Rhythm, Fire, and Soul: Mamas Gun’s Recipe for Groove. Anchored by a tight drum beat, featuring a flaming bassline, delicate guitar layers and an expressive vocal delivery. Read our discussion with Chris Boot, drummer of Mamas Gun.
Describe your sound in 3 words
Introspective, buttery and rousing.
‘Food For The Flames’ was recorded straight to analogue tape. What does that analogue process bring to the track’s sound?
There is something romantic and fragile about seeing the magnetic tape turn and knowing that your music only exists there, and if something were to happen to it physically, it would be lost. We recorded in an all analogue signal chain, which means no computers were used at all until the files were transferred digitally after being recorded. That brought with it some magic – tape is expensive so we would play the song once, listen back and decide there and then if that was ‘the’ take or if we should overwrite it and play it again, that brings out the best in that recording environment.
Artists and people that have influenced you?
We each have our own influences and a lot we share. There are too many to name, but a handful of obvious influences include: Stevie, Sly, Lewis Taylor, Scott Walker, Betty, Joni, Curtis, Isley Bros, Marvin, Bill, Shuggie & Donny.
Having been “road-tested” during your global touring, how did the audience reaction and the experience of playing the song live shape the final recorded version?
It definitely helped us refine our parts and intention. Terry definitely perfected his solo!
This upcoming UK tour is your biggest to date. Following the UK, you have extensive touring in Europe, the USA, and Asia. How does your approach to playing live change when you perform for different global audiences?
We don’t tend to change our approach too much between gigs, maybe external factors might come into play I.e. whether we’ve eaten well, slept well, been travelling all day, etc. The songs are key and us enjoying playing them and with each other is paramount. Different audiences do react differently but that doesn’t really effect how we play things, it effects how easy it is to come down after the show more than anything!
The band values “making better records with each step we take.” Looking back at your previous albums, what does “better” mean to Mamas Gun in terms of songwriting, performance, or production?
I wouldn’t necessarily say we feel we’re making ‘better’ albums each time. We’re trying to be honest and make music that we love, that hasn’t changed. If it doesn’t excite us or feel we’re pushing ourselves then things feel a little stagnant, it’s important to us to feel we’re exploring new ground, as familiar as it might sound, there are differences in the make up of each album that are unique to it’s composition.
In which place or state of mind do you imagine people might listen to your music?
I imagine people will listen either in their homes, whilst cooking or lounging, or maybe on the road on car systems or in headphones, or maybe out in public, we often have friends message us and say “I am in a grocery store on the other side of the world and randomly heard your music playing.” As long as people feel our honesty and passion, then we’ve done a good job.
Thank you!
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