On a quiet Wednesday night in May, I met up with the full band of Motherway to discuss mattress descriptions, the importance of having good lighting in your practice room, the art of securing the perfect drummer, and of course, Motherway’s debut EP with Breadhouse Records, I Curse Dead Stars.

Brandon, I know you have a background in writing. I've read your poetry through the years, and I feel that your songs are vitalized even more by the lyrics. How does your writing outside of music come into play when writing songs?

Brandon: Well, my job is writing. I'm a copywriter, so I write all the time with a focused concept and usually have to spin that in whatever way is going to make someone want to buy a mattress. That’s most of what I write these days, but I feel like that allows me to exercise this skill constantly. It’s become a well-oiled process that I think makes the jump to lyricism really easy. I'm always thinking about cool words and sentence structure and things like that. It's just two different modes for marketing mattresses to make a living and then doing music on the side to write about what I really want.

That's awesome. Do you ever write a poem or some prose piece on its own and then think, actually, this is a song?

Brandon: I would say most of the time now if I'm writing something like offhand, especially prose, then I'm just going to have in mind that it's going to be used for a song.

What does a typical band practice look like for Motherway?

Andy: For me, I get out of work, we chill for a little bit. I set my drums up. Hannah usually comes, and Brandon and Kyle are already here. They set their stuff up, and then we figure out what we're going to start practicing.

Kyle: I need a minute to relax before I play. I really do. Because I feel like if I come in with only a couple of minutes to spare, I won't be able to fully commit to the music. It's just too much on my mind sometimes.

Hannah: In practice is the only time we get together as a group, too. So I feel like we spend 30 minutes to an hour of almost housekeeping, just checking in with each other as far as how was your day, hanging out a little bit, and then touching base on what shows we have coming up, what do we want then, what do we want to run tonight, and developing a general game plan. And then setting up the room takes time because it's a limited space. We have to move shit around. And we also change the lights a lot because we want to establish the vibe.

Kyle: A very therapeutic, calming setting that has similar vibes to how the music sounds.

Andy: Yeah, we definitely try to create that vibe before we start playing.

I wanted to ask what interests you guys share that are non-musical and how you feel they influence you. Like, if there's any activity you guys all do together that you feel plays into your chemistry…

(Band laughs.)

Brandon: We all smoke weed.

Kyle: And I went to high school with Andy, so I've always known him, and we’ve always been close. There’s a lot of roots from mutual friends leading to how I met Brandon. We go to festivals. We go out to eat a lot.

Andy: Oh, yeah. I feel like I became friends with Brandon and Hannah recently, so I am new into this whole group, but I am enjoying the whole process. Everything is fun. I enjoy meeting up, going out to shows, everything. This whole process has been just awesome.

Brandon: Hannah and I went to high school together, so we already knew each other a little bit. But we’re a lot closer now than we ever were in high school.

Hannah: Absolutely. I feel like we existed very peripherally to one another and were like acquaintances, friendly. And then, at a mutual friend's birthday party, we were talking about music stuff, and Brandon was like, “You play bass. I'm looking for a bassist!” I was like, “Hell yeah. I would love to play in another project with more people.” And it has been really cool getting to know Brandon better because I feel like we work really well together. And meeting the rest of you guys…you're all just such kind and unique people, and getting so close has been fun. 

I feel like we work really well together, which can be hard sometimes when you have a variety of established relationships and histories within the group. I feel like I had the least connection because I met Kyle and Andy from this band, and I had only vaguely known Brandon. I feel like I've never felt out of place or excluded, and I feel like we all clicked really well, not only musically but as people. I enjoy the housekeeping at the beginning of every band practice. That's why we do it.

Kyle: It’s a beautiful thing. 

Andy: Yeah. I honestly was telling Kyle earlier today when I was on the phone with him. I'm like, ‘Hey, man, I just want to say I appreciate you inviting me to be part of the band.’ This has all been a really fun process. I felt like I never gave him the props for that.

Hannah: That’s really cute. Thank you for joining. You dropped out of the fucking blue when we needed you most. You held it down.

Kyle: We had a gig booked and no drummer, and we refused to go acoustic. We were like, by any means, we will contact every single drummer we know just to see what happens. I didn't know what Andy was doing at the time, but I knew he had an available drum kit. So I was like, ‘Nobody around to step up? I'll hit up my friend Andy because he has a set!’ I was going to see maybe if he would lend it to us for the show. And then whatever happens happens. But I remember I called him. I was like, ‘Andy, I really need you for this show, man. Either commit and do it or don’t do it at all because, like, we can't wait.’ And then Andy said, ‘No, I'll do it. I'll do it.’

And it stuck.

Kyle: He had this unused drum set at his dad's house that needed to be opened and assembled before practice.

Hannah: I came over, and you guys were screwing things together. There were boxes everywhere. They built the drum set.

Kyle: Put the heads on. Screwed them. 

Hannah: Andy had never heard any of our songs then. And now he’s stuck with us. 

If you were to make your own Motherway Radio on Spotify, what bands do each of you feel would be on that Motherway Radio?

Brandon: Wednesday.

Alyssa: Yay!

Kyle: The Smiths.

Andy: Beach Fossils.

Kyle: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

Hannah: Ethel Cain.

Andy: King Gizzard.

Brandon: Mitski.

Kyle: David Guetta.

Brandon: (laughing) I mean, David Guetta is already on the Motherway playlist on Spotify.

Are you serious?

Brandon: We actually just put out a playlist where each of us picked 5 songs.

Oh, like you made it yourselves.

Brandon: Yeah, so it’s a little bit all over the place, but it’s what each of us are influenced by and bring to the table.

Where were most of the songs written? Where in the world?

Brandon: Hippie Dippie was written at Virginia Tech, where I went to college. I Curse Dead Stars and Mirage were written in my parents’ house in Manalapan, and then My Cactus was written here in my Parlin apartment last year.

Kyle: A trip around the world.

And what was the biggest obstacle for you as an artist releasing music? 

Brandon: Probably the time crunch I put on it. I really wanted it to be a 4/20 release, kind of as a spectacle for marketing. And I think it's fitting. We have Hippie Dippie, which is a very weed-friendly song. The whole tracklist is meant to be atmospheric, psychedelic… it felt cohesive with the project. I think putting a specific date on the release before most of anything was done was really stressful and it became a big pressure point for me.

Kyle: I would say securing the drummer.

(All laughing)

Kyle: Because that’s really what finished the EP. Andy. Once he came in and did those live tracks, that was it. And we haven’t looked back.

Andy: (laughing) You’re welcome, guys. 

Do you all have a favorite song from the EP?

Brandon: My favorite song on the EP is the title track. I think lyrically, it's probably a step above the rest. And it's a couple years old at this point, but I still think it's one of the most powerful and complete songs I've ever written.

Yeah, I agree. I remember you performed it live at Rutgers, and it was random, like, “Can Brandon just play this show last minute because the other band dropped?”

Brandon: That was crazy. Oh my God.

I loved that song the first time I heard it. But also, with a live band now, it's so cool to see how it has transformed.  

Andy: I like the first two songs off of the album and how they kind of, like, blend into one another. Just like how Brandon said, I like the lyrics. It's very artistic, and - especially with the music video - it feels very ethereal. 

How much of that song structure was planned, and how much of it was like, “This should be an instrumental break, and I do whatever.”

Brandon: I always wanted the song to be, like, acoustic and then have the electric guitar come in at that almost halfway point between the two songs, because they were written sort of together, but intended to be two different songs. So I don't know, people have different opinions about whether they are one or two songs. But at the end of the day, it ended up being us in the Breadhouse Records studio, starting with the hushed vocals and acoustic guitar. And then Kyle went in and improvised a lot with some cool synth adds and various keyboard magic. Hannah was doing her thing, and she wrote the bass line for that song. Our producer, Grant Claytor, came in with really spacey drums in the best way. They're super atmospheric. It really worked for that song. So it kind of just came together that way, I guess.

Hannah: For me, my favorite song changes. I go between I Curse Dead Stars and Mirage, which I say all the time, are one song. At least, they're one song to me. But lately, I think right now it's probably Cactus just because it's just so much more boppy. And I think every time we need a warm-up and want to feel good and get loose and have a little bit of fun, Cactus is the perfect song. 

I feel like we're in a place where we know it so well that we can really have fun. Even when playing it live, you can jump around a little bit, you know what I mean? And then that energy from us feeds into the crowd. We exchange energies. With other songs, I have to think about it a bit more.

Kyle: I like Dead Stars the most. I felt like it was an infant baby when I first heard it, yet it was also probably was the most complex song I've ever had to learn. I remember hearing the full ten minutes and being like, ‘I'm not going to be able to play anything on this. I don't know the time signature, I don't know the chords.’ I'm like, ‘These chords are crazy.’ 

It was the first song that Brandon showed me, and I remember feeling like, ‘I can't be in this band. This is just too much.’ But we had a really rough copy with our previous drummer, Danny, at the time, and then just needed to feel it more. Like, it needs to be dark, and it needs to haunt you… It’s a great introduction to how this band sounds and how small tracks that build up can make a whole visual in your head. It's haunting, it's romantic, it's climatic. It gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. That type of deal. 

Yeah, I think that's true. And I have a question about the album art. I couldn't tell if it was apples on the tree or some other kind of fruit. I was wondering if it was more of a biblical reference. There’s a quote I liked, and I was wondering if it was a reference. But I want to hear, first of all, how did you think up the art? What's the symbolism? And if you could tell me who did it, too?

Brandon: Yes. So, first of all, that artwork is done by Erin Christoph. She is my old college roommate's sister. And this roommate is a really close friend of mine who I'm still in touch with and love very much. Shout-out to Casey! But her sister’s artwork pulls together imagery from lyrics of the title track, specifically the first few verses. So, yes, it is a biblical reference. 

The snake is Satan in the Garden of Eden. I know I flipped the lyrics to say, like, Forest of Eden, but it's a play on the same basic story. In the center of the art is the clay golem, which is a monster from Jewish folklore I refer to in the second verse. He’s a conduit for control, which stems from the desperation of paradise lost. Generally, the cover combines some of the more faith-based aspects of the lyrics.

So those are apples on the tree!

Brandon: Yes.

Hannah: Apples, confirmed. 

The last song “My Cactus” seems to be a celebration that’s almost frantic– upbeat piano parts that lead to you screaming towards the end. How much of that song comes from a place of genuine joy, and how much of it is sort of ironic in how it sounds?

Hannah: That’s a good fucking question.

Brandon: You really fucking thought about this shit.

I was listening to it with my butter pecan coffee… I really didn’t know all the lyrics, and I was like, is this supposed to be happy? Or is this person pushed to the point where you’re almost crazed in how free and joyous you’re feeling, and it’s not a healthy kind of happy?

Brandon: Hm…

You also, like, don’t have to answer that.

Brandon: No, I want to. The answer is… yes? In that tone, you know. It’s definitely a celebration, I’ll say at least that much. It’s definitely a celebration, for better or for worse.

The band gives special thanks to Grant Claytor for producing, mixing, and being an incredibly easy, supportive person to work with. 

They would also like to thank the people who worked on the band’s most recent music video for “I Curse Dead Stars”-- director Aubree Roser, and Sabrina Elbaz, who assisted with filming; editor Daniel Rosendale; actors Karl West and Declan Fooks, and the various friends who are featured in the music video. Emma Murphy also has taken and edited various photos for the band, and the band thanks her for her creative contributions. 

They would also like to express thanks to Gina DiRusso for her photographs and editing talents on social. Special thanks to Rachel Brown of Water From Your Eyes for their consulting help with the music video.