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JJ Grey by George Weiss |
From the land he grew up on, the values he was raised with, and eventually the music he discovered, Grey's youth clearly influences MOFRO's sound. "Well, we weren't [allowed to listen to music] to a degree," he says, "then my parents allowed us to listen to the Casey Kasem Top 40 Count Down on the way home from church, and then one time that 'Disco Inferno' came on and it said, 'Burn baby burn' and my dad cut it off, he was like, 'I ain't letting y'all listen to that.' My sister bought me Gold and Platinum [Lynyrd Skynyrd] it was my first record. I don't remember when I got it, maybe I was 12, and my parents had lightened up a lot by then." While MOFRO may not sound like Skynyrd they do embody a sense of pride for one's home and one's choice in how they live. And while having one's radio time curtailed on the way home from church may not sound like much of a musical influence, in fact it is. MOFRO is from that old world where what your dad says means something. MOFRO has respect for where they were bred and they show it in every note they play.
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| MOFRO by George Weiss |
When asked what album changed his life, JJ responds, "Live at the Whiskey-a-Go-Go [Otis Redding] 1967 is one of my favorite live records of all time, and Bill Withers' Live At Carnegie Hall... When I was in San Francisco on the B.B. King tour I saw that album, Live At Carnegie Hall and I said, 'You know, I gotta get on a stool.' And then--this is so weird--the next night I met Bill Withers in Los Angeles and he told me, 'Hey man, you gotta get up on a stool.' So I ran to Wal-Mart and bought a stool." If you spend some time with MOFRO you can hear Otis Redding, and you can sense Bill Withers.
JJ Grey :: HSMF 2003
By Kayceman |
Basking so heavily outside the trends of popular music, MOFRO is challenged with converting enough listeners to support their cause, but if they can do it, the rewards will far exceed the fast road to success. "I've heard people say how we should do more covers to add depth, and that's the weirdest concept I've ever heard in my life," says Grey. "I always figured originals are what give you depth. I played in a cover band for four years and I don't really wanna do covers. We only pick covers to do that I've always wanted to play or something like that. And we do covers here and there but I wouldn't add them to add depth or anything, I'd just do them to do 'em. We're not the kind of band that's going to play a totally different set with totally different songs every night, that's never gonna happen." MOFRO is proud of their own identity: in constantly doing their thing, something both old and new at the same time, they've developed a sound that is totally unique and deeply meaningful.
When topics turn to the future, fate, and ones destiny JJ again drops his refreshing, simplistic backwoods philosophy that we could all use a bit more of. "I figure whatever you get you make it happen for yourself one way or the next," he says. No blame, no debt, no higher power looking out, no reason other than what you got in your heart and what you feel in your head. And when asked why MOFRO is catching fire--showing up on NPR, MTV, Bonnaroo, and much more--JJ tells me, "Just honesty I guess. You just do what you do. There's just no telling what people will like or won't like, and everybody has got a different set of ears and a different set of influences to make things relevant or irrelevant to them, so you just kick it and see what happens."
So where will JJ Grey be when it's all said done, after the lights have come up and he no longer cuts his check on the road? "Probably drinking beer and swatting at flies in a hammock. Nah... Probably just farming, fishing, and surfing if I can still do it."
The Kayceman
JamBase | San Francisco
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