Mother Mother

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Mother Mother is a five-piece Canadian indie rock band originally from Quadra Island, now based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Mother Mother consists of Ryan Guldemond on guitar and vocals, Molly Guldemond on vocals and keyboard, Jasmin Parkin on keyboard and vocals, Ali Siadat on drums, and Jeremy Page on bass.

In 2005, they independently released their self-titled debut album under the band name Mother. They later changed their name to Mother Mother, and re-released the album on Last Gang Records in 2007. Retitled Touch Up, the reissue also featured several new songs.

Their second album, O My Heart, was released on September 16, 2008.

Early History

Mother Mother originated in Vancouver, Canada in January 2005 with guitarist/vocalist Ryan Guldemond. Guldemond had come up with a particular sound for the band, and later recruited his sister, Molly, along with a friend from college, Debra-Jean Creelman, to accompany his own vocals for the songs he had written. The trio played as an acoustic act until adding on the talents of drummer Kenton Loewen and bassist Jeremy Page.

The five members started off with the band name Mother, and in the fall of 2005, they independently released a self-titled album. This debut album was recorded with Howard Redekopp, who has also worked with The New Pornographers and Tegan and Sara. It wasn’t until the Vancouver Province rated Mother Mother as one of the top five BC bands to watch for in 2007 that they received high admiration for their debut album. With the CBC as a fan, Mother Mother landed a nationally broadcasted concert opening for K’naan and the Wailin Jennys. In the summer of 2006, the band opened for the Australian band, The Cat Empire, at the sold-out Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Soon after, the band began to gain even more national acclaim, and received a gig at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, which was Mother Mother's first show in Eastern Canada.

Afterwards, Mother Mother played a series of shows in Toronto, and later a full-page article about the band was featured in the Toronto Star. The headline of the article read “This Mother grows up quickly”, emphasizing how well the band had been doing after less than two years in the making. In October 2006, after playing a set at the Pop Montreal Festival, Mother Mother met with Last Gang Records (Metric, Death From Above 1979), and later signed a four album contract.

The band, by this time, had added an extra “mother” onto their name. When asked about the change in name, Guldemond responded: “Well, we had to change our name because there are other mothers in the world, besides general maternal figures. Instead of changing the name altogether and losing the steam that we built, we just doubled it up -- just to stay with the continuity.” On February 20, 2007, the band re-released its debut album under the new name of Mother Mother, re-naming the album Touch Up. Touch Up included two new songs, as well as artwork and overdubs different from the original.

Since the release of Touch Up, Mother Mother has accumulated a broad fan base across Canada and the United States, and performed many gigs, including the Virgin Festival in Vancouver in May 2007 (alongside acts including Metric and The Killers), a three-stop tour with Cary Brothers in July 2007, the Regina Folk Festival in August 2007, and a 10-stop tour with the Most Serene Republic in October and November 2007. As well as the Evolve Festival in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, July 2007 alongside many popular acts (That 1 Guy, Holy F*ck, Do Make Say Think, Hey Ocean) and east coast favorites (Slowcoaster, Grand Theft Bus, Tom Fun Orchestra, Wintersleep)

Present Day

Mother Mother has released their second album, O My Heart. The album, all of which was written by member Ryan Guldemond, has accumulated a lot of positive acclaim since its release, including a Single of the Week on iTunes for the week of October 8, 2008.

It was announced on their Myspace blog on December 3, 2008 that Debra-Jean Creelman had left Mother Mother.

On January 26, 2009 the band announced the addition of a new singer/keyboardist, Jasmin Parkin.

Mother Mother is currently touring with fellow Vancouverite Matthew Good. The first show of the tour was in Abbotsford, B.C. on November 3rd, 2009.

Discography

• Touch Up (2007)
• O My Heart (2008)

External links

• Mother Mother