7 Questions with Mojave

One of Vancouver’s best indie bands, and a favorite in our fair city, Mojave is definitely a musical force to be reckoned with. Having recently launched their second album (you can read from my friend Pat Zaph about that) and already being interviewed by my friend Rebecca for one of the best online magazines, E! Online, I can tell you that Mojave is already on their way to superstardom. I love their music and I’m a big fan. More importantly, they are a very positive force in the local Vancouver music and environmental community.

I asked Paul and LJ to answer my 7 Questions series and here are their responses.

1. I am a big fan of eco-minded folks, but you guys really have taken it to heart. You are vegan, and you have made the ecology and environment an integral part of your lives. How did you guys start with this and how has this influenced your music?

Well, we are not separate from nature, regardless of how we’’ve built our society or how we sometimes think our lives are disconnected from the planet. We don’’t live outside the system; we are part of the system of nature. Every living thing that exists on earth is part of nature -– including humans. So nature is no more a resource than slaves were hundreds of years ago. We should not be allowed to own it, to use it recklessly or to treat it without respect. The earth has rights, like all of us, so it deserves fair and just treatment, and should be inhabited in a way that isn’’t harmful or detrimental. Once we realized this, we started changing all aspects our lives to be more conscious about the impact every decision has – and involve that consciousness in every band decision (touring, CD packaging, etc).

As far as how it influences our music, not every song is about hugging trees or dismantling car companies (although we sometimes speak more about environmentalism on stage). It’s more subtle than that – and typically the lyrics we write speak about change and being thoughtful in a more general sense.
- Paul

2. Social media brought us together (and hat tips to Miss604 for introducing us too!). You maintain your online presence not only tweeting about your music, but also engaging with folks on their own blogs and twitter, and so on. How do you think this has impacted how broadly your music is disseminated?

The music industry is changing, and while most big labels thing it’s a bad thing – I love it. Being an impossible to reach “rockstar” just won’t cut it anymore, and bands that are really doing well are doing so because they actually engage their fans in one-to-one conversation.

The way i approach twitter is that it’s not for me to promote my band with, it’s more for me to talk to people – and I happen to be a band. So while I definitely promote our shows and albums, most of the time I’m just chatting with folks about everyday things that interest me.

From that approach, I really think our band has been well received in the social media community – because we are accessable, talkative and completely interested in two-way conversation. There are so many bands that just use things like twitter and myspace to tell their audience their marketing message, and I just think people tune that sort of thing out.
- Paul

3. I’m definitely not a music writer, but I love music. If you had to explain it to me in sort-of-mainstream comparison with groups/singers, whom would you say are the main influences of your music and sounds?

That’s the best thing about music – you don’t have to know anything about it to appreciate it (and it’s completely universal)! For LJ and I, our musical backgrounds are hard rock and heavy metal, so our influences are still bands like that – KillSwitch Engage, Vanna, Deftones, Tool… but we really listen to a bit in every genre. Lately we’ve been listening to a lot of City & Colour, Bon Iver, Calexico, Iron & Wine, Sigur Ros.

I would say though that our music and sound is more influenced by emotion than music. That’s really what i like about writing – if you’re feeling a certain way, writing a song, lyrics, a guitar riff, etc, can help purge that emotion and help you deal with it.
- Paul

4. You shared with us your creative process on Twitter, even during Earth Hour Canada (something I found super-awesome). How does engaging your fans with your music work during the writing/editing process? Does it influence the final result?

Engaging our fans for the entire process was basically AWESOME. We’ve had so many positive comments about it, and it was genuinely fun to do. The only impact on the final result is that (I hope) it makes people more stoked to see what the final result is, since they’ve been part of the journey with us the whole way.

Most of the time in the studio, one person is recording something, and the rest of the band is waiting – so in the “waiting” time, it’s easy to snap a few photos, update twitter, or write a blog post.
- Paul

5. I had a chance to listen to “Your Silence Betrays Me”, and I fell in love with it. The lyrics are rather empowering – what is the inspiration behind it?

I usually write the lyrics but for this album Paul contributed quite a bit. It was nice because for some of the songs the messages shared two points of few to the same situation, and ‘Your Silence Betrays You’ was one of those.

The song is about how easy it is to talk about how you wish things were different but people don’t always make any effort in being part of the change. It’s not about sitting around, waiting and praying for things to be different -nothing happens until you have the courage to make it happen.
- LJ

6. If you had to pick your favorite song from Crow’s Funeral, which one would be?

The song ‘Crows Funeral’ means the most to be emotionally. There are always times when we question ourselves and sometimes our insecurity gets the best of us and we want to give up. This was a song about one of those moments in my life. Plus I got to play banjo on it:) That was a lot of fun!
- LJ

7. Where are you headed next? Tell me a bit about your next shows (and by the way I loved the bit in Spanish in “Save Me”)

Thank you! ‘Save Me’ is always such a fun song to play live. Learning to speak Spanish is one of my goals in life. It’s such a beautiful language. We’ve got a ton of shows coming up this year, this month we’ve got one at The Cellar is not to be missed…we have a little surprise… – 8pm at The Cellar on June 24th.

- LJ

So there you have it! Head over to The Cellar on June 24th for their next gig… I *might*, I just *might* be able to pull something fun for my readers!

Related posts:

1. Mojave Band live at #yvr #blogathon headquarters (WorkSpace)
2. Seven questions with The Hush Now (@thehushnow)
3. Mojave: Way more than an eco-minded music band
4. Music review – Mayday (M’aidez) by People in Planes
5. Music review – Downfall by matchbox twenty