Interview With Mawpit
Formed in Cardiff in late 2019, Mawpit have burst onto the scene with a titanic, yet refreshing take on contemporary alt-rock. With a guitarist (Jordan) and drummer (Aled) raised on grunge, punk and alt rock music and a vocalist (Cait) inspired by pop, soul and jazz, the trio’s sound creates an otherworldly amalgamation of grit and finesse. Mawpit don’t shy away from socio-political topics in their writing such as feminism, environmentalism, politics and animal rights. Expect an unrelenting, storm of elegance, anger and passion with every listen.
What first got you into music?
Aled : Pans and chopsticks basically. I was brought up on a strict diet of Led Zeppelin and Queen as a kid, my uncle used to set up a load of pans in the living room and I would play along to ‘Ramble On’ using chopsticks. I was hooked from the intro of ‘Rock n Roll’.
Jord : I think it took up music because I just wanted an outlet to put a lot of my energy into. I was a pretty quiet and weird kid growing up and I didn’t really know how to express myself. The loud rowdy nature of punk rock was exactly what I needed as a teen to get me hooked on music.
Who inspired you to make music?
Jord: I get a lot of inspiration from contemporary two piece bands such as Blood Red Shoes, Slaves, early DZ Deathrays and Death From Above. I love the creative ways they use to create their monstrous sounds despite not having a bassist.
Cait : My Grandma inspired me to play piano, KT Tunstall inspired me to sing and Laura Marling inspired me to write.
How would you describe the music that you typically create?
Aled : For me it\’s always got to have a range of dynamics; build ups, silences, drops. I like the music I create to be a constant surprise.
Jord : I agree with Aled, I love music that has depth and is unpredictable. For Mawpit I really have to get creative with tech to fill out our sound so I’m really enjoying experimenting with different effect at the moment and pushing the foundries of the guitar.
Cait : I like writing songs full of tension and release, have plenty of chord changes, memorable melodies and some awesome vocal harmonies.
What is your creative process like?
Cait : An idea usually starts from some chords I play on the piano or a melody in my head or even just from a poem or lyrics I’ve written. Sometimes it’s inspired by something Jord plays on guitar. If I like a riff he’s written I will record it and write the song based on that. Then I get us to record a rough demo so we can learn our parts and Aled can write his.
Jord : My writing style tends to be quite sporadic, sometimes I could be jamming and then riff really sticks out and I run with that. Other times Cait comes to me with a concept and then I’ll write around her melodies or expand on her piano parts
Aled : I’m lucky enough to play in a band with 2 amazing songwriters so my process is pretty simple. I will listen to the demos and get an idea of where the root accents and tempo should lie on a Cajon before taking it to the drum kit in rehearsal. If I start on the kit, I just try and overcomplicate everything.
How did you come up with the name Mawpit?
Cait : Jord has a list of band name ideas and I liked that one because it reminded me of the Pokemon Mawile who is based on the Japanese folktale ‘Futakuchi-onna’. It’s quite a sweet looking pokemon but it has a big mouth with teeth at the back of it’s head which I feel suits us because we are a nice friendly band but our music has a bite to it.
What is the place you want to headline in Cardiff?
Aled : For me it will always be Clwb Ifor Bach/Welsh Club. I have fond memories of all bundling in my little Fiat Panda to see Darlia play there amongst many visits. It would be huge to be headlining there, a real milestone.
Cait : Clwb Ifor Bach and The Moon.
How do you feel the Internet has impacted the music business?
Jord: It’s just made everything so much more accessible, which is simultaneously great and terrible at the same time. It’s pretty hard to cut through all the noise due to people having the choice of whatever they want whenever they want it. However, it has made communicating and collaborating with your audience so much easier which allows for more of a personal connection to be created.
Aled : It’s globalised it completely and I love that. I love logging into our Spotify stats and seeing that we’ve got a little group of listeners in Fleetwood, USA simply because someone picked up the track off an automated playlist and shared it with their mates. Its globalised music and its made it incredibly shareable.
Tell Us about your next track, how did it come about?
Cait : ‘Eat A Corpse’ .. it all started with those words. I wrote a little poem from that line and then a melody and the chord came into my mind. I brought the idea to Jord and explained what was in my head and he brought it to life. After we figured out the verse and chorus, Jord came up with that awesome breakdown riff and then we worked on the ending which was heavily inspired by the intro theme to Westworld as we were watching that at the time.
If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
Aled : I feel like the industry is going through a rapid transformation, one it hadn’t planned for during the pandemic. It’s forcing bands to hit the laptops and get their music out there digitally as live shows just aren’t an option. With that being said, I’d make the industry more invested in emerging technology; AI, VR etc because it could save it one day.
Jord: I would like there to be more emphasis/opportunity for emerging bands and artists. More introducing-esque radio shows or more support from streaming platforms might stimulate more interest in new and emerging music which in turn would increase demand to see it live.
Cait : More bands with female members at festivals.
What’s next for you Guys?
Cait : We’ve got plans to film a music video for ‘Eat A Corpse’ soon. We’ve got another single in the bag but also hoping to record an EP as soon as possible!