It is hard to explicitly define Mom Rock’s personality as they have created such a distinct identity for themselves. This group of high-energy, spirited and determined musicians are set on paving their own path through the music industry. As I called to interview them during their road trip up the coast to San Francisco, they gave me a glimpse into the fun and chaotic experience of playing in the band, Mom Rock.
The band members Josh Polack (guitar/vocals), Curtis Heimburger (acoustic/vocals), Tara Maggiuli (bass/vocals) and Wilson Reardon (drums) all united in Boston while attending Berklee College of Music and Northeastern, creating Mom Rock.
The name Mom Rock was not just a coincidence. “We were trying to do a play on dad rock because it’s such a prominent thing, but no one really talked about Mom Rock,” Heimburger said. After that idea, everyone in the band knew the name fit their music.
After they finished school, the band set out for what was next to come in their journey.
“We all sat down to analyze our options and asked ourselves, where do we know people? Where do we feel like there is an industry where we can get our foot in the door?” Polack said.
Now they’ve transitioned from playing in the basements of houses in Boston to venues in Los Angeles, and are currently on their first tour on the West Coast.
While Polack and Heimburger are the songwriters of the band, each member finds inspiration for their sound through different groups and artists such as Bleachers, Catfish and the Bottleman, Talking Heads, Queen, Twin Peaks, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and other upbeat alternative rock musicians.
For Polackand Heimburger, the process of writing the songs for Mom Rock Varies every time. They work separately in the beginning stages and then collaborate more as they put together the finishing touches.
Heimburger explained how he has to be in the mood to write, but when he is, it’s as natural as, “coming up with a chord progression on my acoustic and humming something along to it, and then jotting down lyrics that seem to make sense. A lot of the time it’s just a stream of consciousness and whatever sounds good I put on the page,” Heimburger said.
They have come a long way since Boston and have had great success in establishing a name for themselves. Mom Rock released a “a song with a happy end” EP in July of 2021 which features some of the songs they’ve planned to perform on tour, as well as a few unreleased songs.
The first few shows of the tour have been extremely successful for the band.
“We’ve gotten a better reception than we could’ve ever asked for. Everytime [we] sold more merch than we thought we’d ever sell,” Polack said.
After the tour is wrapped up at the end of January, the band plans to get settled back in and take February to record demos and shop their songs around.
“We all want to do an album, but it is such a tough thing nowadays with the way streaming works and your best bet is to put out singles and an EP,” Heimburger said.
Some of Mom Rock’s biggest accomplishments besides starting this tour has been playing at Music Midtown Atlanta and Rock Boat, but for Polack, he explained how, “a lot of what feels like our biggest accomplishments are things that we’re not posting about on Instagram. Signing with the management team was a huge deal for us.”
Mom Rock’s infectious energy and vivacious performances will set them apart as they go further into the music industry. The band hopes to continue touring and play at their hometowns while also bringing their music to other parts of the country.
“We’re most excited for all our friends scattered around the country to see Mom Rock for the first time,” Polack said.
“It’s like the greatest road trip ever,” Maggiuli said.
“We get to go across the country and get paid to play our silly songs, do our little dance with our silly outfits,” Polack said and the other members chimed in.
This band has an extremely bright future and it’ll be exciting to follow along. You can support Mom Rock by purchasing tickets to their Denver show at The Black Buzzard on Jan. 20. This show will be their first headliner so they will play a longer set, but if you can’t make it be sure to follow their Instagram and Spotify.
