'Mother Knows Best!'

This past May, Locomotive Records unleashed a debut release from one of its newest and most eclectic acts. Churned from the musical depths of Warsaw, Poland, Mothernight combines rock, metal, goth, and industrial to craft a sound best described as dark, dank, heavy bliss.

The origins of this act flourished in the most unlikely place–a birthday party, where guitarist Deimos met bassist/producer Gabriel. The two conspired to create music that blends the best elements of different rock styles. They worked as a duo for three years until drummer Berith signed on as the commander of their raucous rhythm.

Finally, in 2004, former Silesia vocalist Freya caught their attention when she posted an announcement on the Internet that she was searching for a band with “experience, attitude and original ideas.” Upon hearing her demo CD, laden with the gravel-ridden, unrelenting and unforgiving vocals of a songstress-gone-bad, they invited her to rehearse with them in Warsaw immediately. The rest is beautiful bad-ass history.

Mothernight has the capacity to create a massive rock following. Intricately assembled yet heavy enough to feed the most primal of urges, this femme-fronted four-piece creates a sound accessible to casual rock fans, yet brutal enough for the heaviest headbangers. Brace yourselves—this outfit is poised to be the Mother of Hard Rock.

Taking it from the top and what were your musical influences growing up and how many still factor into your music today? Freya - "Growing up I was into classical rock such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Guns 'n' Roses, Metallica. I have also drawn my inspiration from such bands as Tool and Korn, so in my vocal you can hear all those influences."

For the Average Joe who may not have heard of you and was thinking of buying your debut CD, how would you yourself describe your sound? Freya - "I'd say it's a mixture of a heavy rock riff and industrial sound with a certain amount of misticism similar to that you can find in some goth bands."

Your debut album is self-titled ... did you suddenly run out of ideas at the last moment, perhaps?! Freya - "Oh, not at all! We could easily come up with some other ideas. However we thought that the title "Mothernight" would be the best summary of the music on this album. After all, it is our debut that constitutes everything that Mothernight is at this early stage."

And just where does the bands name originate? Deimos - "We named the band after Kurt Vonnegut Jr's book (Mother Night), a war story told by a Nazi propagandist who is an atrocious fiend and a hero at the same time. Later we developed the idea of Mothernight into a myth about female goddess - who is an adversary of the light and safe haven for those who have fallen. She has a definitely dark, atrocious side and a positive one too. You may say she's like a demon with a human face. I think we all hold this duality in ourselves. We are some kind of angel-monsters with the purpose to survive and progress against all odds. Among our songs you won't find typical love songs or shit like that; what we focus on is a real human nature: despair, loneliness, fear, writhing in pain, sorrow, searching for answers etc. So we're definitely asking about a deeper meaning of what human is."

As you come from Warsaw in Poland, I was wondering what else there was to do there if you weren't in a band ... but still needed to vent your passions in much the same way you guys do?! Freya - "I think I'd be music journalist tormenting young bands!"

Deimos - "Well, I'd most probably start directing porno movies!"

How easy (or hard) is it to constantly create a new, vibrant, wanted-by-the-public sound that both builds on and surpasses the musical wonderment's/accomplishments that preceded it within the industry? Deimos - "Well, actually we don't know it yet from our own experience; we have just released our debut! However, I believe our approach is a bit different from other bands around. When we write music we neither bear in mind other people's expectations nor we take into account the competition between bands. We don't consciously compete with anybody. We just want to please ourselves which is the toughest job to do for us; (probably) much more difficult than pleasing the public."

Please tell us more (in a quick fashion!) about what was going on in your life when these songs were being written and recorded:

'My Pain' - Freya - "Contrary to appearances, I was happily in love when I was writing this text. When I'm happy and calm I find it easier to write about such feelings as fear, anger, rejection, pain etc. It's a paradox!"

'Someone To Feed On' - Deimos - "It's about a situation when you want to live someone elses's life 'cause you underestimate yours. But you'll never be anyone else but yourself. You can very often observe kind of toxic relationships between people who pretend to be someone someone else or force their partners to become someone else and it always leads to disaster."

'Waiting To Die' - Freya - "This lyric is in part by me and in part by Gabriel. When I got the first few verses from him I knew they would match some others I had written. It's all about feelings - love and a need of emotionally "vanishing" into someone which is close to death."

Also, if you hadn't have found former Silesia vocalist Freya to front the band, would you have gone with a male lead singer, perhaps? Deimos - "We had been looking for a vocalist for quite some time before meeting Freya ; we had rehearsed with nearly 100 people! We just wanted someone with balls to front the band, and at some point it didn't matter to us if that person was male or female. Freya proved to have balls the moment she started singing on her first rehearlsal with us. If we hadn't found Freya, I'm sure we would have looked further for someone with "the character" regardless of their sex."

If asked to record one for charity, what well-known '80s (and possibly cheesy!) pop/rock song would you love to cover today ... and why?! Freya - "It would be Madonna's "Like A Virgin" 'cause I'm a fan of Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs". If you saw this film, you know what I mean."

Lastly, Exclusive Magazine love Penguins ... do you?! Freya - "Yes, sure. They are best with fries and cold beer!"

Thanx again for doing this for us today, and we wish you all the best for the future Freya - "Great thanks. It was pleasure."

Interviewed by Russell A. Trunk

www.mothernight.eu

www.myspace.com/mothernightprofile

www.kayosproductions.com

To win a signed CD of Mothernight, just answer this easy question: According to their MySpace website, MOTHERNIGHT are also known as "--- --- ---- --- ------- -----" and are a safe haven for those who have fallen. What are the exact missing words?!