At this time of the year music lovers everywhere are patiently awaiting the start of festival season, a little gem to help you beat the pre festival season blues is Mojo Gogo’s headline gig in the Academy 2 on Saturday the 5th of April. We caught up with the Donegal indie rockers to talk all things Mojo Gogo.
The talented for four piece have gone from strength to strength since they formed in college “The band was formed in college as part of a project, We entered a battle of the bands for fun and ended up winning it, we decided to use to money that we won from the battle of the bands to go into studio and record our first E.P and from there it has just snowballed ever since” said Mojo Gogo.
This year the band are also running their third annual Aranmojo festival on Aranmore Island from the 16th-17th of August, this is yet another reason why the band are so popular among Irish music circuit. They aren’t just another band, they are part of supporting other bands and trying to push others aswell as themselves. So why should you go see them live? Well they also shared what they think makes them so unique “Our live performances and utter determination. People have to see us live to realise what we’re all about”.
Since forming the band have had their fair share of success including an appearance on Other Voices and winning the Arthur Guinness Play on the Day competition in 2011, stand-out moments are tough to pick, but for Mojo Gogo it was clear “touring the Netherlands for the first time in October and playing to capacity crowds, that was pretty special”, this of course is something we see a lot these days, Delorentos are huge in Spain, Ryan Sheridan massive in Germany, in some countries, you just strike a chord.
Even though the indie rockers are busy planning their own festival, they also hope to take the stage at many more during this festival season ”We want to play every festival possible” says Mojo Gogo, ambitious but with the Irish festival season looking busier than ever, there won’t be any shortage of opportunities for hard working bands.
The band have been well received among critics for their live shows, many of who have likened Mojo Gogo to big hitters such as The Clash and Bruce Springsteen, but it is none of them that the band would choose to duet with “It would have to be Dave Grohl, what an absolute genius”. With names like these being thrown around it is easy to see where the band get their eclectic sound from.
March marked the beginning of a very busy period for the band with the launch of their latest EP ‘Streets Backseats and Envy’ and of course the highly anticipated Academy 2 show, but the band have much more in the pipe line for fans everywhere to look forward to “We head for the Netherlands in April, from there we are onto Germany in May to headline our first German festival, back to Ireland at the end of May and straight back into the studio to record, then we’re into festival season in Ireland and we head for the Canary Islands in July on tour” so globe trotting and bringing their music to new fans is high on the agenda this summer and sparks an this exciting time for the band.
For now, the band are focusing on their show in The Academy 2 and they are excited and confident about the show, “We are going to tear the roof off the place“. Tickets for this not to be missed show are available from Ticketmaster.