MOLD at YES
Johnny James, Managing Editor
MOLD are one of the more intriguing punk bands making music in Manchester at the moment. Formed in 2018, they’ve released a string of outlandish singles (the most recent being ‘Cannibal Date Night’) and an EP called The Death Suite. While their spontaneous, chaotic and downright disturbing tunes shun any notion of pop, they are oddly infectious; like their fungal namesake, MOLD creep in without you noticing, and when you do, you can’t get rid of them.
Also like their namesake, the band thrive in dark corners. Their favourite haunts are the city’s basements, where the quartet are loved for their grimly thrilling live performances. They’ll thus be dreaming of a black Christmas in the bowels of YES, joined by three more of Manchester’s own: The Starlight Magic Hour, Blanketman and The Early Mornings. Ahead of the festivities, we caught up with the headline band, who told us why we should all check out the MOLD in the basement this December…
For the uninitiated, how would you describe the music of MOLD?
Absurdist Bop-Rock.
Lyrically, you seem to view the turmoil of modern Britain through a lens of – quite appropriate – absurdism. How do approach your lyrics?
You take a pen, hold it in your hand of choice, and using the tip of the pen – put squiggly lines on a page. The nicer it rolls off the tongue the better. Ideally it’ll rhyme.
Online, you often refer to ‘the church of MOLD’. Your fans – disciples – embrace this idea of MOLD being somehow more than a band. How do you respond?
The music industry and fans of its output already seemed like a collection of cults anyway. We just followed suit.
You recently said that you’ve been changing up your live set. How has it developed, and what can we expect on the 13th December?
The set itself remains as one 30-45 minute continuous piece of music (set time dependent). Only now the segues are far more pronounced, the songs are far less shouty, there’s more focus on melody, concise structures, and danceable sections that still maintain the traditional ‘Moldy’ elements. Unpredictability, rapid changes in tempo and dynamics, and increasingly absurd subject matter.
For your YES gig, you’ve enlisted The Starlight Magic hour, Blanketman and The Early Mornings as support. What excites you about these Manchester bands, and more widely, the current Manchester music scene?
The three bands we have joining us are in our opinion some of the most exciting bands in Manchester. Judging by all of their current trajectories, this very well may be the last time you get to see these bands in a space like this, on the same bill, for so little money.
As for the rest of Manchester, we’re listening to POSA, Slow Knife, Salford Media City (Not that one), Afghan Sand Gang, Yossarians, Chermansog and Inland Taipan.
What’s next for MOLD?
We have a slew of new music to put out. December sees the last two tracks of ‘The Make-Up Years’ to be released. In January there’s a four track funk/disco EP, and February is the five-genre-in-one Single.
