Interview: Mouth Culture @ 2000trees
Mouth Culture by Jez Pennington
We had the pleasure of catching up with Mouth Culture at 2000trees, where they were taking in the festival vibes for the first time as both performers and attendees. Following the release of their debut album, Mishaps Of My Mid Twenties, late last year, the band has been riding a wave of success with a nearly sold-out headline tour and a string of exciting festival appearances. We chatted about their festival experiences, the thrill of connecting with fans on a deeper level, and the buzz surrounding their upcoming new music. With their eclectic sound and a knack for keeping listeners on their toes, Mouth Culture is gearing up for a busy summer filled with shows, festivals, and a few secret projects they’re dying to reveal.
Thanks so much for taking the time to chat. Is this your first time at Trees?
Todd: Yeah, it’s our first time. We hadn’t even attended before, just heard a lot about it.
Mouth Culture by Jez Pennington
Jack: All our friends have always said this is one of the best festivals. It’s really cool. And I’m not gonna lie, the vibe here is quite...
Mason: Spectacular.
Todd: We love it. Everything’s so close and compact, it feels really family-oriented.
Are you just here today?
Mason: Til Sunday!
Todd: For the full weekend!
Jack: Back for the football.
They put the football on in one of the tents, didn’t they?
Jack: Yeah, I saw that.
Is there anyone you’re hoping to see over the weekend?
Todd: I want to see Bob Vylan. That would be pretty cool.
Mason: Empire State Bastard.
Jack: I wanted to see Manchester Orchestra, but we missed it. We didn’t arrive on time.
Todd: We were setting up our tents in the dark and could hear them in the background. It was like, “Oh no…”
Mason: And Don Broco too.
Jack: Oh God, Don Broco, yeah. Definitely want to catch them.
So you had an EP out at the end of last year and a headline tour earlier this year. What else have you been up to?
Todd: That’s mostly what we’ve been doing. We had a few shows in between, but the main thing was the headline tour. We sold, I think, 90% of it out, which was bonkers for us. We put the tour out, and you never really know how it’s going to go at our stage. But it was super refreshing. The ticket sales started really well, and then after playing one show, we’d finish, and our tour manager would call and be like, “You sold out tomorrow.”
Jack: It felt like the old school way of doing things. Our manager kept telling us, “You just need to keep playing shows, keep playing shows,” which is what we did all last year. And it really paid off. Nowadays, with the internet, it’s great because everyone has access to music, but at the same time, people think they can just write a record and thousands will show up. It doesn’t work like that. You have to put in the time and effort in different communities, different places. We’ve put in the work, and now we’re walking around here and people recognise us. That’s what it’s all about.
Mason: There was no expectation. We had no idea how the tour would go. We’ve only done one headline tour before, back in 2021, so to go from that to now, where we’re selling out shows—it’s like, “Where has the last two and a half years gone?”
Todd: A good example is when we played in Newcastle. The first time, there were maybe six or seven people there. We thought there were reasons like a festival happening the same day. But when we went back six months later, we sold it out.
Jack: And it wasn’t even that long in between. Just six or seven months.
Mason: It shows the traction the EP got. It was pivotal.
Jack: Even those seven people who were there the first time—they put in work too, sharing it on their stories. The next time, they were back with three of their mates. It’s really nice to finally see your work pay off.
For anyone who hasn’t heard your music before, how would you describe what you’re doing?
Todd: You’re the bio man, Mason.
Mason: Everyone hates this word because it’s overused, but I’d say eclectic alternative rock. We all listen to a lot of different music, and it all influences what we do. It’s whatever vibe we’re catching at that point in time. If it ends up being a song, it ends up being a song.
Todd: That’s what keeps it exciting. The mystery of what’s coming next brings intrigue. We love doing that—when we’re writing and performing, we want to give people something unexpected. The new EP we wrote, which is coming out soon, will really cement that for us. The different sounds on it go from an epic shoegaze track to a nu-metal track.
Mason: We have our first riff! Yeah, everyone, we have our first riff!
Jack: The riff has arrived!
Straight into talking about the new EP, no secrets here! My notes from your team say a not-so-subtle, “Wink, wink, they’re working on something.”
Mouth Culture by Jez Pennington
Todd: Yeah, we’ve been throwing that out there.
Mason: We’re just buzzing at the minute because we got the masters back last week. It’s all steam ahead now.
Jack: It’s all exciting times.
Todd: We’ve been sitting on these demos for ages, falling in love with them. We’re very particular about how they sound, so when we go to the studio, we can replicate and elevate them. Hearing the final products now, it’s just super refreshing.
How have things changed from the last EP to this one?
Todd: I think it’s a lot more mature.
Jack: We did a nearly sold-out tour, and to go through that experience, playing songs we wrote for ourselves—it was like our therapy. Seeing how people reacted to that, we’ve really utilised that feeling in this new record. We know what the ragers want, and we’ve done it on this record.
When is it coming out? Are we allowed to know?
Mason: We’re not going to give away the EP date, but you might be able to hear new music around the first half of August. That’s all I’ll say. You might—definitely might.
What are we listening to this summer?
Jack: Carly Hanson. We’ve been rinsing Carlie Hanson, “covering faces”. That song is a banger.
Mason: We all love her. She’s so, so sick.
Todd: We’d love to collab with her.
Jack: Static Dress’s new single, “crying”, has been on repeat. We’ve also been ripping While She Sleeps’ album. It’s definitely an album of the summer for me.
Mason: Sabrina Carpenter as well.
How can you not?
Jack: Not even just the new ones—we’re proper Sabrina fans. “Tornado Warnings”, “Espresso”, come on.
Mason: We put it on in the kitchen when we’re making dinner. It’s a vibe. And anyone who says otherwise is wrong.
Todd: Quarters of Change—they’re a band from New York, and I’d love to play a show with them.
Jack: For the last three years, Todd has answered “Quarters of Change” to this question. Some day we’ll change that.
Todd: They might be my favourite band.
Mouth Culture by Jez Pennington
Mason: They are sick.
What else are we up to this summer; more festivals, more shows?
Jack: We’ve got Truck and Burn It Down, which we’re excited for.
Todd: We get to go to the seaside!
Mason: We’re doing a festival in Milton Keynes, aren’t we?
Jack: We’re doing Castle Fest, that’s in Luton.
Jack: And something coming up in Bristol. We’ve got other stuff in the pipeline this year. It’s going to be a busy end of the year.
Todd: There’s something really, really exciting we can’t say yet. But if you think of the best thing we could do, add another one on top of that, and it’s up there. That’s how exciting it is. But yeah, we can’t say anything.
Amazing. Well we’ll catch up later when that happens. Is there anything I haven’t asked you that I should have?
Todd: Hmm, what’s a personable question people would want to know?
Mason: It’s been a very fluent, natural interview, I must say.
Jack: Has anyone done the pots before we left?
Todd: Did anyone do the pots before we left? Because I didn’t.
Jack: We’re going home to a shit show.
Todd: Did you do the pots?
Jack: Yeah, when we get home, I know the house is gonna be a bomb. We live together.
Mason: I imagine someone at home before they left today did the washing. Fingers crossed.
Todd: Okay, great news. We’re going home to a clean house, yeah? Because we all live together. It’s chaos.
Catch Mouth Culture later this month at Burn It Down Festival, and in September at Castle Fest. And stay tuned for the upcoming EP!
