On August 29 at the Fillmore Miami Beach, hundreds of lucky gig-goers are going to have their minds and bodies blasted with pure emo and alternative rock courtesy of headliners Dashboard Confessional and support band The Mowgli’s. As part of the Ford Front Row Series, Billboard and Ford intend to bring you closer to the artists you obsess over and the ones you should be keeping an eye out for. We caught up with vocalist Katie Earl and guitarist Josh Hogan of The Mowgli’s ahead of the action…
How much does touring as a band mean to you?
Katie: “The dream was to be a touring band. There’s so much music everywhere: online, on the radio, on TV shows, in films. Spotify has so many thousands of artists that I’ve never heard of and only a percentage of those artists can go out and play. It’s cool to see someone recreate it for you live. The energy of a show is what got us into this.”
What were some of the gigs that blew you away when you were younger?
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Josh: “Jimmy Eat World. It was cool to be a fan of a band and see them succeed in front of 3,000 people. I’m from Oklahoma City but I’d travel to Dallas or Kansas City because we didn’t have a huge market for alternative music. I was into this pop punk scene in Kansas City; The Get Up Kids were one of my favorite bands.”
Do you think there’s something to be said for the reappraisal of that emo scene recently?
K: “That plays into this greater nostalgia thing. It is crazy in 2017. As a society we look back on simpler times when the biggest disaster in the White House was George W Bush. We were all listening to emo music. We recently got to play a show with Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional and it was such a pinnacle moment for every Mowgli. We lost it.”
You’re opening for them in Miami. Is that special for you to play with Dashboard?
K: “Yeah. We couldn’t even believe we were meeting Chris and now we’re playing with him. It’s wild. We’re just emo kids at the end of the day.”
Over the years, have there been specific tours that felt special?
K: “Every tour feels special. It’s like summer camp. Each band is like a tribe and watching them do their thing is so cool and reinforces what our tribe is doing. We’ve got to tour with Walk The Moon, American Authors, Grouplove… These bands we’re huge fans of. It’s epic.”
What’s your vibe like on tour?
K: “We’re chaotic insane children. When you’re on the bus you’re waiting to explode and when you go onstage you actually get to [explode].”
Do you think there’s a renewed power to live spaces?
K: “Yes! The world is crazy and when you go to a show you’re in a safe place with people who like the same music as you. You get to see something real happen.”
How do you want to progress your sound in future?
J: “We don’t wanna play it safe and just sing happy songs. There’s so much to be said right now.”
K: “Part of us wants to explode and say everything that needs to be said. The other half of us wants to continue creating a distraction for people. Finding a balance where we can say something important and also create positive energy that isn’t emotionally charged is the dream.”
Is there something that draws you to Miami as a gig destination?
K: “We don’t get to go to Miami often so it’s a special treat.”
J: “It feels like vacation. I just wanna throw on a pastel shirt.”
Finally, when was the last time you went to a show and felt particularly close to an artist?
K: “When we saw Dashboard a month ago, we screamed every lyric to every song at the top of our lungs. Real talk? I hadn’t listened to that music in years and I remembered every melody and every lyric and it felt like I was 16 again.”
Listen to The Mowgli’s Ford Front Row playlist below, with 15 of their favorite songs to cruise to