Common Mama… Smash hit

Showcase: Common Mama

Published on August 1st, 2013 | Jonny Abrams

Having hit upon success in 2011 when their song “A New Kind of Something” was used to soundtrack a television advertisement for the new Acer Iconia tablet – we covered it at the time, sly foxes that we are – Common Mama are back with this self-titled EP…

As such, we fired some questions over to constituent duo Ferdinando Arnò and Jon Kenzie to find out a little bit more about them, and of course their particular operation…

How would you describe your music, if pushed?

Ferdinando: Sweetly winsome indie pop :))

Where are you based, and what do you use to record with?

Ferdinando: Manchester, Milan and New York. We record at quiet, please!, a Milan-based studio. Jon sometimes records the vocals in Manchester and we mix in New York with Tom Elmhirst at Electric Lady Studios.

Are you signed to a label? If so, how did you come to their attention?

Ferdinando: We have our label, quiet, please! music.

Is there a full album in the works? If so, what can you tell us about it?

Ferdinando: We hope to finish the album next January.

Where can we hear your music online?

Ferdinando: YouTube ReverbNation, our website, Vimeo…and also featured in ads around the world.

Which have been your most exciting gigs and/or overall moments so far?

Jon: I think one of the best gigs would have to be at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. It was one of our first shows of the tour and we had two minutes to get our stuff set up and line check before we started.

Felt a bit nerve-racking but the gig ended up being amazing with a packed-out crowd. It was such a cool festival to wander around and check other acts as well.

Got any more coming up? (Gigs, that is…)

Jon: Playing at Daytrotter in London on August 2nd. I am also about to tour around Germany and Switzerland.

Are there any obscure and/or up-and-coming acts that you’d like to recommend or give a shout-out to?

Jon: There’s so much amazing new Music in Manchester. To name just a few check out Goma, Age of Glass, Honey Feet and of course Jon Kenzie.

Finally, if you were forced to spend the rest of your days in solitary confinement, but were allowed to bring the entire works of five different artists along to tide you over, whose would you choose?

Ferdinando: Keith Jarrett, Burt Bacharach, Lucio Battisti, Aimee Mann and Blur.

Jon: That’s always a tough one, I can’t choose people who have just one album that I love as it’s more logical to go for an artist that has a huge collection of good tunes. Therefore I’d probably go for Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Louis Armstrong and Tom Waits… Maybe.

Common Mama, thank you.

Artists: common mama

About the Author

Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.