I met up with Momma at their last show on tour with Greer. Starting from roots in Liz Phair inspired bedroom rock, the group’s debut LP balanced between Helium’s playful moodiness & a gentle approach to early Sleater-Kinney. Their most recent release, Two of Me, showcases the group’s bloom into heavier instrumentation. Think garage Silversun Pickups.
The indie-grunge quartet consists of guitarists/vocalists Allegra Weingarten & Etta Friedman, bassist/producer Aron Kobayashi Ritch, & drummer Zach CapittiFenton. We stepped to Anaheim’s House of Blues smoking section for a chat.
F: Momma started as my project. I got asked to play a concert in high school & asked Allegra if she wanted to play that show with me; we clicked & the rest’s been magic.
W: We wrote/performed as a two-piece for a while & met Zach at a show around six years ago. He joined us before recording Two of Me with Aron. We all eventually moved from LA to New York where Aron joined the band officially. This upcoming release was written by the four of us. We’re all Momma now.
What’s New York offered to your sound?
W: More time for us to write together. We can bring ideas to Aron and Zach quicker; instead of Etta & I finishing songs, we’ll bring them in as is & tie loose ends as a band. I also feel like the writing got darker as the weather turned colder.
C: It’s not always easy to spend time outdoors. There’s seasons where weather forces you to stay inside; makes us a lot more productive. We live close to each other & trains have been super convenient. In LA it’s hard coordinating practice; finding a house/practice space, picking a time, four cars, traffic, etc.
F: New York’s also opened us up to a lot of bands we hadn’t been listening to before. I really love blair. Check them out. blair rocks.
Hotline TNT & Model/Actress were also plugged.
How’s touring with Greer been?
C: We’ve been whipping a rental Mazda CX-5 the entire time. Best-in-class.
F: In Sacramento, this girl asked if I could kiss her. I said no at first, but I ended up doing it. On the cheek. Allegra’s recommendation.
W: We also got too tipsy at the Santa Cruz merch booth.
F: I may or may not have been yelling at people. Respectfully.
R: This is my first tour with everyone & it’s been super easy. Greer’s been really nice. Feels like the theme of this tour is us being shocked that the only thing people have heard from us is Two of Me so far, only because we’ve lived with this new record for so long.
W: Two of Me was very much a concept album; this one has more of a theme. There’s also a lot more instrumentation than just guitar, bass, & drums. Aron worked in drum machines, Wurlitzers, cellos, etc.
R: We did a bit of pre-production for around a year in New York, recorded half there, & flew out here to do the other half. We pieced it together like a score.
F: Aron’s sister shot the cover. We can’t give much more info, but I will say it’s the record I’m genuinely the most proud of. You’ll hear it soon.
C: We’ve talked about how we want to make music we want to listen to & all of us absolutely beat this new one into the ground. There were weeks on end where it was literally the only thing we listened to. Almost drove us crazy, but we took a break & have been tuning in again during tour.
Last question, why do you play music?
W: If I’m being completely honest, I feel like it’s the only thing that I’m good at. It just makes me feel like Allegra. Music makes me feel like I have a purpose in this world & this band gives me confidence.
C: It’s the one thing I’ve woken up wanting to do every single day since I was five. There’s not a single – I mean, besides video games – anyways, it’s all I want to do with my time. I had to take a step back to realize that my band just finished a tour; I can go back to myself as a kid & say we did that.
R: I think I just love records, obviously. My main role is producing; it’s all I want to do with my life. Like Allegra said, it just makes me feel like me. It’s so intrinsically a part of my identity.
F: We’re all music nerds. Stupidly & classically, I looked up to a lot of punk rock bands when I was young; I always wanted to play music like they did. The fact that we can play a place like this, it’s kind of a dream come true. We’ll do this however long we can, we want to make this our career.
Read our julie interview from the show: julie on Macy’s Gingerbread Cookies; HoB Anaheim 11/6
Read our interview with Zach’s other band, MILLY: MILLY on Weezer Cover Bands, their Debut Full-Length, & Deep-Cut Emo, El Cid 9/9
More Momma at mommaband.com.
