The UK progressive post-hardcore group Hidden Mothers are this week’s featured Meet The Band artist. Their full-length debut album is Erosion / Avulsion. Bassist/vocalist Liam Knowles introduces us to his band.
Chad Bowar: Give us a brief history of Hidden Mothers.
Liam Knowles: We formed in late 2018 / early 2019 over a shared love of bands like Deafheaven, Oathbreaker, Amenra, etc. We wrote our first song “The Longest Journey Yet” at our first ever band practice and released it in June 2019. We played our first live show that October with our friends in Pijn and Blanket, and managed to squeeze a handful of gigs in before the Covid lockdowns hit. Our debut EP was released in September 2020, and as soon as we were able we got back on the road to play as many places as we possibly could. We put so much focus into playing live that it ended up taking us four years to get our next release together, but thankfully we got there in the end and the album is finally out November 29th.
Describe the songwriting process for Erosion / Avulsion.
As previously mentioned, it took a really long time. Some of these songs, specifically “The Grey” and “Haze,” have been in our live set since 2021! The way we generally work is that Luke will write the bare bones of a song, with at least some lyrics written, and then he will bring it to the rest of us and we will flesh it out in the practice room. Each of us have very different influences and playing styles so the final song will usually be quite different to how it started out. The only real exception to this on the album is “The Grey.” This one was almost entirely written by Ari with Luke adding texture (and lyrics, of course). I don’t think we’d be anywhere near as interesting a band if we weren’t all such different musicians. It does sometimes make the process harder, but that’s ok as long as we’re all happy with the end result.
What will be your strongest memory of the recording of the album?
As this was my first time stepping up to doing a lot of lead vocal work, it was a real learning curve in terms of knowing what my voice is capable of and what my limits are. I woke up on the second day of recording barely able to speak, which was quite scary, but I’ve got my technique down now so I can do what I need to do in a much more sustainable way. Other than that, it was really interesting to see all the songs being put together bit by bit. Ari does a lot of textural guitar stuff which wasn’t always obvious when writing the songs, but hearing him lay down those parts in the studio made me realize how crucial those subtle elements are to our overall sound.
There was also one VERY high note that Luke sang on “Violet Sun” that really blew my mind. He’s always been a great singer but he really pushed himself as a vocalist on this record. Adam is an interesting drummer to watch in the studio as he’s very improvisational and came up with a lot of his fills and stuff on the spot. Overall it was a lot of work but it was very rewarding and we’re all definitely better musicians for the experience. Shout out to our producer Joe Clayton, he definitely got the best out of us.
What was the biggest challenge in its creation?
Apart from the aforementioned vocal challenge, I think the hardest thing when you’re recording is not being too precious about the parts you’ve been playing up until the point of recording. Some things sound fine in the practice room / at a show but then you get to the studio and you realize “this part doesn’t actually work” or you realize that there’s a better option. You have to be open to that or risk having your stubbornness immortalized forever!
How would you characterize its style/sound?
Overall, it’s definitely a post-hardcore album before it’s anything else. We started life as a post-black metal band and there’s still elements of that in there, but there’s also a lot more melody and texture in there compared to our older material. We took a lot of influence from bands like Birds In Row, Frail Body, Thrice, Envy, Pianos Become The Teeth, and Oathbreaker, as well as bits of jazz and other less obvious influences like Metronomy and Radiohead. Our goal is to make music that’s dynamic and shifting, but never at the expense of the emotional heft we’re trying to convey.
What lyrical topics do you cover?
Luke writes all our lyrics, and on this album the overarching theme is decline and decay. Some of that is personal (“Still Sickness,” “Violet Sun”), some of it is societal (“Defanged,” “The Grey”) and some of it is both (“Death Curl”). The album title reflects this idea that some change happens so slowly you don’t even notice it happening (“Erosion”) and sometimes things are just torn apart without warning (“Avulsion”).
How did you come to sign with Church Road Records?
We’ve been in contact with them since very early in our career, and have always wanted to work with them, but we just had to wait until things aligned in the right way to make that happen. We played a show with Employed To Serve back in 2021, and Sammy and Justine were so nice that it just solidified the fact that they were the right label for us. The work they have put in to push the album is far beyond what we could have done ourselves; we’re very grateful for the boost they have given us and we’re excited to see how the relationship with them will continue to grow.
What are your goals and expectations for the album?
We’d just like to get it out to as many people as possible, and play as many fun shows as we can off the back of it. We’ve got so many shows booked for 2025 already so hopefully we’ll be busy throughout the year and can play to as many new faces as possible! We also don’t want to milk the album for too long – we promise it won’t be another four years before we release something else!
How has the response been to the singles you’ve released so far?
It’s been really amazing; people have been incredibly receptive to all three singles and we’ve had some really great coverage from the music press. It was especially fun watching people react to “Defanged” as it was the first thing we’d released since September 2024 and felt like a real turning point for our next chapter. I’m a “wait for the album” guy personally but it was still really cool to see that people were still so keen to hear new music from us despite the long wait, I’m sure we’ll feel that even more when the full album drops!
The album is also available on vinyl. Are you a collector?
I’m not, personally, but our drummer Adam is. I know that some people take their collections very seriously which is why we put a lot of time into making the finished product as good as it possibly could be. The pink and black record is going to look awesome and True Spilt Milk Designs did such an incredible job with the artwork. I can’t wait to hold the physical record in my hands.
What has been your most memorable Hidden Mothers live show?
I’ve got to answer this with two shows. One; Arctangent Festival, both times. When we started this band our main dream was playing ATG, so to have now played it twice feels pretty mental. Both times we played to well over 1000 people despite an early billing, and it feels incredible to get that level of support as such a small band. At the opposite end of the scale, we played a show in a 50 capacity room in Lincoln and we still talk about it all the time because it was just so intensely intimate, and VERY sweaty. There’s definitely beauty in both, just as there is in everything in between.
What are your upcoming show/tour plans?
As I said before, we’ve got absolutely loads of stuff booked for 2025. Some headline shows, some support shows, and quite a few festivals including 2000 Trees. Seeing our band name on a poster with Alexisonfire and Coheed & Cambria is not something I could have predicted, but here we are. Anything we have announced can always be found by clicking the link at the top of all our social media profiles.
What are some of your non-musical interests and hobbies?
We’re quite low key in that respect as we all have very busy day jobs! Luke and Adam both like to keep fit with gym stuff / Thai boxing. Ari and I have kids so don’t have as much time to do that although I have been doing indoor climbing for a few years now which is very fun. Maybe I’ll start climbing stuff at our shows like I’m in The Dillinger Escape Plan. Adam actually has a very impressive board game collection. He’s the quietest member of Hidden Mothers but if you do want to get him talking about something other than drumming, there’s your topic!
What’s currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Loads of great albums from this year – Chelsea Wolfe, Pijn, Sugar Horse, Mastiff and Knocked Loose are the ones that spring to mind! It’s also been a bumper year for screamo with amazing albums from State Faults, Respire, Infant Island, Frail Body, Glassing and more. 2024 in general has been really solid for new music. I’d also really recommend the latest Marika Hackman album; not heavy at all but still an incredible release.
Anything else you’d like to mention or promote?
Other than obviously checking out / buying the album, I’d just really like people to follow us on social media, we’re going to be very busy throughout 2025 and I’d hate for you to miss any of what we’re up to! If you want to come and see us play live, please pick a ticket up in advance if you are able to do so. This helps independent promoters and venues stay afloat, there would be no music scene without them! Thank you so much to absolutely anyone who has supported this band in any way over the last 5 years, we love each and every one of you.
(interview published November 30, 2024)
