Every now and then a band surfaces that defies genre classification: meet Mosman Alder.
And while 'Raisin Heart' — from their 'Burn Bright' EP — recently scored the Queensland Music Award for 'Folk Song Of The Year', lead singer Valdis Valodze is not convinced the label appropriately defines the group.
“It’s a tough one because we’re not really a folk band, but I guess folk music is a pretty vague genre. People usually think folk music is something to do with a singer/songwriter — Neil Young kind of stuff — but I guess folk music can fall into a lot of stuff because it’s pretty much the people’s music.”
A six-piece boasting instruments from baritone vocals to haunting strings, perhaps it's the band's dynamic line-up that makes their music difficult to categorise.
“It’s great to have so many people to fiddle around with different instruments and you know, just try something new,” Valdis says. “[That's] the whole reason we got all of these people together: we didn’t want to have a typical three or four-piece band for the vision and direction we wanted to take the music in. I’d love to record with a big orchestra one day — that would be one of my bigger dreams.”
Mosman Alder's debut EP was released in May, but Valdis is already anticipating a return to the studio.
“We were less than a year old when we were recording 'Burn Bright' so I think we’re learning a lot now and understanding each other’s creative abilities a bit more. It was a big learning experience and I’m proud of what we did, but I think there’s a lot of room for improvement.”
And according to Valdis, the band is already busy writing new material.
“We’ve been writing a lot and we’re going to start demoing stuff soon, then we can sit back and listen and think about what we want to do with the recordings. We’ve had a couple of 45 minute sets where we’ve been able to play a lot of new songs, but it’s hard I guess when there’s demand for the songs people are familiar with.”
Mosman Alder’s BIGSOUND showcase takes place at Alhambra Sept. 13. They also play Out The Back, as part of Brisbane Festival, at Metro Arts Sept. 21.
