Interviews: Oedipus & The Mama's Boys

On this new occasion, we had the opportunity to interview the Post-Punk band Oedipus & The Mama's Boys from Scotland. Check out the interview and follow this band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name? Did you plan it, or did it come out just like that?

Our front man Charlie, came up with the band name about 4 years ago in his first year of university and wrote it down saying, “If I ever start a band, I know exactly what it’s going to be called”. Oedipus is a Greek legend who was in a relationship with his mother accidentally; hopefully, the name makes sense now.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

We wouldn’t say we deliberately chose to play a particular genre, nor do we really consider ourselves to fall into any one genre. We all definitely have common ground in terms of influences, but we have not chosen a genre. There are influences from post-punk, new wave, metal, noise rock, post-rock, emo, grunge, jazz, funk, and blues. We try not to stick to a label and make no deliberate effort to fall under a genre.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

The band has changed a lot over the last few months. It actually originally started as a 3-piece with Charlie and two guys called Sam and Tom. We then roped in our close friend Nye on sax, and we actually found Alex through Facebook. Tom and Sam graduated from uni and moved on to better things, so we started to shop around for the next big things in Edinburgh. Charlie met Gemima by total chance through doing the same degree at university, and Laurie had been interested in the band for a while and reached out to show his interest. We also came across Kellin on Facebook. A very social media-heavy coming together. So in summary, we all kind of knew each other, but also didn’t buy kind of did, and we found some people on Facebook. Lol.

4. Each band member's favourite band?

Charlie - IDLES

Kellin - Gojira

Alex - Gilla Band

Laurie - The Drones

Gemima - The Country Teasers

Cameron - Pavement

Nye - The Pixies

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Charlie has written most of the songs up to now. A lot of the lyrics come from lived experiences and observations. Sometimes the lyrics mean totally nothing, or are deliberately vague and could be interpreted in a host of ways. I take a lot of inspiration from poetry, particularly old Scots poetry. I wish it were more exciting, but I just hear or see phrases in life and write them down and try to tap into that one line. I let it take the song wherever it needs to go.

6. Where was your last gig? 

Our last gig was the opening night of King Tut’s Summer Nights at King Tut’s in Glasgow. This was a dream venue for us; it was quite surreal seeing some of the names of the famous stairs. The night ended up selling out. Not bad for a Glasgow debut.

7. Where would you like to act?

Windmill, Brixton. This venue has hosted many, many of our favourite bands and is a real mark of success, I think.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

Bowen from IDLES. He is a big influence on playing instruments in a non-conventional way. He also co-produced Florence and the Machine’s latest work. It would be awesome to see where he could take us.

9. What bands have inspired you the most?

We take a lot of inspiration from an Irish band called Gilla Band. They are our benchmark for the weird and wacky noises we like to merge into our music. Another one is Opus Kink, again super genre-bending madness with brass and synths. Aside from those two major ones, people like Squid, IDLES, The Murder Capital, Gurriers, Black Country New Road, and Fontaines DC. But also, people like Gary Numan, The Human League (thanks, Dad), Joy Division, Soft Cell, Public Image, Depeche Mode, etc., there are a lot of people and a lot of influences in this band!

10. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

Our experiences with fans (who aren’t friends of the band) have been very limited. However, at our King Tut’s gig, we had an amazing interaction. A very, very kind man named Alex really enjoyed our set and said some unbelievably kind words, which was really the first time a stranger has said things like that. He spoke to each member of the band and even asked us for a photo! While not weird, it was a first for u,s which was definitely a weird but amazing feeling.