Billboard Live OSAKA

This London-based five-piece band is currently working on a fourth album Golden Days. Their first album Routes to Riches successfully broke them into the Japanese market where they became the most played international artist on Japanese radio in 2009. KS spoke with the band about the new album and upcoming trip to Japan.

How would you describe the Mama’s Gun sound and influences?

For someone coming to see Mamas Gun live for the first time, they can definitely expect to sing and dance. It’s true that Funk, Soul and RnB artists like Marvin Gaye, Sly, Aretha, and Al Green have influenced us a lot, but our biggest source of inspiration are great songs that we find. Between the five of us, we listen to a huge spectrum of music and we take from all of it and channel it into soulful music.

You have a new album just released – how would you describe the music on Golden Days?

We released Golden Days in December 2017 and we’ve taken our sound further into the soul realm than anything prior to this. We produced and recorded it by ourselves (for the first time), and a goal from the initial days of making it was to give it a sound that was closer to the soul and RnB records from the 60s and 70s that have inspired us so much.

Is there anything that you look forward to either musically or non-musically when playing in Japan?

We always love coming to Japan! It’s the first time for our new boy drummer Chris to play a gig in Japan, which has been on his bucket-list since he was young. We all love Japanese food (ramen and sushi forever), and the fans always know how to make us feel welcome. Every single trip is memorable and special each time we visit.