Not for you? Try again, it might be

May 15, 2006

After a casual listen, it would be easy to dimiss Mower as just another hardcore band. Take a closer look at their second album, Not For You (in stores May 16) and you’ll find a band that covers a wide range of genres and seems comfortable in each one of them. Live-Metal.net touched on this and other topics in an email interview with Brian Sheerin, one of the band’s two vocalists.

Live-Metal: Let’s start with a little history of the band. How and when did Mower form?

Brian Sheerin: Mower formed in two states, Colorado and California. [Bassist] Chris [McCredie] and [vocalist] Dominic [Moscatello] were in a punk band called The Undecided in Breckenridge for a few years before moving to San Diego where they met [drummer] Ryan [Toth] and Brian who were rehearsing as Mower.

How did you come up with the band name?

I was looking for a word that described a powerful force that cleared ground for something new. I was thinking of one army mowing over another on a battlefield, as well as what happened when an army would slash and burn an area – eventually new crops would grow up there. A kind of renewal-by-way-of-destruction, if you will.

Who are some of Mower’s musical influences?

Minor Threat, Deftones, Bad Brains, Lagwagon, Led Zeppelin, Megadeth, Slayer, Snot, Zeke, Sonic Youth – it’s a question we always try to answer with new band names because we’re down for music in general. It’s easier to say we don’t really like the new wave of country, but like most everything else.

Did the band form with the intention to cross so many different genres (metal, hardcore, punk, lounge, etc.)?

Mower began as a hardcore act and mutated. We’ve tried everything and got rid of the styles that didn’t work for us. Fortunately for us, we couldn’t rap, because we would have landed right in that steaming pile of nu-metal if we could. Good music is good music, so we don’t really limit ourselves style-wise.

Is there a message listeners should take away from Mower’s music?

Do your own thing and contribute something at the same time. The way you think about your life influences it, so keep it positive. If you’re honest with yourself, I mean sit down and really give yourself an honest answer about something, then you can do your own thing and let everyone else run down what’s popular.

What does the album title, Not For You, refer to?

It refers to the central mission we adopted for this CD, to make music we liked and hope that we were big enough music fans that it would relate for our fans. I guess that could backfire and the five us would be the only guys jamming the record, but from the intitial response, people are getting it. We threw down a lot – hardcore, lounge, punk, metal, industrial, classic rock – it’s takes a little while to digest it, but Not For You is a solid album in that people will keep going back to it for a long time, finding new favorites depending on their mood and what’s going on in their lives.

How did you hook up with [Snot/Soulfly guitarist] Mikey Doling and what did he bring to the table as the producer?

Dominic and Chris played a show with Snot years ago and hit it off with those guys.  They kept in touch for a while and when Mower wound up on a Soulfly show in New York one year, they ran into Mikey who was playing guitar with Max at the time. We all went out drinking and fired things up again. At first Mikey wasn’t available and Steve Russell, who worked on As I Lay Dying’s Shadows Are Security was going to produce us. When Mikey’s schedule cleared I had to call Russell a few days before we were booked and cancel, and we felt so bad that we sent him a money order so he could have a night out on the town on us. We knew in our hearts, with the friendship and the Snot legacy, that Mikey was the right guy this time around.

What is the typical songwriting process for Mower? What effect does having two singers in the band have?

The songwriting process has evolved over the years to where we’re pretty democratic with ideas. On Not For You, Chris would begin by writing bass licks and then direct the guys on his vision for guitars and drums. Matt also contributed songs and the lyrics and vocals predominantly fell on Dominic and myself, but all that could change next time out.  We follow the song, not the writer.

Many of the songs on Not For You are short, under three minutes. Is there a reason for that? Is it challenging to say what you want to say and do what you want to do musically in a shorter period of time?

Hahaha, you can’t beat around the bush in a minute and a half, can you? Chris had a lot of influence on the song lengths, his line of thinking was to leave people wanting more. We all get that, there’s time for longer songs when we carve out an audience or when we’re feeling it. There’s nothing worse than a song with a great riff that gets repeated until your sick of it. We’re a new band and in a way it’s foolish to throw out our twenty-seven minute live version of “Dazed and Confused” that takes up 25MB and only die hard fans are going to care about. We’re getting our first shot at a lot of these listeners and we wanted to pack a lot of style into this CD, so we did.

Why did you decide to cover “California Dreaming” by The Mamas and the Papas?

You can thank Chris for suggesting it originally and you can thank Dom and I and our label’s attorney for convincing him to leave it on the record. It’s a great song and we had some fun trying to make it hardcore, but as Chris puts it, “It still came out pretty – Rats!”

You recently shot a video for “Road Rage.” What can you tell me about that?

I can tell you that our friend Jeremy is a nutcase and has no fear for his truck, parked cars, traffic or reckless driving. The “Road Rage” video revolves around a car chase and that’s pretty much what we did two dozen times on the streets of Los Angeles, chase each other all over the place. How we didn’t get fined was a miracle. Keep an eye out for it on the video channels or, better still, request it.

What is the best way to experience Mower, on CD or on stage?

Before this record I think we would have answered in unison – live! Not For You does preserve a lot of our raw feel, so the answer is not as brief anymore. Mower built its reputation on intense live shows so I liken it to this – it’s cool to flip through Playboy and admire the female form, but in the end, it’s always better live.

Mower recently toured Japan. How did the Japanese fans treat you?

Japan has five new fans. Playing with Slayer and touring Japan are the high points of our career thus far. We were treated like stars over there and the enthusiasm we encountered was powerful. We can’t wait to get back there. There was a really cool connection at the shows between the Japanese fans and Mower and we want more of that.

What can fans expect from the upcoming U.S. tour with (hed) p.e. and Wicked Wisdom?

Energy from the minute the doors open. The “Back 2 Base X” Tour is one you should line up out front for and pick a good spot to watch the show. We know (hed) for years and from what we’ve seen and heard of Wicked Wisdom and Strapt, it’s going to be sick.

Who’s on your list of bands you want to tour with?

Slayer, Deftones, Jane’s Addiction, Kiss, NOFX, Megadeth, Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, System Of A Down – it’s kind of like the favorite band question, there are too many right answers and we’re already fortunate to be touring with great bands for the past few years.  Any tour that puts together a big audience is great, we like to reach a lot of people.

What are Mower’s plans for the rest of the year?

Tour, write, tour, record, tour, repeat.

There were about three years between the first two albums. Will you try to get album number three out sooner?

You will more than likely see a quicker turnaround for the next CD. We had to survive some major setbacks to keep Mower going, including , but not limited to, replacing several members for various reasons. I don’t think anyone wanted that much time to pass between CD1 and CD2, but there’s no crying in rock n’ roll, so we’ve gotten past all that.

What do you think about the state of rock music today?

Music is great today, and music was always great. You may have to entertain different styles to find great bands, but there’s always something. In Flames, Mars Volta, Slayer, System Of A Down, As I Lay Dying, Kings of Leon, they’ve all put out great rock records as of late. The cool thing about music is that you can always go back. New punk not doing it for you? Grab a Dead Boys CD. Hate the new metal, pick up a Pantera or Black Sabbath disc. The state of rock music is awesome.

In your opinion, has the digital revolution, i.e. downloading, been good or bad for music?

I think it’s ultimately good for bands, and the bigger bands that are suffering a loss should blame themselves for not keeping up with the trends. Business changes, if you put your life into any media, you’re going to get burned. Do you remember the 8-track?  Neither does anyone else. Besides, money is supposed to be a by-product of art.

Is there anything else people should know about Mower?

We like clean socks, Crown Royal Whiskey, Snickers, spring water and you.