INTERVIEW: The Mowgli’s
WTBU DJ Kate Evans chatted with Colin Dieden, vocalist and guitarist of The Mowgli’s, about their current tour with Jukebox the Ghost. The tour stops in Boston at the Royale on March 28th. Tickets are available here.
Kate Evans: So you’re currently on a co-headline tour across the U.S. with Jukebox the Ghost. How is it going?
Colin Dieden: It’s going really well. It’s kind of an interesting time to just jump on and share a bus with them. We definitely love each other and we’re having so much fun. They’re such great guys and a great band. It couldn’t be going any better.
KE: You’ve just released your EP American Feelings a week ago. How has it been playing the songs live for fans?
CD: People have been loving it. We’ve had really great reception from the fans. I’ve heard people say it’s the best stuff we’ve ever released. It’s really cool to see the chain reaction.
KE: Where did you draw inspiration for the songs on the EP?
CD: This one was a little different than other records because this one started from the conceptual standpoint. I started “Hard to Love” and “Norman Rockwell” with the titles and I then figured out the song around that regard. Sometimes I start writing and then figure out what it’s about later. This one is more conceptual than what we’ve done in the past.
KE: Since the Mowgli’s formed nine years ago, how do you feel you have grown as a band in terms of style?
CD: We’ve definitely matured from the days when we were just having fun with it. Now we’re a full blown operation traveling to new places. I think that stylistically we’re a lot more mature. Our style has evolved from jangly-pop that you’d write as a teenager, and now we’re on the radio and playing Late Night with Conan and Leno and all of those shows. We’ve become a real band.
KE: If you could curate your own festival who are some artists you’d love to play alongside?
CD: Oh wow, that’s a good question. I’d like to see all of our friends like Grouplove, Portugal. The Man, and Local Natives. Newer artists I’m finding like Still Woozy, she’s amazing. I’d like to bring on my friends Elijah Noll and Savannah Outen. I would like to put my friends on stage so people could see them.
KE: What is the most memorable [good or bad] moment in the Mowgli’s?
CD: The most memorable moment I’ve had was the first time we played on Jay Leno because there’s a wall, and the wall comes flying up and all of the cameras are zooming in at your face on the camera frames. That was a moment I will never forget for the rest of my life. Or when we stepped on stage at Firefly festival in front of 35-40,000 people.
KE: Your last album, Where’d Your Weekend Go?, was released in 2016. Is there another album in the works?
CD: We’re always writing so as soon as we’re done we’re still writing for the next. I think it’s more of an EP kind of world right now so I think it’s likely you’ll see another EP from us.
Don’t forget to catch The Mowgli’s with Jukebox the Ghost at the Royale on March 28th!