007: Mother Feather

 

Written and Edited by Eve Mikkelson, host of Brooklyn Buzz on WPIR
Photography by Eve Mikkelson
Interview on 11/5/2024

Brooklyn Buzz interviewed Ann Courtney, the frontwoman of Mother Feather, to celebrate the release of their newest album, “KICK3R.” Mother Feather is a high-energy rock band that effortlessly blends glam and punk with a vibrant, theatrical flare. This interview was originally recorded and streamed on WPIR in November -- the link to that audio can be found below this paragraph if you want to hear how much we laughed and enjoyed ourselves throughout. Ann had such a fantastic and friendly energy as we discussed the personal meanings behind their new songs, what it has been like performing live in a post-Covid world, and how to be your most authentic self while celebrating the people in your life. 

Recording of the interview as it aired on Brooklyn Buzz, WPIR: https://soundcloud.com/mother-feather/bkbuzz-wpir-pratt-radio-interview-with-ann-courtney-of-mother-feather-1124 
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First off, would you like to introduce yourself?

I’m Ann Courtney of Mother Feather! Thank you for letting me invite myself over.

Would you like to describe your music for those who may not have heard it before?

The easiest way to describe it is rock n’ roll. It’s heavy/hard rock, but there’s also a lot that’s not like that. When people ask “What KIND of rock is it?” I would say it's like classic 70s rock meets 90s alt rock. It’s like if The Pretenders and T-Rex had a baby, fronted by a bunch of cranky women.

*Laughs* Well my next question is actually about Lizzy. She’s another vocalist and powerhouse of the band. I was curious how you guys met.

Lizzy and I met in college. We went to theater school together in an acting program at Fordham University. Then, we did a study abroad program in London together. Since we knew each other at school we decided to be roommates and got really close that semester. That was in… are you ready for this? 2002.

Ooo wanna hear something terrible? I wasn’t born yet.

*laughs* Woooah!

Only one year after though.

That means you were born when we graduated from college. That makes me feel really fucking old. *laughs*

 
Lizzy Carena, vocalist for Mother Feather and bestie of Ann Courtney

Well, I wanted to ask about Lizzy because you seem to match each others’ energy so well! I didn’t know it was theater school, that makes sense to me. I did a lot of theater in high school so I get the type of energy you can get from those friends. And you guys have such a distinct sound and unique aesthetic visually, I was wondering who some of your inspirations were?

I always had a glammy, larger-than-life vision of this band because I had larger-than-life songs that I wanted to sing about larger-than-life feelings and I didn’t want to roll out of bed in jeans and a T-shirt to share them. I wanted the world to match the sound.

That’s lovely.

So, Lady Gaga has always been a huge inspiration to me. I used to bartend at this music venue on the Lower East Side, Rockwood Music Hall, for about a decade, and I saw her perform back in 2006 or 2007. Watching her transformation and fearlessness has been amazing, so she’s been a massive influence on me. One I get called out for all the time and is definitely an influence is Yeah Yeah Yeahs. There was a moment in time where they were very hot in the zeitgeist and people can’t see a brunette wearing leather spikes and not think of her. That’s fine though because they’re amazing. Seeing performers like that inspired me. Helped me think “I can definitely do this. Why am I NOT doing this?”

That’s awesome. Part of the reason you’re here today is because your new album “KICK3R” came out [in October]! I was wondering how long it had been in the making and if it feels great finally getting it out there?

It feels incredible. This is the third Mother Feather album, which just makes me go “Wow.” It felt like a hard one too because we released this one completely ourselves after doing a lot of independent EP releases then being on a label for a while. With this one, we reclaimed the independent approach which has been very satisfying. I’ve also never released an album by teasing it out like this one. 2024 has been a song a month, with a big music video project to go along with each one. So, finally releasing the album as a whole has been very satisfying.

I remember when the first song came out, but I didn’t realize it was that long ago already!

Time flies, right? Having people find the album many times over in many different ways is a good place for us to be. We can’t drop an entire album and expect the whole world to pay attention to us. Releasing little bits at a time, taking the listener on a ride through the releases over the year, and also enjoying the ride now that we have the album in full has been a good avenue for us. Also with the watch party [In November], it’ll be a good opportunity to take in the album and go on the ride again.

That’s wonderful. I’m always obsessed with the meaning behind songs. I was particularly interested in “Believers” because it’s the opener and then it has a part 2 and a Coda as well. It’s obviously very special. Could you say something about that?

I wrote “Believers” in the thick of the pandemic when it seemed like we didn’t know if we would ever be able to commune again or have live shows in public. Josh, the producer of the album, at the time said that it felt like “the end of fun.” So I was getting emails and messages from Mother Feathers, [the affectionate name for fans of the band], saying things like “God, I just can’t wait until this is all over.” My own stirred up feelings about returning and that feeling of closeness to the fans is what really drove that song. Getting to say “I see you. I feel you. Can you believe this is the end of fun?” But in my mind when I was writing that song, I was envisioning performing on stage to the audience. I imagine the touch and the mirroring of the audience that for years on stage has been an incredible, pleasant surprise for Mother Feather. When I started the band it was to make myself feel better, and all these people responded in this incredible way. It was such a gift, but everyone got so upended during the pandemic. Especially artists.

Yes, 100%.

With our first two albums, there was a thematic tie-in to WHO was Mother Feather and WHAT was Mother Feather. With KICK3R though, the question was more “WHERE IS Mother Feather?” Where is Mother Feather when it seems like your source of inspiration, connection, strength, creativity, sparkle, purpose, whatever you want to call it, isn’t there any more? There was a possibility that it could never come back ever again. The first two albums were a lot more empowered but then I found myself in a place where it was dark and scary. With this album, I told the truth about that. Once I did, things started cracking open more and I stopped putting pressure on myself to be inspirational and sound like I had all the answers, because I don’t.

Nobody does. I don’t want to say it was “a cool thing about the pandemic” but while these artists were being turned upside down, it allowed them to find new ways to cope with it through their art. People and their art completely evolved, which is pretty cool even though the means definitely weren’t ideal.

It was very cool. Lizzy sent me something a couple weeks ago about how the pandemic made everyone get over themselves about whatever thing was bothering them. The mindset of “we are all gonna die anyway and the systems we created are broken so we may as well do what we want to.” That message has kind of always been the Mother Feather MO which is “now or never, we are all gonna die so we may as well make this one count.” I think that in the end it translated into a fearlessness about making the record and changing how we as a band did things structurally. We had to because we had to adapt.

My next question is pretty general, but are there any other stories behind songs that you have been waiting for an opportunity to share?

When I started making KICK3R, I had a few new songs and older songs in progress. Joshua and I started working on the new songs and it became obvious that they were telling a story together. At that moment, I knew I had more work to do. That’s how Believers ended up with a part 2 and a Coda. In making a record I think half of the trick was believing that I could. There was a long time where I wasn’t sure that I could, so the fact I’m sitting here with you now makes it feel like it has been a long journey. One of those new songs that I wrote was “It Ain’t So Bad, It’s Worse.”

I played that one on my show the week it came out!

You did! I broke my foot during the pandemic and that was another thing that really dragged me down. I live on a fourth floor walk up and everything. *Laughs* So I spent a lot of time stuck on my couch disassociating about better times (which is how “Downtime” was written actually). Once I was healing and mobile I would limp over to Josh’s house which was about a mile away. I started writing a rhythm to the limp, wanting it to feel like being seasick on a ship. Everything is in the title. It’s about my own toxic positivity and finally having the courage to tell the truth. Finally saying “enough is enough, I can tell the truth about how miserable I am.” Especially the bridge is very honest and sad, but it was how I was feeling at the time.

You turned it into something that other people could relate to and learn from. I know I struggle with that false positivity sometimes too.

Even I’m still learning from it!


All photos included in this article are from Mother Feather’s live show at Baby’s All Right in fall of 2024

I guess to bring it back into a more positive area, you were talking about how special it is to perform live. I had the opportunity to see you live earlier this fall at Baby’s All Right. You guys are such great performers. I was wondering where you get all that energy?

Well I don’t have it all the time. *laughs* I have to stoke it and preserve it. Mother Feather has been around now as a performing entity since 2010. We played consistently up to the pandemic, and we are still figuring out what this band looks like in a post-Covid world. We have seen the live scene in NYC change many times, so I think the past few years have taught me that I’m a lifer. Just because you’re a wounded bird with a broken leg and nobody is allowed to see each other because there is a global pandemic, that doesn’t mean it stops. I had a hard time creating during the pandemic – I mean, you were talking about how artists made deep art – but it took a long time.

There was definitely a turnover period where nobody knew what was going on.

Nobody knew what the fuck was happening! It took me a really long time to start getting my footing again.

Most people were hesitant right after too. People are still only just beginning to trickle back into the live music scene.

I think something that has helped me is a zoomed out perspective. Trusting yourself and trusting your friends is important. You can’t get spooked by others chasing their own happiness. Lizzy, for example, is a wildly talented, multi-dimensional human. It wasn’t clear if by the time I was out of my head and ready to perform again that we would be back to normal. So I had to adapt to that and it was difficult for me. Growing up is hard.

I will say, getting to go to your show was one of the first shows I have been to since the pandemic where everyone, including the audience, felt really IN it and excited. Your fan base seems so committed and adores you, rightfully so.

I’m just so thankful everyone has stuck with us. I had one goal for that show and it was to have a great fucking time. We played two shows this year. The first one was the first one back and there was so much going on since we were just returning. I think something I have learned about being an independent artist is that you have to do everything yourself. I think for a long time I resented that.

I definitely understand that right now. I’ve been falling into that mindset, I fear.

In the resenting doing everything yourself? *laughs* Great, let’s talk about this. I spent a lot of time thinking “What the fuck? We are on this label, aren’t they supposed to be helping me?” So I had to let all that shit go. Instead I decided I am responsible for this, which means taking credit for the positives but also taking accountability for the negatives. You have to be very fluent in what your strengths and weaknesses are. Since I started doing that, a lot of the things that frustrated me have gone away. And I found that understanding everyone's strengths is the best way to go about things. Something that has really blossomed for me is band members and people in my life that want to be involved. They see my excitement so they get excited too. For example, Gunnar is an incredible drummer and can be a superstar at gigs. He loves taking musical direction at rehearsals and that is perfect for me because I don’t know music theory or anything like that, but he is essential in that way and has been excited to rise to the occasion.

That’s awesome! This is kind of a silly question now, but on the topic of getting to see you live: There were a few costume changes going on and I was genuinely wondering where you get your cool clothes. Even today you’re wearing a sick question mark dress.

So that has always been a huge – sometimes stressful but always fun – part of the project. Lizzy and I style our own stagewear for the most part. We have had amazing opportunities to work with designers here and there, but for the most part we are sourcing from all over the place. It’s always a struggle of matching each other. Sometimes it's fraught too because how you present yourself is fraught. Then the more shows there are, the more opportunities there are to get it right. The show that you were at, I wore the hoopskirt on my head that looked sort of like an upside down trash can. But, I wanted to have a dramatic entrance and it was fun to play around like “I’m in a cage!” *laughs*

It was really cool. I was eating it up.

There is always thinking about what color the backdrop is too. You don’t want to blend in and lights are always an X-factor. You have to be able to move, too. There is a lot of shopping and returning. Cutting, safety-pinning, tweaking.

I can imagine. I feel like you got it perfectly right that night, though. I was blown away by every aspect, genuinely.

I was told by a few people that I was particularly feral that night. Like I said, I had one goal to have the time of my life and I definitely achieved that. There wasn’t an overwhelming sense of pressure, we just wanted to have the best time ever and we did.

I’m so glad.

And you were a champ, too. First, I saw you at the merch booth before the show. And then I was on stage in a fugue state, ripping my fingernails off… which were press-ons, I want to say! And you received… I don’t even remember how it happened exactly. Was I like “Who wants a piece of me?” Yeah, so I ripped off a fingernail and I offered it to the crowd via my tongue.

Oh, I was screaming at this point for sure. *laughs*

This bright-eyed, sparkly Mother Feather in the front row went “Me! Me! Me!” and I recognized you from the merch table. Of course afterward you told me you were the DJ that posts about us and I thought it was all so amazing.

Hell yeah! I still can’t believe that people recognize my name. Especially somebody as cool as you. I meant to say this before we began, but when I made my Brooklyn Buzz Instagram account you were the first band to follow me and it meant the world. I flipped out.

*laughs* It’s just me, you know what I mean? I’m equally excited. When people write to me telling me a song means something to them or even just “I like what you’re doing” I answer “Thank you! Holy shit!” I’m just the girl down the street trying to make some shit, so if you didn’t tell me these things then I would never know, you know? So I have these incredible relationships with our fans.

We touched on this a little, but you’ve had a music video come out for every single song on the album which is a crazy feat. My favorite is “Resigned to Rot” because I love the 16-bit video game look. I was wondering, did you have a favorite video to shoot? Because you were in all of them, right?

Yes, except for the animated one for “Hot Firework Nights.”

Right! That’s a whole nother thing. Didn’t you get an animation class to do that?

Yes! This is the thing about being around forever and ever and knowing a lot of people. I think I’m pretty good at matchmaking now. I paired Lizzy up with her cat and now she is super involved in animal rescue. I would just like to say I was the matchmaker of that. *laughs* So I realized I could matchmake for myself since I know a zillion talented people. Part of our release strategy for this album was inspired by this company in LA that is helping us with distribution, called “Head Bitch Music.” They are old friends of mine who moved out west. They lead the idea of having one release a month as part of the strategic algorithm plan to get people to notice. It’s served me artistically too because I’ve had this opportunity to milk each song and give a full release of every track. Wait, I have lost the original topic. *laughs*

I was just asking if you could talk about all your music videos!

Right! So I had a couple of ideas for the videos but I decided I needed to get a computer and learn how to edit.

YOU did that yourself?

No no, not all of it but a lot of it. I edited the “Believers” video which was the first music video I ever edited. Then I went to a friend, Hernán Sanchez, who did that for a living and offered to give me a tutorial. He hooked me up and sent me on my way. Caterpillar Future is a filmmaker and photographer that I know so we said “let’s make some shit.” It ended up being beautiful and gave me confidence to shoot the next thing. Then, I met an artist named King Z, who is a Pratt alumnus, at an all ages Mother Feather show when he was 17 and he was just touring the college. He was this bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, young artist. He is still that way, but he came back to NYC after the pandemic. We had just released the “Believers” music video and he texted me “When are we making a video?” So, I presented him with a very modest budget and he was thrilled. Not to say you should underpay King Z. *laughs* He made a big vision for “Resigned To Rot” for a really limited budget, which was thrilling and also a bit scary. I wasn’t sure if it was going to work out.

I can picture the discussion. “Then I want to have a huge spaceship come in!” *laughs*

Yeah! He would ask what all the songs were about and basically hasn’t stopped texting me since about every crazy idea that comes into his head. It’s been thrilling because I have seen him grow up over the years. He has really developed as an artist and I have been really impressed with his work. He also made the “Curtains” video.

[Next, we talk briefly about Mother Feather’s music video screening event that happened on November 16th. At this show, all of the music videos for KICK3R were played in order to showcase the story, music, and all the hard work that had been put into them. At the time of the interview, the screening was up-coming.]

It is going to be at Film Noir Cinema. That is a really cool theater I have gotten to know about through this other project I’ve been in called “Smootaphilia.” We do live scoring of cult erotic horror films.

Ugh, that sounds like it would be my favorite thing ever.

To get back on track about the music videos: So I reached out to my friend, Isaiah King, who is an incredible artist and made the video for the song “Mother Feather.” It was kind of our first music video and got the attention of our label. We shot that in like 2011. What is time? Here I was graduating from college and you were just being born.

*laughs*
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Well now we got to mention the watch party. At the party is where people can get first dibs on our vinyl [which is now available].

Did I see that the vinyl is a fun color?

It is a fun color! It is KICK3R orange, or what I like to call Emergency Orange. Traffic cone. The nice folks at New Orleans Record Press printed them for us and they were lovely to work with.

Awesome. I was going to ask if you had any upcoming shows or if you had anything you’d like to promote.

The watch party is the big thing. We have never done anything like it ever. I have never made an epic music video for every song on an album. I planned this year out so that the album would be out before the election because I knew that I needed a little time. And there is nothing worse than trying to self-promote in the middle of some big shit going on. But, life goes on.

Gotta keep doing cool shit. That was my last question but I don’t want this to end! *laughs*

Well I’m delighted that you found us. How did you find us actually?

You know, I don’t remember because that was nearly three years ago now. I didn’t know what I was doing yet so I was pretty much googling and noticing bands who played with bands who played with bands, checking if any were also local to NYC. Very precarious.

That’s amazing though. Maybe I have taken for granted how I’ve come to know a lot of musicians in NYC because I worked at this music venue for ten years. At Rockwood they would have 6-8 bands a night. We did the math once and it was like “you have seen 6 million people.” *laughs* Even big successful artists are talking about their frustrations around reaching people now. At my job, people would ask me about my stuff and I could give them a flyer. Those days are passing. There is nothing sadder than putting your time and energy behind promoting and putting on a good show, then all these people go “You played a show? I’ll catch the next one.”

Yeah. I know people aren’t reading this to hear my side of the interview but even trying to organize socials for our station and getting the DJs to meet each other is so difficult.

Something that got me to appreciate how the thing I have made is so much bigger than myself was that yesterday I got a message from a Mother Feather saying something like “I was just hanging around yesterday doing my thing and this cool looking guy compliments me on my jacket. I go ‘hey I like your pants’ and the next question he asked was ‘Do you know Mother Feather?’” Turns out King Z was the one walking down the street and they recognized each other from a show! That’s so fucking cool.

That’s crazy! I was just at Our Wicked Lady and I saw your KICK3R sticker on the door.

The street team! You know who powers that? Me.

*laughs* Well, thank you so much for coming in. I have been looking forward to this for weeks.

Oh wait! I would love to tell another story that I was telling you before we started today.

Of course!

I owe my presence on planet earth to college radio because my parents met at their college radio station in 1964 at the University of Michigan. My dad was “Bob Patio the Madcap Daddio,” a DJ, and my mother read the weather. And they met!

Aww and they fell in love.

They fell in love! They are still married all these years later.

That’s what college radio can give you.

That’s right. Your whole life.

More images from the Baby’s All Right show:


This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.