Local Bands Spotlights: Mommy and Common Koi at the Downpour
Written by: Jack Skidmore
On Saturday, May 13th, ASUO held their student focused concert, Downpour. This consisted of three-acts featuring Portland-raised artist Aminé, as well as Eugene local bands, Mommy "and Common Koi at the Matthew Knight Arena. The university has not seen a show of this size from ASUO since 2012. This undoubtedly was a novel experience for the local bands especially as they have thus far been mostly akin to house shows and backyard concerts with a few smaller venue performances. I had the pleasure of speaking to members of these two local bands and hearing them describe their subjective experiences. Patrick Walker from Mommy, as well as Kira Gelbaugh and Stephen Strong from Common Koi, relay their experiences from this unique opportunity.
Expectations versus reality
Mommy (Patrick Walker)
In short, Walker had a grandiose presumption of this show. “It was going to be the biggest moment of my life,” he said. However, he certainly also had some reasonably based worries. He said, “leading up to it, it was all nerves.” Luckily, Walker concluded that the image he had of this event was much scarier than the experience itself. Nonetheless, it was an entirely new feeling for the band. He said, “Even walking onto the stage was totally different” and described it as “walking off of a spaceship.”
Common Koi (Kira Gelbaugh Stephen Strong)
Similar to Mommy, Common Koi members also felt a bit anxious leading up to the show. “In my brain, it [Matthew Knight Arena] keeps expanding and expanding and there’s no end. It's just that big, likely unrealistically. I think I panicked a little bit,” said Gelbaugh. Recalling finally stepping on stage she adds “I could see the friendly faces” and “it felt more manageable than what I had been building up in my mind.” Strong also points out the process of the full day of preparation helped him through his nerves. “By the time we got out there we weren't too nervous,” Strong said. “I had been expecting to be setting the tone for the night and getting a really good energy right away, and I think we did that,” he added.
Show preparation
Mommy (Patrick Walker)
The difference between Eugene's house shows and this show was stressed in my conversation with Walker. “A lot of people were telling us what to do. It was completely the opposite of what we are used to,” he said. This type of professional direction at concerts is not something the band is used to at all. Walker described the experience of playing at a house show
as, “pulling up to a party and doing a set.” During the day of the show, Walker elaborated on the long preparation period that occupied almost the entire day equipped with procedures such as hour-long sound checks. After this laborious process, the band had a few crucial moments with each other before the show started. “We had a little Mommy circle before the show and all went ‘one, two, three Mommy!’” said Walker.
Common Koi (Kira Gelbaugh Stephen Strong)
Before the show, Common Koi made sure to take a few moments to collect their thoughts and mentally prepare. “We got a good little group meditation in,” said Gelbaugh. “We did a stretching session with our videographer, who's also a yoga teacher,” added Strong. Before all their shows Common Koi makes sure to plan out their performance carefully. “We always have a battle plan. How are we going to channel this energy through the set and what's the ride gonna be like?” said Gelbaugh
Forward Thinking
Mommy (Patrick Walker)
Mommy is eager to work towards another large concert opportunity similar to Downpour. “We need to do our best, it's now or never,” said Walker. He also explained that Mommy is working towards writing new music and hopefully playing at a venue outside of Eugene in the near future. “We really had to hone in for this [concert] and I think it gave us a new standard of excellence for our group,” said Walker.
Common Koi (Kira Gelbaugh Stephen Strong)
Following the show, Common Koi hopes to make it out to a similar stage setting in the near future. “As soon as we finished our last song I was like ‘OK how do we make this happen again,’” said Gelbaugh. The pair explains that stylistic improvement and the incorporation of musical complexity are integral parts of being able to play large venues. “The new songs that we are writing are an evolution from how we started in 2017,” said Gelbaugh. Strong added, “We all appreciate the simplicity of a good pop song but also the really fine details and nuances of a really good song.”
Highlights from Show
Mommy (Patrick Walker)
During Mommy’s set, Walker had one musical moment that stood out. This came after a crescendo that built to an explosive chorus during the song, “Mary Suitor.” He also pointed out that this same moment had been a band highlight for him during the previous school year while performing at the Blue Dragon venue, which was “the biggest stage we played at the time.” In reference to the Blue Dragon show, Walker said “Seeing the whole crowd and being able to watch everyone respond to that is ingrained in the back of my brain.” After playing that same song at Matthew Knight, Walker described being granted the same incredible experience during this song, but this time with a much bigger audience. In addition to the specific song, Walker said, “It was the interactions between the band members that really made it for me. We all got to share these little looks like, ‘Holy shit what are we doing?’”
Common Koi (Kira Gelbaugh Stephen Strong)
The brief moment of meeting Aminé and sitting backstage were standouts for Common Koi from Saturday. “The preshow was really fun. Hanging out with Mommy and feeling like rock stars,” said Strong. As well as this, the band members felt joy simply being on stage. “I could be really happy just doing this,” said Gelbaugh looking forward to how playing live music could play a role in the rest of her life. “Trust my band, trust music, it's all good,” says Gelbaugh.