This month’s featured Artist is Those Mockingbirds, hailing from Montclair, NJ. Those Mockingbirds are made up of Adam Bird (vocals, guitar), Tory Daines (vocals, violin, piano), Rob Fitzgerald (bass), Dan Kreiner (guitar) and Kevin Walters (drums).
The quintet released their debut EP – No Symmetry in late Spring 2010. They have been promoting this latest release by touring, releasing a music video for the single “Honest? Honest”, and a unique promotional campaign featuring the Numa Numa Guy ( www.savenuma.com ). The band started working on their new record in the Fall of 2010 and in between writing and recording sessions they released “The Chain”, a studio cover of a Fleetwood Mac song they have been performing on tour.
Eat Sleep Breathe Music had the opportunity to interview Adam Bird (vocals, guitar) and Tory Daines (vocals, violin, piano). We found out how they came together, why they are called Those Mockingbirds, and what are some of their favorite NJ venues to play.
ESBM: You’re a relatively new band, can you tell us when and how you came together?
TD: Those Mockingbirds started over a year ago with almost an entirely different lineup than we have now. At our first show we played with The Matches, we recorded an EP, went on tour, and kidnapped the Numa Numa guy. We’re now joined by Rob, Kevin, and Dan and we couldn’t be happier playing together! It is because of them that you will notice so many changes sonically on “The Chain,” on the next release, and live.
ESBM: How did you pick the name Those Mockingbirds?
TD: Adam has a fear of mockingbirds. When we’re in NYC he often confuses pigeons for mockingbirds, and when he sees one it upsets him very much so he says “Ohhhh those mockingbirds!!” and runs.
AB: She wasn’t supposed to tell you that, but its true.
ESBM: You have your own management label and signed a distribution deal with Sidecho, how was this direction decided upon?
TD: We felt that the old business model was out of date and made our own plan. Sidecho was really on the same page as us and felt that working together would be great, so we did.
ESBM: Tell us about the cover you did of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain”, what made you want to cover this song?
AB: I grew up listening to ‘Rumors’ in the way other kids listen to Raffi. Its my moms favorite album of all time, and I knew those songs like the back of my hand by the time i was 10. So, I kinda always wanted to try a song from that album, and had suggested it in all the bands i had ever played in, finally, my band mates agreed. So, Tory and I worked out a version of “The Chain” and considered another song or two from the record, but “The Chain” really spoke to us and we felt we were doing a pretty good job with it, and here we are.
ESBM: You recently released a video for “We Are The Antidote” off your No Symmetry EP, that was created by one of your fans. Can you tell us about it?
AB: A guy named Colin told us he had made a video for the song, and asked if we wanted to see it. We said “sure why not?” and we ended up kinda surprised by how well he matched up the clips with the lyrics and themes in the song. We asked him to make a few small changes, and we gave him some footage of us performing the song, which no one had seen before, and it was ready to go!
ESBM: Being a band from NJ what is your favorite NJ venue to perform?
TD: My favorite is Maxwell’s in Hoboken because they give us a gourmet dinner and the show is usually packed. The bands favorite is The Meatlocker in Montclair, because it’s our homebase. If you haven’t been to The Meatlocker before, it is just that, an old meatlocker stuffed with old car seats, broken pianos, and a stage!
AB: I agree with both of those answers but would like to chime in that i think Tory may be slightly overzealous by calling that a stage…
ESBM: You are currently working on new material, when can we expect to hear some new tracks?
TD: When you come to a show! We are currently playing new material, you can see our upcoming shows at www.facebook.com/ThoseMockingbirds We do hope to make it into the studio again soon, we certainly have enough material to fill one album and then some.
AB: We are shy about giving exact dates but recorded stuff should be coming soon.
For more on Those Mockingbirds visit their official website or check them out on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. Check out the No Symmetry – EP on iTunes.
Upcoming Performances:
1/10/11 – Angels & Kings (acoustic) – New York, NY
1/15/11 – Court Tavern – New Brunswick, NJ
1/21/11 – New Visions Art Studio – Taylor, PA
1/22/11 – The Meatlocker – Montclair, NJ