Mohai Experiment: The Band That Keeps Going
Peter Hamer of Mohai Experiment was kind enough to do our first interview here at The Corner Type.
You might already know the band Mohai Experiment, but to some, this might be a new discovery, and might we add, an amazing discovery. While the band no longer performs new songs, they still very much have a following.
As a backstory, Mohai Experiment started as just a couple of friends getting together making music. Hamer said that he first met the drummer “in a freaky old rehearsals garage.” Isn’t that how pretty much any great story begins? In a “freaky old rehearsals garage.”
After they met, Hamer told us that they “started playing together as a power duo.” This power duo soon realized that they needed more, so like any great band looking to expand their duo to a trio, they started recruiting. You might be just as curious as we were on wondering how they came about recruiting this third member.
Hamer recalls putting “an old fashioned ad (full of grammar errors) in some places of the city searching for a bass player.” He then went on to state that “the only one who had the courage to reply was of course the right one.”
So yes, this band started out of a creepy garage and a poorly made ad. This might not sound like the typical start to something great, but it definitely was. This also was the start to a great friendship.
After getting the backstory of how this band was formed, we started wondering how they came up with such a different name. Mohai Experiment obviously sounds like a rad band name, but we wanted to know the roots of it.
Hamer gave us the best answer. He said that the “name comes from the Easter island legend where the Rapa Nui tribe built those dark rock giants [and they] liked the idea of an ancient clan discovering new territories.” He proceeded to say that “basically [they] underlined [their] progressive nature and [their] way to travel between the lines of time and space, other than [their] particular and personal way to conceive the music itself.”
Basically this band encompasses everything great about music, starting with their name.
When listening to the music of Mohai Experiment, you’ll notice yourself feeling very atmospheric. You know what else gives you a great atomospheric feel? A beautiful countryside house in a historic village of Italy.
When asked about Hamer’s most memorable moment of traveling with the band, he talked on one awesome experience back in 2005. Hamer said, “We took part in a bands contest and gained the finals in Urbino, a wonderful historical city in the center of Italy.” He continued, “We stayed some days in a stunning location, a big countryside house between hills.” If that already isn’t magical enough, wait until you hear what else he had to say. He continued with the story saying, “We did our best and won the contest, and we had the pleasure to open the live concerts before Nikki Sudden and Blonde Redhead.” What an amazing experience!
From hearing all about this unique band, it might be sad to hear that they no longer perform together. When asked why they split, Hamer said “We played together for 10 years (more or less) and the biggest issue was always [trying to find] the right balance between our three “soloist” minds. Each one wanted to lead the band in his own direction, so it worked until the intersection was large enough…At some point we understood that the price to pay staying together was too high, so we decided to stop the band activity and just to be friends.”
Since the split, the three friends still get together from time to time. All of the members now have families, but Hamer said “[he] wouldn’t mind a reunion for some touring.”
So all of you Mohai Experiment fans, new and old, keep supporting them and maybe, just maybe, we can get a live performance sometime in the future!
Be sure to follow them on twitter @MohaiExperiment.
To listen to and buy their music, use the links below:
–BandCamp
–iTunes
–Amazon
–Spotify
–YouTube
For any questions you might have concerning the band, you can contact Peter from his website.
To read the raw interview with Peter, click here!