Continuing on with this weeks "Man Mountain take Over" we decided to rock our normal #wcw post with "Man Mountain music Crush on a Wednesday!
Jacob Goins (Drums): @jacob_mountain
“The album “Two Conversations” by The Appleseed Cast has probably been the most influential for me in the context of Man Mountain, because this is the album I listened to the most in the beginning stages of the band. Before Man Mountain was anything, Mike and I would jam two or three times a week for hours on end, and every time we would play songs such as “Hello Dearest Love”, “Hanging Marionette”, “Fight Song”, “On Reflection”, and “As The Little Things Go”, among others. The first full song we wrote together as a band was “Lucerna”, and The Appleseed Cast was definitely a major influence for me when writing my parts for the song. There is long a list of bands that have influenced me as a musician, but in the context of Man Mountain, when David, Mike, and I first formed the band, The Appleseed Cast was definitely one of most inspirational.”
David Reaume (Bass):
“Sigur Rós came out with the album “Takk…” back in 2005 when my 16 year old self was busy filling my ears with as many Tooth & Nail and Solid State Records bands as I could get my hands on, so when I first heard the opening notes I was blown away. The best way to describe the feeling of listening to this album is like being a kid again, throwing a big blanket over your head, and pretending you are somewhere far away, in the dark, staring up at a million stars. Jónsi’s falsetto vocals and melodic glockenspiel spark a sense of childish curiosity while flowing into ripping tides of distorted chords that make you feel like you are summiting a mountain with no rigging and could fall at any moment. I had no idea you could make guitars sound like that; it changed everything for me.”
“Glósóli”, by Sigur Rós:
Mike Reaume (Guitar): ig @mike_mountain
“When we first started writing riffs and jamming skeletons of songs that would eventually become our first EP, this was actually before I starting listening to a lot of post-rock. At that time I was just finally discovering a band from Illinois called “American Football”, who’s only full length album had come out all the way back in 1999. The former metalcore kid in me was immediately drawn to the use of complex polyrhythms, yet this was something much different. The drumming wasn’t warp speed craziness, it was just simple and tasteful, but the more you listen the more you notice cool little details in the patterns.
The guitars on this album are really what grab me though. Everything just sounds beautiful and full of emotion, with a perfect balance of complexity and taste. This is also one of the first albums I got into where the guitars are just totally clean for the most part, and they sound amazing. I definitely love using a lot of effects at times, stacking delay pedals and such, and I still love a good brutal distortion on occasion, but this album really made me realize the importance of having an awesome clean tone.”
“Never Meant”, by American Football
