The  back story of how the band came to be, according to singer and lyricist Tom Kearney, is this: 

“Through a genealogy test we recently discovered that all four members in The Motherlode were fathered by the same wizard, well not so much a wizard, more like a guru, well not so much a guru, more like a guy named Roger with fisherman’s pants and a gluten intolerance at a ‘find your inner bliss’ retreat that our mothers attended.”

Some how these blood brothers lives intersected again and the result was the formation of The Motherlode. Together they create material which is “profoundly deep and outrageously shallow” all at once. 

“We are inspired by lots of different bands, they tend to be gritty, sonic, underground bands like The Stooges, Radio Birdman, Turbonegro and stuff like that,” Kearney said.

Kearney said the band is primarily about performance, describing the onstage act as a “high energy rock’n’roll”.  

The song writing is shared between Kearney, who focuses on lyrics, and McKenzie who writes the riffs. The songs are worked out at rehearsal. 

“I write about all sorts of things, metaphors about inane stuff in a silly way,” Kearney said.

“Mythological happenings and beings, it’s pretty tongue in cheek.

“The song writing happens pretty organically and pretty quickly.

 “We are definitely more of a band that happens in the moment as a live thing.”

The band has made two major recordings, a full length album and an EP. They plan to take their new material into the studio at some stage. 

Gigs have been sporadic over the past few years, three members have young families. 

“We had a bit of a break last year, and we have learned a whole bunch of new songs,” Kearney said.

“We are coming back with new enthusiasm.” 

However, Kearney said being in the band was mostly about having a creative outlet.

“It’s like an entity the band and you create energy with it, it has its own force and you get to muck around and create and be excited by it,” he said. 

“Just knowing it’s there is good.”

The band has been together for about 15 years with Louis Thorn is on bass, Zeke Marosszeky is on drums and Cameron McKenzie is on guitar. 

Follow The Motherlode: facebook.com/pg/motherlode.rock

Next gig: The Stag and Hunter, April 22