Mobile: Tales From The City
If you played NHL or FIFA 07 last year or even turned on the radio, then you know Mobile and probably had their hit single “Out Of My Head” stuck in your head a few times. The band had much success with their first album, Tomorrow Starts Today, including a Juno win for “New Group of the Year” among various other accolades. If you wondered where they went, have no fear, they are back with a new album, Tales from the City, and still loving music and are as dedicated as ever!
Lead singer Mat Joy was able to answer ten questions that we really wanted the answer to!
How would you describe the sound/ vibe of your new album Tales from the City?
I would describe the sound of Tales From The City as dark, melodic, emotive and powerful. We wrote this album with a lot on our minds like death, desolation, expectations, sadness, confusion but at the end of the day we found hope and have been able to put everything from our hearts and souls on this record.
It might be somehow a dark record but you can see a glimpse of light at the horizon and our goal was to march toward it and we finally got there.
Do you have a favourite song on the album?
I don't have one favourite but a few favourites, The Killer, Daylight Breaks, Sweet Light, No Tomorrow and All is Forgiven are my best one's. They represent a specific time in my life and evoke what I have been going through during the last year. I look back at it and I am glad that all the hard times are behind me but at the same time I believe that I became a better writer and life made me see a lot of things in a different way.
How did making this album differ from making Tomorrow Starts Today?
It was different because comparing to the first album, we had a certain lapse of time to do it. We wrote Tomorrow Starts Today through the years prior the day we signed our record deal so it means that we had quite a lot of time to write it.
Tales From The City was written a lot faster but at the same time it's a more cohesive album, it sounds darker and deeper than the first one. I think we were more focused and more implicated recording this one than Tomorrow Starts Today.
Do you have any ways of making the studio feel more like home and like a creative work space?
I usually bring a bottle of Tinqueray and it usually makes me feel like home. Apart from that, I can't really think of anything else.
There is a Blade Runner vibe to your new video for The Killer, are you sci-fi fans?
Yeah, I am a sci fi fan, not like a crazy one but I really like Blade Runner and I am a huge Star Wars fan. I am very happy with The Killer video, the directors have done an amazing job and they truly captured the vibe of the song. Two thumbs up to them!!
How did the Neverending White Lights collaboration, “My Life Without Me” happen?
I met Daniel Victor at the Junos in 2007 and from that moment we became good friends. We share the same passion about music and also love a lot of the same bands. We always talked about doing something together and one day he called me and asked me if I wanted to sing on his upcoming record. I happened to be on tour in Detroit around that time so I went to his studio in Windsor and we recorded the whole thing in about 2 hours. I always been a fan of his work and I was very honoured to do it. He made me sing like I never sang before and I was quite pleased with the final result, it's a great song.
Minus your hometown, where is your favourite place to play on tour?
Probably in Europe, Germany or England I guess, but I also love playing the west side of Canada where we always have a great response.
What is the strangest thing on your rider or in your dressing room?
We don't really have anything strange, just the usual which is a bottle of whiskey, a bottle of gin, bottles of wine, a couple of cases of beer....chips, veggies, and please no fried food !!!!!
You won a Juno for “New Group of the Year”, what do you think it was or is about you as a band that made you stand above other nominees?
It's hard to say, it was judge by people we don't know but I can say that we are very passionate and worked really hard to be where we are today.
Having said that, we also had a huge single with Out of My Head and we sold more records than the other contestants so I guess it helped.
Did it make me feel any different? Not really...it's a great honour but I was a more excited when I got my first gold record.
What do you think your biggest accomplishment is, thus far, as a band?
In our mind, I know that we can accomplish a lot more than we did with the first album and the best is yet to come. You got to be ambitious and believe in yourself when you do this kind of job and I strongly believe that we have so much to prove and so much to do that this is only the beginning.
I think that our biggest accomplishment so far is that we are still playing together and still love and respect each other even though we had to go through a lot as a band. The power of music and our friendship keeps us together and I know it will be like this for a long long time.
If you're feeling the new video, check out the album, due to hit streets October 7th!
