We had a chance to chat with Mom Barley's bassist, Sean Cecil before the release show. See what he had to say about the band, the show and the new album. Then, read ahead to find out how you can win a pair of tickets to Friday night's show!
HID- Starting off, describe Mom Barley in one sentence or less.
Sean Cecil- "Mom Barley is folk rock band that has touches of psychedelic, progressive and soul, with a lot of jam and vocal harmonies."
HID- Who came up with your band name?
SC- "Steve our drummer came up with the name. I believe Matt and him were hanging out and partaking in a friendly green substance induced conversation about what to call the band. "Mom Barley" rolled off Steve's tongue and they both agreed to stick with it... I was not there for this! but it was a three piece at the time and majority rules haha, but after awhile it grew on me and that's just who we are now. It had nothing to do with a play on words of the late and great Bob Marley, which we hear alllllll the time. Not much of a story, just one of those names that happen without a reason or much real thought. Very riveting stuff, right?"
HID- Tell us about the new album Into The Dark. Where did you record it?
SC- "Into The Dark is our sophomore album. It's much heavier hitting and more mature than our previous album
"Proverbial Thorn". While it still has a folk over tone in some songs we've moved into more of twangy rock outfit. The theme of Into The Dark kinda represents moving forward into a future of complete uncertainty, but hoping for the best. We recorded with a fella that goes by the name Roscoe and wishes to remain anonymous for his own reasons, but I can tell you that he also recorded Thornetta Davis and The Koffin Kats to name a few. He has done such an excellent job with the production that we felt it was unnecessary to send it out and get mastered."
HID- Is it true that it only took you guys 6 hours to record this album? How did you pull that off?
SC- "Yeah, about 6 hours total. Most people know how expensive a worthwhile recording can be without any kind of financial backing and so did we. We opted to go for full band live tracking compared to recording each instrument track by track and playing every song a million times and then hating them afterward haha. We figured with live tracking we could hopefully knock each song out within 5 or so takes and have more of a raw vibe to it all, easier to feel emotion and have some of those impurities in there to give it some personality. The band was practicing about 2 days a week, 3 hours at a time for about a month and a half and made those songs second nature to play. We knocked all the songs out within two takes, so I'd say the hard work paid off and saved us a few dollars too!"
HID-What's your favorite track off of the new album?
SC- "My favorite song is probably "Days". The song starts off as kind of a really emotional song coming in soft and ambient with Djeto playing the E-bow on his guitar and Matt finger-picking a pretty tune over it. I enjoy the vocal harmonies, The lyrics Matt wrote, the build up near the end and the ambient guitar solo that Djeto wrote for this song. I guess its just one of those songs that make me feel something special while we play it, not that the other songs don't, this one just does more for me. It is actually probably the most chill song on this EP, but that's just me. Every time I show someone the album, each person has a different favorite song soooo... hah"
HID- The title track on this album is based off of a novel. Why did you feel compelled to write this song?
SC- "Matt read the book "Man in the Dark" by Paul Auster. The main character dreams of an alternate reality where things are much different than the life he actually lives in. He wrote the song more of an idea behind the book and how it could relate to him. Obviously, our country is going through some very confusing and problematic times and when he sings the lyrics, such as "Lying in bed staring into the dark, thinking what've we done, what have we become?" relate to his thoughts of what the world could be like with out wars or wealth issues, which also is mentioned in the song. The book, more so, just inspired a thought that became a song."
HID- Are you guys excited to play El Club on Friday night? It's one of our favorite venues in Detroit right now!
SC- "Absolutely! It's definitely more of a premium venue around Detroit. Now this show is gonna work a bit different than some people are used to because it's kind of an early show. We had a little mix up somewhere and this is where we're at, so we're gonna make the best of it. Doors are at 7 p.m. and The Bardobees will be going on first at 7:30 p.m., so hopefully attendees will be punctual haha!"
HID- Why should everyone come out to the show on Friday?
SC- "Well, this bill is pretty stacked with talent from start to finish. We have The Ferdy Mayne coming from LA (originally from Ypsi) and he just put a
new album out on March 24th and it is so well written by Shane Firek, so it is almost like a double album release show. We have The Bardobees from Wyandotte and these guys are like a hidden treasure who play indie rock. Very well practiced musicians on all parts and Zach the vocalist has moments of Jeff Buckley-ness, you'll most likely be hearing more of these guys soon. George Morris and the Gyspy Chorus will be topping off the show and if you don't know these guys by now, you probably don't follow the Detroit music scene much. These guys are top notch and are definitely a primo band around Detroit and beyond, they too have just recently released their
newest album in March. Lots of new albums to pick up!"
HID- Is there anything else that you would like our readers to know?
SC- "Be excellent to each other!"
Admission to Friday's show is only $10 and tickets can be purchased in advance
here. Doors are set to open at 7 p.m, and like Sean said, this show will start early. So don't drag your feet! Thanks to
Party Store Productions we are also giving away a pair of tickets to this show. If you would like to enter to win those tickets, please send your name to hipindetroit@gmail.com with #Friday in the subject line. We will draw one lucky winner on Friday morning and they will get to attend the show with a friend that night for free!
~C
