The Mothership | en

Band Members:

Johndus Beckman
Paul Fraser
Ryan Thornes
Will Andrews

The Mothership has landed in Seattle, Washington. At the helm are four artists whose pasts are as varied as their personalities. Local Mut-Rock veteran and front man of Future Fossils Johndus Beckman initially teamed up with Paul Fraser, the leader of the quintessentially grunge quartet Radio-Flyer. Next, the rhythmic virtuoso behind the ambient progressive soundscapes of Omni, Will Andrews brought the method, madness and restraint of a seasoned player to the mixture. Finally, Ryan Thornes, the co-writer and vocalist of the hard-hitting trio Vibrant Society climbed aboard with a bass in one hand and a PBR in the other.
When listening to The Mothership it is easier to pick up on the sound of its members’ previous bands than to pigeon-hole it into conventional genres. Their repertoire is a polished and satisfying mixture of the revolutionary and the familiar. They succeed in grabbing the attention of casual listeners long enough to make an impact while providing a genuine experience for the serious show-goers who have a habit of letting good albums play on repeat. Gritty vocals and gripping lyrics come from a place of reality, devoid of the buzzwords and cliches of today's manufactured radio rock. Beckman and Fraser’s heavy grunge guitars work together to compliment and add sophistication, not flash.

The motivation behind The Mothership was borne from a communal dissatisfaction with Seattle’s stagnant underground rock scene. It’s about time a band with the talent to back up its bravado stepped in to fill the yawning gap left by bands like Tool and Soundgarden without ripping them off. In the perfect pitch of Johndus’ voice, Cobain and Morrison resonate without overreaching, reminding audiences of the uniqueness that made Seattle great. In the chaos of Thornes’ background screams and Fraser’s heavy guitar-lines, the old cornerstones of rock coalesce with the emergence of an inexplicably original sound, one that harkens to itself and to the future while avoiding the redundancy of the majority of Seattle bands. The secret in the sauce has to be the limitless pallet of these four established artists. Their musical preferences include legends like the Beatles and the Doors, emerging artists like Sleepy Sun, and the eclectic, mind-bending efforts of compositional pioneers like Brian Eno.

The Future looks bright for The Mothership, which in turn sheds new hope for the redirection of Seattle’s rock scene. The band recorded a strong three song EP at Houdini’s Tree Studios in Seattle in early 2011 with producer/engineer David Green. David captured the raw energy of the band in his modest home studio in the Magnolia district of Seattle. The EP has turned quite a few heads in the local scene and earned them the opportunity to play in front of local and national musicians at the recent Hot Rocks Music Awards on April 1st 2011. The Mothership will be feverishly writing and playing West Coast shows through 2011 .