Mogley and the Woodland Creatures are a rock/funk/blues/soul band based out of Winnipeg. With a CD set for release this fall, a western Canadian tour at the end of August and loads of gigs coming at them all over town, I had to sit the group down and ask questions. I managed to catch up with them in a house that none of us had ever been in before. Mogley and all the Woodland Creatures are comprised of Aidan Ritchie (frontman), Finley Allison (multi-instrumentalist), Holly Stratton (keyboardist/vocals), Grant Trippel (guitar/synth) and Tyson Eidse (drums).
Stylus: How did you guys come up with the name Mogley and the Woodland Creatures?
Aidan Ritchie: We’re a concept band. The character Mogley is travelling to a new place where he has met a bunch of characters to help him find the woman he is in love with. The creatures tell him if he sings a song so loud and beautiful, that she will come back. Every member tells a different story which creates the feeling of the beat.
Finley Allison: Each member in the band has their own character.
Stylus: How would you describe your music?
FA: Entertaining and progressive. We play different genres depending on the venue. If it’s late at night and people want to get funky then we’re going to get funky, sweat on stage and Aidan is going to dance. It grows and matures.
Stylus: But don’t most bands grow and mature?
AR: But we take you somewhere.
Stylus: Where do you take us?
FA: Where clothing is optional. [laughs]
AR: We take you from your safe haven where your parents give you a teddy bear to hold onto and slowly we wake you up and show you that not all bears are nice and your teddy bear turns into a grizzly bear, y’know? Then it gets funky and dirty but people aren’t afraid, because what’s primitive and natural is always sexual. We don’t want to attack people, we just want to make love to their ears.
Stylus: You guys played as the house band on Week Thus Far (WTF) season finale back in June, how did that come about and what was that like?
AR: I got an e-mail one night saying they needed a band to play for the finale on June 27. So we went and did the show and the stage was packed. Actually, they didn’t have enough electrical energy to power all of our instruments that night. There was seven of us on stage for that gig.
Tyson Eidse: It was a lot of fun. It was great to play on the show and support the local comedians and other local talent.
Stylus: I was at that gig, I noticed jamming is very much a part of your show.
Holly Stratton: Yes, we always feed off each other at gigs.
Grant Trippel: Songs will extend sometimes to…thirty minutes! [laughs] Some songs we just jam to.
TE: Improvisation just kinda happens, it’s all about communication on stage.
Stylus: I understand you have a CD coming out soon?
AR: In October. It’s easy to get out in the summer, so why put our CD out there when it’s warm outside and they can come see our show? Not everybody wants to come out in the winter, so we’re going to make sure you have something to listen to when you’re sitting inside all cozy.
FA: The majority of production is done within the band. Me and Grant have started producing most of it.
Stylus: Is there a name for the album? Any ideas?
GT: As it stands, it’s self-titled.
HS: Symptoms Of A Wet Guitar?
FA: That could be a funk album!
Mogley and the Woodland Creatures were on a Western Canadian tour through the end of August finished up at Vancouver in September. Be sure to catch them playing around Winnipeg this winter and catch up with the current escapades at myspace.com/KitchiManitou.