Today we speak about a group of musicians who managed to be appreciated in the USA, Mother Mary Mood exclusively reveal the secret of their success overseas.

How did the band start?
The band was officially founded as Mother Mary Mood in 2009 during the first experience of concerts in America, although in reality the core of the band, Lorenzo and Filippo Spanò and Marco Formosa are playing together since some years before . The passion for rock music is definitely the element that has fueled a common intention to create a group that played their own music. So we started from the beginning to compose new songs. The band has changed from the original version, with several changes of bassists and drummers that have followed. At the present time we can even actually claim a "collateral band", as we can count on a bassist and a drummer in San Diego,(with whom we met in there, as our bassist Silvio Paolucci and the drummer Riccardo Urbani couldn't come with us) to play in this year's American concerts. We found a great musical feeling with them, so that they've offered to play with us in every tour we do over there in the future.

The distinctive features of each of you and how they integrate?
We can say that even with heterogeneous interests and characteristics, surely we share the same passion for the same kind of music. But more than this we also share the same thought about the society that surrounds us ... let's say that there's a good feeling between us. Typically these are things that lead to build something interesting and maybe that's why we're satisfied with what we are doing, musically speaking.

What kind of music do you play and why this choice?
It's never easy to give a name to a type of music, especially when it comes to rock music. In America our music has been defined more properly as Alternative rock ... but in fact this term is quite indeterminate. We can say that to label a style of music is certainly reductive, so usually when we answer this question we prefer to say that we just play rock. Our lyrics are in English because we are convinced that the Italian language does not fits effectively this kind of music. Rock music is by AngloSaxon birth and should remain so. Perhaps we are a bit stiff, but we are absolutely convinced about that.

How and where do you find your inspiration?
Well this aspect is certainly very personal and it works differently in each of us. Anyway we can say that when we compose something,the ideas usually come spontaneously, there is no premeditation. The compositional process is quite simple: you start to play something for a while ', perhaps something interesting just come out, it could be a riff or maybe a melody. Then the others listen to this and so this draft starts to come up with something concrete. Let's say that we are lucky from this point of view because there is a good compositional feeling between us, so,being able to pull off something interesting from a simple riff seems an almost automatic process. Special mention goes to the singer for sure (Filippo), which is absolutely the most prolific from this point of view.

Your most challenging project so far?
The release of our first album, released earlier this year was definitely the most challenging aspect so far, as it requires a fair amount of concentration and time, and it looks very difficult to manage , whereas each of us does his own work. At the moment we're about to record the second album and we hope to complete the work within a reasonable time.

Which artists inspired you?
Everyone has their own musical idols, and surely some characteristics of each of these is present in each of us. Often in the comments that we receive there is someone who says, "the singer reminds me of this rather than that other singer," quoting characters sometimes very far apart. What we can say is just that we do not like to imitate anyone. If we'd do that, the whole project would not make sense. It's clear that nowadays rock musicians have a disadvantage compared to musicians who played 30 years ago, because the best rock music is already been written. Today is therefore very easy to sound like famous bands, so it's very hard to be original. So we prefer not to think about this too much. We just prefer to perform our music and if we can't be original it doesn't matters, 'cause the most important thing is just to manage to express what you have inside.

You have just returned from an American tour and it was not the first, tell us something more? How were you received and why you feel that this is your place? What is for you America, what kind of location you played, the audience's reactions?
Yes, this has been our third time in America,and we can say for sure that playing there is the coolest thing a band could want to do. The main reason that prompts us to propose our music there rather than in Italy is, as already mentioned before, the fact that the genre we play is much more appreciated over there. Rock music,on the other hand, was born there. In Italy,even apart from the genre you play, there are no opportunities to propose yourself and to be appreciated. When you perform in America (but this is also true for many European countries, especially in the north) even if you are completely unknown like us, people will come to listen to you and also pays an entry fee (a few dollars). They listen carefully, and if they like you, they even acclaim you, as it's happened to us this year at the V Festival Rock / Blues Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. When you find this kind of things you feel satisfied. What you notice, in essence, is the enormous respect that these people have for people who have something to say, to express, to communicate. We love the United States, and in particular the southern United States and every time we went there to play, we also have the opportunity to have some trips and see a lot of interesting places, especially in the desert of Nevada and Arizona. As for the venues we played in these years, apart from the festivals of Ensenada, which is a very large venue, we have always played in small venues in San Diego, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The experience in Las Vegas two years ago was amazing. We played in a large enough venue (Wasted Space) inside the Hard Rock Hotel, a place where famous bands have played as well. We were treated like "real" musicians, it was something really unexpected. All this has often led to consider the idea of moving there permanently ... unfortunately not so simple, but who knows ...

A comment from a fan that really rapresent you?
We can quote the review that a Canadian radio has done recently. Here it is: "Mother Mary mood was probably considered to be just a MySpace band some time ago, but with the passage of time it has been able to gain some real diehard fans to their credit, and today it has a comparatively strong foothold in the music age. This has not been an end to their determination to be the spearhead in their rock genre of music, but they have rather taken it just as an initial checkpoint. The road to ultimate salvation continues for Mother Mary mood, and by the look of things they are going to make some strong notes to their name- to few, they are the next big thing! The best thing regarding the Mother Mary mood rock band has been their balanced approach to all the aspects of the music. Not only just the funky music has been their weapon unlike other bands, but they have been focused to maintain a good blend of music and song and all other aspects in relation to these two core facets. If you are an impartial music freak, you would be the first one to identify this approach of Mother Mary mood. This has been one reason for the ever increasing number of diehard of fans to the band."

Do you have a label and an agency that manage you?
We have a label (Alfa Music in Rome) that has already produced our first album and that it's managing the promotional aspect, but only in Italy. What we are looking for is someone to represent us abroad instead. We actually also have a booking agency in Austin, Texas that has been proposed to represent us there. They proposed to do a tour on next November starting from New York and finishing in Austin, touching many cities, with a series of concerts. We hope that this plan will succeed because it could represents an excellent opportunity for us to be noticed.

Which artist would you like to play on a stage?
Hmmm ... we could mention different ones.... However we can name a couple that should be definitely good for everyone: Dave Grohl and Eddie Vedder!

Text by Marta Mentasti