|
Mofro: Roots Rock - Mofro: Roots Rock |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Written by Glenn BurnSilver
|
|
Wednesday, 06 September 2006 |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 1 of 3
 |
|
www.madisonhousepublicity.com
Daryl Hance and J.J. Grey are the nucleus of Mofro, a band that derives its sound and soul from its roots in Florida.
|
With all the frantic talk about hurricanes, and Ernesto’s recent brush of Florida and the East Coast, people tend to forget that Florida is a place that can be “10,000 degrees in the shade,” that still harbors wild expanses chock-full of alligators, poisonous snakes, wild pigs, black water swamps the even the occasional bear or panther. It is these backwater areas that fuels Mofro’s down-to-earth swamp rock.
“I don’t know if this is the true Northern Florida roots thing,” Mofro principal songwriter and vocalist John “J.J.” Grey explained, “but I reckon what we do is influenced a lot by where we live. … Ultimately, I am moved more by the place that I grew up than I am by anything else. It’s I’m still going through withdrawals even though I’m in the same place, you know what I mean.”
Like that cool refreshing dip in an old rock quarry on a breezeless 100 percent humidity day, Mofro’s North Florida sound carries as big a visual impact as an aural one … a sound that can be as heavy and deep as a slow moving swamp, sticky like a hot summer day or revved up like a joyride down the turnpike in a salt-rusted Buick.
Pushed by the slide and pedal steel guitars of founding partner Daryl Hance, an innate Southern rock vibe, serious bottom end funk and Grey’s sleepy vocals, nothing quite compares with Mofro. That might translate to smaller audiences, and less money, but for Grey, it is the music that matters.
“I just play the sounds and tones that I like … and it’s the way I put together songs. I never really think about it much,” he said. “So often you can define yourself more by what you don’t want to sound like than what you want to sound like. You kind of just find what that fit is.”
Grey’s tales of rural Florida flow like back porch stories, an influence of his father and grandfather who Grey said never ceased to share their past as the strip malls and subdivisions closed in.
“My grandfather used to tell me stories all the time about stuff, the way he grew up and where he grew up. There were always stories about things. It is old-school southern tales,” he recalled. “Now, I can tell stories forever, but I don’t think that much of it because we all grew up that way.”
Grey’s stories include southern tales, such one about a bungled bank robbery — actually one of Grey’s friends — and a recounting of a domestic disturbance between a father and son that exploded over a pork chop.
The band has two albums out right now, “Blackwater” and “Lochloosa,” both named (and reflecting) the band’s home turf just 30 miles from Jacksonville, but worlds away as well. A new album is expected early next year with more syrupy tales. Grey said the as-yet-untitled effort will “have a little more angst” and “be more aggressive in spots,” though he isn’t really angry about anything in particular.
But, he added with a laugh, “There is always something I want to mouth off about anyway.”
|
|
|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
|  | Hola Amigos! I'm Sandra. I like to believe that people are 70 percent good and 30 percent dumb. I'm stickin to that story. Reading this blog might make you want to be good, but probably just dumb. | |
|  | Donovan Henderson is editor of NEXTnc. | |
|  | Here at Nextnc we have some characters. Get a sneak peak behind the curtain and find out what amusing antics our staffers get themselves into on a weekly basis. | |
|  | What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
|  | Life's little morsels of inspiration, observation and encouragement seen through the eyes of the Nextnc reporter.
| |
|  | Ms. Giles currently lives in Colorado where she stars in her own private reality show. She writes aphoristic accounts of her life, taken completely out of context, and embellished with characters and situations disguised to resemble something close to interesting. | |
|  | over and out | |
| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
|
|
