Mothership Are Making America Great Again With Rock And Roll
Mothership are one of the most exciting rock and roll bands to come up from the hard rock scene in the last few years. These Ripple music signees have made a name for themselves with heavy touring and a brutal dedication to their genre. This is a band who capture the inherent magic of a world many of us have forgotten and make us want to dive back into the power of rock and roll time and time again. This is a band who could very well end up saving the world.
What the fuck is up?
Psycho Las Vegas – we are here, but will we make it out alive? Will we be changed people by the end of this? Do I think so – yes I do. Everyone here is about to take the craziest trip of their lives. Mixing Vegas into it is amazing. Vegas is a crazy and magical place. It doesn’t matter if you drink, don’t drink, the fact that you’re in Vegas… there’s an energy source that sort of pulls away at you. You get into a Vegas daze that pulls away at you.
What does Vegas represent for you?
I don’t know man. It’s just that town where anything goes – it almost feels like there’s no rules. You’re here for a reason and you know what you are going to do every time you come here. I don’t know what it represents for me. Just a good time I guess. Mix a badass festival with a town that guarantees you to have a good time and… you know what you get with that!
Have you been to Vegas before?
We’ve played Vegas a couple of times but nothing on this scale. I think this is great man – mixing in the casino and bringing that in with the festival thing is cool. I thought Psycho California was great last year. Now they are just adding a little different element to it, the Vegas lifestyle and watching everyone just… I get the cruise ship kind of vibe too. The bands are walking around and the people are stoked. They are happy to all be around each other. Everybody knows it’s going to be a great weekend.
What were your reactions when you saw the lineup come together?
I wasn’t surprised one bit! I know Evan man and he goes big and has great taste in music. You give that guy a whole field to run free and put something together… I’m sure he had a vision of every band on this thing before he announced it. It was cool to watch the puzzle pieces come together and when he announced the set times I think it was just a good solid four-day lineup from start to finish. It’s a good festival. You get your money’s worth and have a good time. If you just want to stand in front of the stage all day you will be stoked on every band. Everyone will have their own particular journey this weekend. I love how everything starting to evolve and start to pick up steam and we’re taking over casinos now man! That’s a big fucking deal!
Something like this is almost like a gateway drug for festivals in America. This festival almost rivals festivals in Europe. People always talk about how festivals are better in Europe and I agree but this could the dawning of a new era for festivals bringing fans and bands together. I hope there are promoters out there who have the funding to do it. We have festivals like Maryland Deathfest and that’s rad but if you add the element of a casino and have a big public gathering you can watch the roots take off.
When I met you at Psycho last year you said something about how rock and roll is getting ready to take wing again… this is sort of the next step…
With the past couple of years it’s been like a wave. You get a rush of energy at events like this. I say this all the time but America is the last piece of the puzzle. Bands go to Europe, Scandinavia, Canada, Japan and Australia. The whole map has these bands everywhere with followings and crowds and there are people in America that want that but it’s so vast and so big that it’s going to take more events like this and bands on the road and make America come back up to where it needs to be. It’s the final piece of the puzzle but the biggest piece.
So are you making America great again?
Absolutely. That sunuvabitch stole it from us! People can see in us how real and honest we are about what we do and how we don’t like to separate ourselves from people. We don’t want there to be a barrier between the artists and the fans. We want everyone to know they are important to what we do. A lot of people want to talk about our live shows and albums and stuff and they are always talking about the energy of the live shows compared to the records but with the fans who come out to the show, the energy they give us can’t be recreated. You can’t take that into a studio. You can’t take those beautiful people who support the music and recreate that. That’s why our live show is so intense and full of energy -we are just as stoked as they are to be there. It’s a good give and take type of thing. That’s important with rock and roll – just as it’s important to get out there and play live and play a lot having people willing to spend time to watch you say something and perform… that’s where the true power is. They control where the true power is. We just turn the amps on and electrify it.
What is Mothership trying to say?
We are trying to say that if we can do it anyone can do. With these bands who start their journey on a skewed path and who think you can’t achieve things without certain people… the reality is that it’s all about you creating an alliance with your brothers and sisters that play in bands and inspiring them to want to go on tour and keep making records. I can’t tell you how many new bands come up to us at shows and say it was their first show. I’m big about helping out younger bands that are coming up. All of the legends and everything are starting to leave the planet and you need to keep the torch burning. We just try to do our part everyday we step on stage or are in that studio to keep that fire burning.
I’m noticing in your beard a few more greys than last time… how do you feel about aging in rock and roll?
I don’t even know if it’s aging as much as bringing my true form to the surface! (Laughter) Rock and roll is the only life I know man! It’s what drives me every day, the reward is being able to do events like this and play shows and write records that we think people will enjoy and that we enjoy. We want to fill our own void and be our own band. We do what we do and we love that people are excited about taking a trip with it. We’ve got a lot of new shit coming and a new record coming out!
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