For The Mowgli’s, it’s been a long road to success. From revolving members to playing midnight warehouses, gracing the stages of massive festivals and creating chart topping hits, the band has been thru it all. Now they’ve just unveiled the visuals for their latest single “Wasting Time.” The new video, is an empowering message of hope and finding yourself after a difficult breakup. “Wasting Time” highlights punchy pop melodies and moody rock soundscapes. The track radiates with powerful intensity. mxdwn spoke with Katie Earl from the band and discussed everything from the inspiration behind their new music and some of their crazy tour stories.
mxdwn: Your latest single “Wasting Time” features bold pop melodies and driving synths, what was your inspiration behind the track?
Katie Earl: The melody for the chorus came to me on a dog walk in Los Angeles. I was feeling stuck in a hole and I wanted to climb out. I’ve always loved the arpeggiated bass synth that keeps everything moving along. We mixed that idea over the chorus melody and we thought it felt really good.
mxdwn: The visuals for “Wasting Time” depict a lesbian couple as one of the women try to cope with life after a breakup, what was the process like in coming up with your video’s concept?
KE: We just wanted to visually tell a story that depicted the feeling of being stuck in an unfulfilling routine…and toxic relationships, whether romantic, work related, family or friendships, are often times the best example of that. We wanted to portray that there is always light at the end of the tunnel. With our friends, director Cortney Armitage and producer Ryan Newcomb, we developed this concept from the road and worked over email, calls and texts with them to get it done. All we needed to really help bring the story to life were two great actors and we found them in Lucy Walsh and Gina Daidone, who absolutely crushed their performances and brought us to tears when we finally watched the video.
mxdwn: So you’ve recently gained visibility writing and recording the title song for Disney TV’s #1 animated show Big City Greens, can you tell me more about what that experience was like?
KE: We are so lucky to have gotten that opportunity. We were invited to see some of the early stages of the shows development. It was awesome. In the cut that they were using for the intro, They were using one of our songs ‘Hi Hey There Hello’ as a place holder, and wanted to capture a similar feeling with an original theme song. We were honored and mostly really excited to accept the challenge. We left Disney studios and went straight to work. I remember it being a lot of fun too. We had the characters fresh in our heads and the energy from the team who were making the show and we just got straight into it. I mean, what could be more fun than writing a short little song for an awesome cartoon? I think in 2-3 days we came up with about nine 30-second songs, but we knew from the get go that the first song we wrote for the show was the one. We submitted them all, and they chose the first idea we spit out. If you haven’t seen the show, it’s hilarious and really sweet. Sometimes, when I’m flipping through the channels and I see that Big City Greens is on, I have to pinch myself that I got to be some small part of that.
mxdwn: The Mowgli’s have garnered 150 million streams on Spotify alone and have gone from playing warehouse parties to stages at huge festivals. What advice would you give other bands trying to make it in such a difficult industry?
KE: There are going to be a lot of times when it seems like the easiest thing to do would be to give up. Don’t. Hang in there. Keep pushing. If it really is your dream, than the ups will counter balance any downs and there will be no greater feeling than in the moments when you see your hard work pay off.
mxdwn: I know you just came off a national tour with Plain White T’s and New Politics, any funny stories or crazy experiences you can share with us?
KE: Yeah this past winter we have been on the road a lot. We spent the end of 2019 touring the United States with PWT and New Politics. We shared a bus with them actually and it felt like a winter-y summer camp. Love all of those guys so much and can’t wait for their new stuff. And as of right now, we are actually just getting over jet lag from our first ever UK tour this past January. We had the time of our lives and it was long time dream come true bringing our show, our music and our message to a new market, in a new country. My whole family lives there also, and I was so thrilled to show them what we do. I don’t think they really understood how professional our band is until they saw us play. I think they just thought it was something I did for fun. And yes, there are a ton of funny stories, but what happens in Vondelpark stays in Vondelpark
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