the band. He writes from deep within. My song, "Shut it Off," is based on what you'll probably want to do when you hear this single.

I recently read that out of all different art forms, music has the power to alter a person’s disposition the fastest.  Do you agree with this?  Do you have any favorite tunes that you can put on that will lift you out of a bad mood?

J: I think that's probably true. When I'm bummed, "Little Boy Blue" by Angel always brings me back to normal. Until I hear any of that new grunge revival shit that's happening these days then I get bummed out again by how badly it sucks and I have to listen to "Oo Oo Rudi" by Jook. Grunge revival, fuck off!!

T: I wouldn't say the kind of music I listen to be dictated by the mood I'm in. Whether I'm in a good mood or bad I just want to hear some good stuff. If I'm trying to boost my energy before Fight Club I'll throw on something like Teengenerate, Reatards, or Consumers.

You guys have only been playing together for a little over a year and I see you’ve played with some other pretty good bands and you played The Music Waste Festival in Vancouver last summer.  What has been the most memorable show the band has played so far?

J: This year's "Winter Waste" show, kind of a halfway to music waste party, sticks out in my mind as one of the funnest shows we've played. Lotta cute girls in attendance. Lotta dancing. Lotta good bands. We also played on this weird Red Bull tour bus thing at some skate contest that Andrew Reynolds was in or sponsoring or whatever. That, for me, stands as one of the most soul-sucking, regrettable shows I've ever played. Ha ha ha. But then later that day, we played a really rad show for 20-some people at our friends studio. Smaller venues lend themselves to better shows.

T: For me it was getting to open for Mark Sultan at the Astoria. I've been enjoying that guy's music for many years so to be on the same bill as him was cool. That skateboard thing was really weird. The stage was pushed off to the side of the park so it didn't really work. I do wish we hadn't of done it but I still managed to kind of enjoy how ridiculous it was.

If you guys could tour with any band/musician from times gone by, who would it be and why?

J: Well that's a toss up between Motley Crue and Led Zeppelin for obvious reasons.

T: GnR, Oasis, and Mitch Hedberg.

I don’t like using the term “guilty pleasure” because I don’t think anyone should be made to feel ashamed of anything they like. However with that being said, what do you listen to that you think a lot of fans may be surprised by?

J: I get pretty stoked when I hear Loverboy, Saga, and Van Halen. Other than that, I just listen to the radio broadcast of the lunar landing and songs of the whales & shit. Guess that's weird.

T: I just played in a Brian Eno Halloween cover band called HalloweEno. Zero guilt attached to liking that stuff but definitely isn't much like NT.

The cassette: a viable, collectable form of music or a fleeting hipster trend that will soon hobble back into the cave of obscurity where it belongs?

J: Cassettes will at least last for a long ass time. They're possibly the most durable analog format for personal music or whatever, so I understand the appeal in that sense. I don't have a ghetto blaster or anything so I don't buy them.

T: I don't have much of a tape collection but I'm always impressed by a good one. They sound fine, I'm all for it.

What music have you unleashed on the world and where can people go to hear it or buy it?

J: Nervous Talk only has the one 7" so far. Look for it on Mammoth Cave Records' website, whatever that is. My other bands, Myelin Sheaths & Moby Dicks, put stuff out on Southpaw, Bachelor, Hozac, Handsome Dan, and Mammoth Cave Records. Guaranteed none of them are sold out. Is that what you mean or did I just make myself look like a douchebag?

T: You can hear some other stuff on our bandcamp page as well. My old band Timecopz had a split single with Fist City, also on Geographing Records. Timecopz stuff is online too.

What does the band have in store for us in the near or not so near future, any tour plans?

J: We're going to keep on writing, trying not to barf, recording, and playing for as long as we can stand it. A tour to Alberta in mid-November is in the works. There's also talk of a tour down South but I don't have any solid info on that yet so keep your ears & eyes open.

T: We'll hopefully have more of everything. We have a steady supply of new songs so that should take us a ways. Can you get us one of those grants?

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Needles//Pins

Needles//Pins mix of Teenage Kicks-era Undertones and the underrated Protex has garnered the band a lot of attention and placed them on a few “Best of” 2012 lists. This year the band has two singles being planned for release this summer, one on La-Ti-Da Records. In addition to the two singles, Needles//Pins are writing the follow up to their 12:34 LP, completed a recent tour of the US and are now playing at Ottawa Explosion this year. Not bad for a band that started because two of the members “needed an excuse to get drunk on Wednesday nights.” 

Interview by Ed Stuart

Who’s answering the questions?

Tony.

Where is the band from?

We are from Vancouver, Canada

Who is in the band and what instrument do they play?

Macey plays drums, Adam plays guitar and Tony plays bass

How did the band start?

Adam and me were living next door to each other, and we needed an excuse to get drunk on Wednesday nights, so we started jamming in my basement. The set up was so shitty, but we had beers so, whatever. After not too long we made Macey let us come over and jam at her place and she’s been stuck with us ever since.

What bands did you have in mind when starting this band?

We wanted to sound like Jay Reatard meets The Pointed Sticks. I think that went out the window pretty quick though, that seems like a pretty lofty thing to shoot for.

Five essential LP’s, EP’s or 7”’s that you can’t live without right now.

The Mandates - S/T

Spectres - Nothing To Nowhere

Warm Soda - Someone For You

Wipers - Is This Real

Big Country - The Crossing

In an interview with The 1^st Five, Adam talking about local support for local bands [Vancouver] got to be the best city in the country to be in a band. Three local bands played our record release show [and] 300 people showed up. Is this still the case? That is a crazy number for a shows of only local bands.

It definitely still happens; obviously it doesn’t happen every show. But there’s definitely something to be said for the amount of people that come out to shows in Vancouver, we're really lucky here I think.

In the same interview, it’s mentions that Young Governor in 2012 was drawing 50-60 people, which is a great draw for a local band. What is the reaction for the band if and when drawing a crowd less than that?

I dunno, its hard to say really, I think if you're drawing that many people consistently then you're doing pretty good. Draw is a weird thing I guess, its not always the best bands that draw the most people.

How did Needles//Pins hook up with both La Ti Da Records and Mammoth Cave Records? The band has two releases out on each label.

We met Tim a few years ago when we played in Victoria, then we ran into him at Sled Island and I found a free beer wristband on the ground that Macey used her gum to restick it together around his wrist, so, he owed us. We got together with Mammoth Cave cause we went on tour with The Moby Dicks, and both Paul and Evan were playing in that band, they approached us about doing the LP the second time we ever met them I'm pretty sure, which was pretty cool.

Seems like Canada as a whole is producing a slew of really good power pop bands, Steve Adamyk Band, Sonic Avenues, Needles//Pins. What is going on up there? Is there an abundance of awesome power pop records up there?

Canadians just have great taste probably. Aha, no, um, I’m not sure really, Canada has had a lot of rad punk and power pop bands in the past, so maybe that has something to do with it? It’s either that, or the beer. Probably the beer.

In previous interviews Needles//Pins, the band has a really great attitude regarding the work and band balance. After being on a few “Best of” lists for 2012, does the band still have this attitude especially with more and more people taking notice of the band?

Oh ya, our attitudes are still the same. We're not really a band whos trying to "make it." We wanna do as much as we can with it, touring, records etc. But at the end of the day its what we do to have a good time, we all work so we can go play shows and have a rad time. The best of lists and whatnot are great and its always a trip when people put us in the same regard as some really rad bands, but they don’t pay the rent.

How was the US tour? What were some of the difference between playing the US and playing in Canada?

America was awesome, we had a blast. It was pretty much impossible for us not to have a good time since we were on tour with our good buddies in The Steve Adamyk Band. I think it was a really great first tour in the states; we sold a bunch of merch, met a bunch of new friends, drank a million cheap beers, and even got invited back to San Diego for Awesome Fest. The two main differences touring in the states are the best reasons to tour the states, cheap beer and awesome Mexican food everywhere.

Where can people hear the band?

http://needlesxpins.com/ will show you everything you need to know.

What’s next for Needles//Pins?

We have two 7"s out this summer, one on La-Ti-Da and one on King Fisher Bluez. We're in the process of writing a new LP, which we hope to record in September or so. 

Photo Credit: Tara Dwelsdorf

Needles//Pins- Shaker from Anthem Jackson on Vimeo.

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