For two and a half years, the Lawrence and Kansas City music scenes have enjoyed the pleasure of a bright and booming new band, taking the electronic dance scene by storm. Mouth has been raging long and strong since late 2008 and the word of Mouth is spreading.
Anyone in Lawrence who likes to dance to electronic jams or just appreciates good music knows that Mouth's shows are some of the greatest parties in town. The band is always changing things up with new sounds, styles and obviously more and more new songs.
"Most of the variations and many of the new songs come from how much live improv we do," bassist Zach Rizer said. "Thanks to Dan we have the luxury of hearing what we do live. Many times we will hear something we like and turn that into a new version of a song, or an entirely new song."
With the help of the band's soundist, Dan Gable, Mouth has developed their sound and explored new styles with their best songs. The band also uses the trick of leaving songs unfinished to allow them to play songs differently. The songs naturally evolve over time as Mouth finds sounds that work and ones that don't.
"The goal has always been to create intelligent dance music," guitarist Jeremy Anderson said. "That hasn't changed, but the methods we use to achieve that goal have."
Mouth has toured around the Midwest and played at festivals. The band's experiences range far and wide, but the guys still show a lot of love for their hometown roots.
"Lawrence of course is reliably awesome," Jeremy said, "As for out of town shows, you never know what to expect when you play a city for the first time and it can be rough, but it's always awesome when we get a good welcome in place we've never been before. Cape Girardeau and Denver are two that really surprised me. We love those places and I'm sure we'll be going back often."
The band has several shows coming up, both in town and abroad. Friday night, Mouth will headline a full night of electronic dance tunes including sets from openers Somasphere and The EZ Brothers. Then August 13th, Kansas City gets to see Mouth open for EOTO at the Crossroads.
"Of all the bands I'd like Mouth to play with, EOTO is easily in the top 5. We're really excited for this show." Jeremy said.
After treating their home base to these epic concerts, the band will take the show on the road.
"We're gonna keep our noses to the grindstone. We'll be touring a lot this fall and winter, and then hitting the festivals again next spring and summer," Jeremy said. "Right now we're mostly touring the Midwest but we'll be branching out soon. We've also got an EP in the works."
The touring includes Colorado, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Missouri. The guys are talking about possibly going south to Austin or New Orleans, or north Chicago and Des Moines. Mouth hopes to book longer tours and maybe take trips to the coasts.
Looking back to the beginning, the guys say they've almost always known their potential and the bright future ahead of them.
"It's always an amazing experience when hard work pays off in ways that you don't expect, and if you keep working it will," drummer Stephen Gunn said.
Working hard over the last two and a half years, the members of Mouth have precious little personal time, but they are kept going by the energy of their fans and the band's success.
"We get emails from fans all over the country asking us to come to their towns. It's really inspiring and it keeps us motivated," Jeremy said."When I'm not working on stuff for the band, I read a lot of sci-fi, play a lot of The Legend of Zelda, and I like to run when it's not 100 degress out, which lately is f-ing never." - too true!
"Every time something fortunate happens, the next step is already underway," Zach said. "Besides the band, I read a ton, work on films with my brother, hang with friends, play pool, and other random hobbies."
"We all live together so we are constantly talking about and working on the band," Stephen said. "It never stops!"
For all the aspiring musicians out there, the guys in Mouth have some sensible words of wisdom.
"Play what you love, push boundaries, and take the business side as seriously as the music side," Zach said.
"I think being a full-time musician nowadays requires being something of a businessman, too," Jeremy said. "Be professional, get everything in writing, watch your budget, show up early and for God's sake save the Jagerbombs till after your set."
Fans or curious readers should know that there is a lot of free stuff on the band's website www.abandcalledmouth.com including downloads, videos, photos and tour dates. Keep your eyes on the website and Facebook for the EP release and check out the free podcast on the site too - there's another episode coming soon.
Remember, Friday, Mouth headlines the Bottleneck. Then, August 13th, they open for EOTO at the Crossroads!
Comments