Maroon Cafe Exclusive: Interview with Mimicking Birds

Mimicking Birds the first solo effort now three piece set of Nate Lacy, Tom Skellenger & Aaron Hanson have been taking me to places musically that I’ve never thought could be reached. Founded by Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock, the Portland Oregon natives who are a week away from releasing there self titled Brock produced debut on Glacial Pace, have been a staple here at the cafe since last year. Although most of the music leaked have been home recordings, recordings that remind you of cold afternoons & foggy atmospheres, it’s a reassuring sound that gets more mysterious after each listen. In one of the most personal interviews, Nate stopped by to discuss the origins of his band, there upcoming ventures and a particular moment where my faith in life was restored.

H.Q. Explain the theory behind the name Mimicking Birds?

M.B. It’s more or less based on relativity, scale, and adaptation/evolution.. At infinite levels, how characteristics of one thing strongly resemble those of another.. this occurring naturally by law of physics and thus accordingly in biological survival. The title of and the song “Rivers, Veins, and Roots” is a good example.

H.Q. How did your music get to Isaac?

M.B. He listens to everything that is sent to him.

H.Q. Your home recordings have been floating around for quite sometime, should we expect a few to be on the album?

M.B. The majority of the album will consist of re-recordings of those songs..

H.Q. I hear a hint of Dave Matthews in your voice, was his music any sort of inspiration to you?

M.B. Yeah.. I learned to play guitar figuring out songs of his like “the stone” and “satellite.” Learning to sing over these complex fingering patterns greatly awakened my conception for songwriting.. so this may also have had an affect on the way I sing. He’s a wizard.. bar none. This may be a bummer for some folks, but for reasons that I’m not sure are based on their own true beliefs.

H.Q. I was going through a very rough period in my life and “The Loop” helped me during that time, I think it’s absolutely brilliant! Is that song off of an experience?

M.B.Wow that’s really cool to hear thank you.. Essentially I just wanted to write a story about what would happen to the earth after the moon finally detached itself from its earthbound orbit and the sun swallowed our solar system.. Destruction, creation, and impermanence.. nothing is ever lost it just ends up somewhere else in a different form. Somehow it’s more comforting for me to know that someone’s body becomes part of the dirt, rocks, water, air, and trees rather than or in addition to them traveling on to some mystical existence. I tend to dwell on these concepts. Just a way for me to cope I guess.