Project Mojo
Lakewood, Ohio, United States | SELF
Music
Press
Project Mojo was founded with a dubious source of black hole government funding as a laboratory for mad scientists of music. In a research lair located in southwestern Calabash County, 19 miles from Mudcat Falls -- a facility which has been rebuilt twice due to explosions from experiments gone awry -- the debut CD called Operation Thunderclap, which has been widely hailed by critics as being “not as annoying as what you would think,” was created in vitro. - John Talk Radio
OO: Are you an Ohio native?
MB: "Though I was born in Athens, my family moved to St. Louis when I was two or three. I think the combination of Appalachia roots and a muddy Mississippi upbringing might help explain a few things. In my high school band, the guitarist was a Cleveland native and told tales of the James Gang, Glenn Schwartz, Glass Harp and other great stuff coming out of northeast Ohio, so I went to Baldwin Wallace College in Berea for a year. That didn't work out, so I transferred to Ohio Weselyan in Delaware and graduated. I spent most of the 80's in Colorado and moved back to Ohio in 1989."
OO: What got you interested in music?
MB: "Truthfully? The opposite sex and it worked quite well starting in junior high, then high school, then college and then after college, but there was so much great music going on when I was growing up, that I couldn't escape it even if I tried. And I've always been extremely fortunate to hook up with musicians who have opened my eyes and ears to bands, players and genres that I know I would have missed left to my own devices."
OO: Any name bands before this one?
MB: "When in Columbus, I was in a bluegrass outfit 4 On The Floor and a folk act Blue Suite. Before Project Mojo, I was in the Acme Blues Rockets from Cleveland."
OO: Who has influenced your music?
MB: "Oh, certainly the usual suspects: Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Steely Dan, Robert Johnson and a slew of blues guys. If I had to pick one main influence, I always come back to Steely Dan. Just fantastic stuff, music-wise and lyrics-wise."
OO: Now describe your music.
MB: "Most people look at our set list and shake their heads wondering how many personalities are actually trapped inside the band trying to get out. One of the reasons Eric Clapton always ends up first on my list of influences is not only because of his guitar playing, but because of the incredible range of songs and styles of music he has put out."
OO: Who would you like to split a bill with, national or Ohio act?
MB: "I think we'd be a good fit for Dave Mathews or Bonnie Raitt, but we've never played with them. One guy from Ohio I do have a great respect for and would really like to share a bill with is Colin Dussault."
OO: Where was the new disc cut?
MB: "Officially, principal recording was done at Owl Works Studios in Mudcat Falls. That's my story and I'm sticking to it."
OO: If you say so. How did you enjoy that studio?
MB: "Okay, we really didn't use a 'studio' studio. We had a private collaboration web site we posted, reviewed and swapped tracks and mixes in process so that members could work out parts and records parts in their 'home studios' that I would then download and add to build the mix."
OO: Favorite Ohio venue?
MB: "That's a tough one, but last summer we had the chance to play Put-In-Bay and Kelly's Island and we simply had a blast."
OO: Long term plans?
MB: "I think the band is amazed where we are right now. We started working on the next disc that we're hoping to have done by the end of the year and we're just going to keep plugging away. The process we used for recording worked so well, that I'm talking about collaborating with folks from Philadelphia and Denver on the next one."
- Ohio On-Line Magazine
OO: Are you an Ohio native?
MB: "Though I was born in Athens, my family moved to St. Louis when I was two or three. I think the combination of Appalachia roots and a muddy Mississippi upbringing might help explain a few things. In my high school band, the guitarist was a Cleveland native and told tales of the James Gang, Glenn Schwartz, Glass Harp and other great stuff coming out of northeast Ohio, so I went to Baldwin Wallace College in Berea for a year. That didn't work out, so I transferred to Ohio Weselyan in Delaware and graduated. I spent most of the 80's in Colorado and moved back to Ohio in 1989."
OO: What got you interested in music?
MB: "Truthfully? The opposite sex and it worked quite well starting in junior high, then high school, then college and then after college, but there was so much great music going on when I was growing up, that I couldn't escape it even if I tried. And I've always been extremely fortunate to hook up with musicians who have opened my eyes and ears to bands, players and genres that I know I would have missed left to my own devices."
OO: Any name bands before this one?
MB: "When in Columbus, I was in a bluegrass outfit 4 On The Floor and a folk act Blue Suite. Before Project Mojo, I was in the Acme Blues Rockets from Cleveland."
OO: Who has influenced your music?
MB: "Oh, certainly the usual suspects: Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Steely Dan, Robert Johnson and a slew of blues guys. If I had to pick one main influence, I always come back to Steely Dan. Just fantastic stuff, music-wise and lyrics-wise."
OO: Now describe your music.
MB: "Most people look at our set list and shake their heads wondering how many personalities are actually trapped inside the band trying to get out. One of the reasons Eric Clapton always ends up first on my list of influences is not only because of his guitar playing, but because of the incredible range of songs and styles of music he has put out."
OO: Who would you like to split a bill with, national or Ohio act?
MB: "I think we'd be a good fit for Dave Mathews or Bonnie Raitt, but we've never played with them. One guy from Ohio I do have a great respect for and would really like to share a bill with is Colin Dussault."
OO: Where was the new disc cut?
MB: "Officially, principal recording was done at Owl Works Studios in Mudcat Falls. That's my story and I'm sticking to it."
OO: If you say so. How did you enjoy that studio?
MB: "Okay, we really didn't use a 'studio' studio. We had a private collaboration web site we posted, reviewed and swapped tracks and mixes in process so that members could work out parts and records parts in their 'home studios' that I would then download and add to build the mix."
OO: Favorite Ohio venue?
MB: "That's a tough one, but last summer we had the chance to play Put-In-Bay and Kelly's Island and we simply had a blast."
OO: Long term plans?
MB: "I think the band is amazed where we are right now. We started working on the next disc that we're hoping to have done by the end of the year and we're just going to keep plugging away. The process we used for recording worked so well, that I'm talking about collaborating with folks from Philadelphia and Denver on the next one."
- Ohio On-Line Magazine
Discography
Operation Thunderclap -- Released 2008
Dephying the Laws of Phyzics -- Under Construction
Photos
Bio
Project Mojo was founded with a deceptively simple idea: Just have fun playing great tunes.
The concept worked and after hundreds of gigs played in and around the shadow cast by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame over the northern coastal area of the United States that Martin Mull called the “Lake Erie Delta,” Project Mojo recorded and released its first CD, Operation Thunderclap.
The Project Mojo sound can only be described as Great American “Mutt” music. While most musicians and groups can neatly attest to their Blues, Jazz , Latin, Folk, Country, Classical or Rock & Roll pedigrees, Project Mojo is a mixed breed with an ancestry scattered haphazardly across the musical spectrum.
As you listen to the EPK Audio section, read what “friends” and critics have to say:
“Kerosene at least starts out as a comfortably traditional acoustic blues, but quickly begins to bend the form with chords and words that are hauntingly Lowell George-ish.”
“Who would think to throw bottleneck slide guitar into a perfectly normal kind of Stevie Nicks sounding song like Carousel Dream – not to mention that Jeff Beck-like crying guitar lead? “
“Blues Dog might be a more sultry sounding Van Morrison Moondance, but its got that jazzy Jaco bass line and a Gentle Giant guitar lead.”
“Empty Sails floats a Judi Collins/Joni Mitchell duet over a Yo-Yo Ma cello.”
“Centerline sounds like Santana sitting in with Steely Dan, but then there's that Marlene Dietrich vocal that Hemingway would swear could break his heart.”
It gets a bit messy and it drives the pigeon-holing music bureaucrats a bit mad, but Project Mojo is definitely a custom blend – not to mention friendly, good-tempered, loyal, a great companion and fun to have around – like most mutts.
Singer-songwriters Lola & Mudcat are the “heart and soul,” respectively, of Project Mojo. While Lola grew up singing in the church choir, playing saxophone in the school marching band and taking classical piano lessons, Mudcat was sneaking into bars to play the blues, haunting coffee houses to pick out Leo Kottke favorites, and clandestinely working a pedal steel in a country/bluegrass band – when he wasn't aggravating public school administrators armed with a Marshall, a Les Paul and bandoleer of Clapton, Beck, Page & Walsh guitar licks. The mixing of their musical DNA in Project Mojo only further confounds music industry civil servants . . . . but definitely pleases their fans.
Project Mojo entertains in club and concert settings, both as an unplugged duo or trio with acoustic instruments as well as plugged in with a rhythm section and amps that can “go to eleven” – but only if the occasion calls for it. Sets include original material and exclusive “mongrel” covers of songs from the 1930s to the current millennium.
Project Mojo venues include, but are not limited to, Clubs, Bars, Restaurants, Patios, Holes-in-Various-Walls, Breweries, Vineyards, Art Galleries, Wine Tastings, Coffee Houses, Arts & Crafts Fairs, Graduation Parties, Fourth of July Fireworks Block Parties, Corporate Cocktail Hours, NFL Backers Rallies, Trade Shows, Airport Hangers, Hog Roasts, Golf Courses, Driving Ranges, Bowling Alleys, and Grocery Stores – Yes, Grocery Stores (Whole Foods is one of our favorite gigs).
Band Members
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