INTERVIEW + PREMIERE: Mum Thinks Blue Chats About Their Beginnings + Their New Music Video!
Article by Ciaran Nix
Fresh off the heels of their latest single ‘Side That Wasn’t Told’ Kuarna lands indie-pop-rock darlings, Mum Thinks Blue, are showing no signs of slowing down as they unveil a ripper music video to accompany an equally-ripper tune.
Directed by Jai Ruciak and produced by Jasmine Leech, this quirky video fuses some unlikely elements to represent breaking away from the norm and embracing your own unique path - in true Mum Thinks Blue style.
Along with an exclusive premiere of the epic music video, we were lucky enough to catch-up with the band to chat all about ‘Side That Wasn’t Told’, band origins and creative processes
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZl5mdLeTE0?wmode=opaque]
Hey legends, how are you all feeling? How did the single launch for ‘Side That Wasn’t Told’ go on Saturday?
We’re feeling good thanks! The single launch was a lot of fun, we played at Lowlife Basement bar for the first time. It was a really cool vibe and the crowd got into it which is always good! Was a good feeling to play STWT for everyone now that it’s released also!
You guys have an awesome band name, Mum Thinks Blue, what was the inspiration behind it and is there a specific mum out there to thank for it?
It all happened when I (Hannah) was on a road trip with my family, it was a 5 hour car ride. The band were trying to think of a name so I raised the question to my fam, “what do you think we should call ourselves?” We were thinking about having a name with a colour, and as soon as I said this mum was rattling off any and every single colour that came to mind. She settled on blue because she loves 80s band Deacon Blue. For the rest of the trip she was certain we should just call ourselves Blue. After a while dad said why don’t you call yourselves Mum Thinks Blue and here we are!
For anyone that hasn’t delved into Mum Thinks Blue, how would you describe your music in four words?
Tasty, groovy, energetic, fun
Where did the musical journey start for you all individually? How did you then find your way to each other and eventually form the band?
We all went to school together. It wasn’t until our final years of highschool that we actually started playing with each other though. We did a group assignment and realised we had something cool going on so from that we decided to jam, and write music. Straight away we all fell in love with it and it just felt right. Thanks to that assignment we decided to write our own music and since then haven’t looked back
The new single ‘Side That Wasn’t Told’ is catchy, infectious and full of energy. What was the creative process like and how did it feel for you guys the first time you heard the finished product?
When we first heard the mix completed we were all super pumped up. It was exactly what we envisioned and hearing it for the first time all together got us all really keen. We spent a lot of time polishing this one and working towards getting the right groove throughout instrumentally. The lyrics were also something that I (Austin) spent a bit of time perfecting. Once I had the main message that I wanted for the song, which sort of came from the chorus first, it all fell together nicely. We had a lot of fun in the studio touching up parts and experimenting as we went through Forest Range studios, and Lucinda who is a good friend to all of us mixed and produced it, so it was a good time throughout.
I’d love to know a little bit about where you guys are from. What was it like growing up where you live and how do you think it has shaped your sound and style?
We are all originally from the down south suburbs of Adelaide, Kuarna land. We all practice/ write at Josh's house (our drummer) who lives down by the beach so I feel like starting out we sort of had that summery airy beach vibe. I think from the start we Definitely jumped into a summery groovy sort of sound that we have kept throughout, but since really developing and experimenting I feel our style has broadened. This may also be from a few of us moving and living closer to the city rather than down south now! As for what shapes our sound, I think all of us having completely different music tastes and trying to all sort of find a happy medium and get a bit of all of us, individually in our songs, that has sort of shaped the style more than anything.
‘Side That Wasn’t Told’ is the sixth release for you now. And the second for 2022. I personally can’t wait to hear where your sound heads next. Is there a master plan to your roll out of music or is it all happening organically?
Thank you so much! Yea we worked hard on boosting out another song for 2022 after Headspin. We realised we needed to step up and release more often if we want to give this a proper shot. And thankfully after headspin was done recording we were able to go straight into recording STWT because of how polished we had it from working on it for so long! Our plan is to just keep having fun, we definitely want to keep boosting our tunes and 2023 definitely is looking tasty for potentially 3 new releases! I think we sort of talk about how much space we want between releases then come up with a date for the next single, but it all sort of still comes down to how the song is feeling to us. I’d say it all happens pretty organically, and we’re just trying to get our music out there for more people to hear!
What are some bucket list goals for Mum Thinks Blue that you would love to achieve in the coming years?
We are really enjoying ourselves at the minute, so continuing to have fun and love what we’re doing is a big thing for us.
We really want to ramp it up and just get out there more with shows, we are hoping to have some more interstate shows, hopefully get on the lineup to a few festivals. We want to continue to get heard Aus wide and just build a bigger audience and to have more people know about us. Long term we 100% want to tour, want to release EP’s and Albums, and of course have Mum Thinks Blue on everyone's mind.
It’s been awesome getting the chance to chat with you guys and get a little peek into the world of Mum Thinks Blue and Adelaide. We love local music scenes all across the country, so to wrap it up, who are some other SA acts killing it that we should keep an ear out for?
Thank you so much! There are so many, but our good friends Tullamarines, Purée, Mums Favourite and Coldwave are killing it at the minute, and that’s just to name a few!!