Mother Mother
Co-vocalist Debra-Jean Creelman opens up about spontaneous songwriting, improvisation, and what it’s like to get a touch-up
By Arianna Stern
Published: May 5th, 2007 | 12:31pm
Mother Mother (vocalist-guitarist Ryan Guldermond, vocalist Molly Guldermond, drummer Kenton Loewen, bassist Jeremy Page, and vocalist Debra-Jean Creelman), formed in 2005. Since then, they’ve been putting out a blend of pop and jazz that’s both infectious and original.
Like their innovative and uncompromised sound (the band has been noted for their urgent staccato, acoustic guitar and male-female harmonies), Touch Up, a re-release of the band’s previously self-titled and self-released 2005 debut, ranges from frenzied to lullaby in tones — at times within the same song. Although critically acclaimed when it was first released, the album “barely saw the light of day,” according to their Web site. Since then, Mother Mother have received considerable notice both in Canada and abroad, eventually signing with Last Gang Records and deciding to revamp their debut CD.
Venus Zine caught up with co-vocalist Debra-Jean Creelman via phone in mid-April, 2007, to talk about what it was like to re-record and promote Touch Up.
What made you pick Touch Up as the album’s new title?
It’s one of the songs on there that we felt like, “it’s going to be representative of the album.” Also there was going to be a single. We just made a video for “Touch Up.” Obviously there’s the whole tongue-and-cheek [aspect to the CD’s title]; it is a bit of a touch up. We had a whole album, we touched it up, and now we’ve re-released it. There might’ve been that. Actually, I don’t think that was part of the thought process. That was kind of an added bonus, a little pun.
What does your songwriting process typically entail?
Ryan [Guldermond, Mother Mother’s creator, co-vocalist, and guitarist] brings the tunes to the table. Ryan comes up with [melodies] on his own, then he’ll bring it to rehearsal, or it’ll come out in sound check, just some little riff or hook he’s been working on. When we’re on the road, we’re just goofing around up there while they’re checking our mics. So Ryan will just start playing this thing, and we all start playing on it. That’s how it is now. Before, it was a lot more orchestrated, and Ryan would be like, “Okay, you do this. You do this.” He would just direct everybody. But it’s becoming more collaborative all the time.
It seems like the spontaneous songwriting process goes hand in hand with a jazz style. Jazz musicians generally improvise a lot. Do you do any improvising at your live shows, or do you stick to the written material?
For the most part, we stick to the material. It depends, though. It always depends on the vibe, on the crowd, on the night, on the venue, on the energy within the band. If we’ve had a couple drinks, or something like that, then we just let go of the perfection that we usually try to attain. Some nights it’s about the energy, it’s not about the precision of making it sound like it does on the record or making it sound perfect. For my solo song, “Love and Truth,” there’s a section in there (the way we do it live) that I improvise every time. That’s my little chance to get it out of my system, ’cause I [was] very much an improvisational singer before I came to Mother Mother.
What was the inspiration for the song “Touch Up”?
I can only guess or try and give my interpretation of it, knowing Ryan the way I do and just talking to him a little bit about it. We’re always trying to — I’m trying to — touch up my personality on a regular basis. You wake up in the morning, and you want to be better today than you were yesterday, especially when you’re around other people. You want them to think that you think you’re a good person, right? We all put on our makeup and try [to] cover up the things that we’re not really proud of. You can take that both ways. Either it’s your under-eye circles or your inner demons. I think that’s what it’s about.
What was it like to make a music video?
It was really fun. I was nervous, for sure, [at least with] the part that we were involved in. There’s a whole other part (that’s really cool), where there’s going to be a merman and a mermaid that was all done without us, obviously. [For our part] we just did performance stuff. We had to go in front of a blue screen in a studio down in Edmonton. I had a few drinks, and I got comfortable, and had some fun. We had to sing the song twice as fast, but we were in real time.
We worked with a director named Michael Maxxis, who’s kind of an up-and-coming independent film and music video director. He’s worked with all kinds of people. He’s 24; he’s a bit of a boy wonder. We had a really good time with him. He just made everything work easily and well, and we felt really comfortable. I’m just excited to see what comes of it.
Do you think that you might plan a U.S. tour soon?
We’ve got a booking agent in the states now, so I think that’s definitely what we and the label are going for. As to when and how that’s all going to go down, your guess is as good as mine. Hopefully soon.
Photo by David Ellingsen
Issue #35
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