The Early Days Mighty Mohawk Man began as somewhat of a joke among friends. Jeff Gowins, not even in his first year of high school the day he began making music, spent hours in a muggy garage, slaving over a Yamaha sequencer, two Casio keyboards from the 80s, a BOSS drum machine, an off-brand microphone, and a 4-track TASCAM tape recorder, making music nobody would ever hear.
Over the span of three months, he recorded a five song EP and a sixteen track demo that was self-consciously lo-fi, quirky, and annoying, very humbly released online and passed out to friends on CD-Rs.
He proved this joke to small gatherings everywhere as he took his joke on the road, tormenting people in various basements and living rooms across his city. Nobody ever really liked it, but there was something entrancing about it, like a car wreck too hard to look away from.
Soon, Jeff sold his analog equipment and graduated to digital sequencers and recording programs. The basement shows began to attract an average of twenty or more people, slowly growing in size and intensity. An odd cult began to form, people dressing up in elaborate costumes and singing along as Jeff pranced around, pissing everyone off and breaking a few things in the process.
Shortwave Radio After testing nearly 35 songs on live audiences, Jeff moved into his grandmother's guest house for two weeks in March 2005. At the end of these two weeks, Jeff closed the door behind him, 20 songs in his hands, the lucky 20 that became Shortwave Radio, a loose concept album driven by homoerotic undertones, spastic dance beats, and vocal stylings that could only be likened to a heroin-addicted Prince.
"What nobody understands about Shortwave is that it was a concept album," Jeff said. "The whole thing is a satire of gimmick-based popular music and the lives of celebrities. I figure if watered down punk and bland dance-rap got their fifteen minutes, would it be so strange if mohawks and keyboards were next?"
Shortly before the album's release, Jeff added longtime friend Kyle Laudermilt to the band to provide live guitars and work on future projects. Kyle and Jeff proved to be the ultimate duo, increasing the pandemonium of the live Mohawk show to an outright epidemic. People were now showing up in quantities of 50, sometimes even 100, all from word of mouth.
"I think that we are just really odd people that most aren't used to and the energy between us radiates to the crowd," Kyle said. "We just do what we feel and it definitely gets reactions."
Shortwave Radio soon began to gain more notoriety, resulting in magazine articles, television appearances, and places on internet radio top 40 charts. The Mohawk virus spread as planned...
The New Era Begins As time passed and the venues got bigger and the money got bigger and the crowds got bigger, Jeff and Kyle began to realize that their roles were getting bigger, too. In a swirling vision, they both saw the blueprints of the world before them. Out of all the unlikelies that could have been selected, Jeff and Kyle became prophets for the end times. The duo began writing a second, very serious record detailing this vision. The end result is as far away from Shortwave Radio as possible.
"It really is a serious album and a lot of people aren't going to like it because of that," Jeff said. "Either way, the change we've made in our sound is incredible. We are a full band now, no longer just sequencers and keyboards. We sound like Marilyn Manson covering Blondie."
Midway through the sessions for this new album, Joe Jovingo, another friend of Jeff's, was added to the line up to provide live keyboards. He has contributed in part to the new album and will help take on the songwriting duties from here on out.
"When we pick our bandmates, we do not choose based on skill or high priced equipment," Kyle said. "It is way more important to choose people you really like and get along with. The chemistry is so much better with people you love as opposed to ones you feel forced to be with. Anyone can learn an instrument with time, but you cant just make someone be a good friend."
What About Now? The band has finished their five track Million Dollar Bullet Hole single EP, set for release on January 24th, and Four Ring Circus will be released early April 2006.
Source: http://www.mightymohawkman.com/fourringcircus/?go=about
