Music

Mt. Desolation: "We didn't even know if it was going to get released"

by Anne T. Donahue

Upon listening to Mt. Desolation’s Americana-inspired self-titled debut, you’d be shocked to learn that the folk band and its rotating roster (members include the likes of Mumford & Sons, The Killers and Noah & the Whale) are the brainchild of Keane’s Tim Rice-Oxley and Jesse Quin – two musicians who’ve never seemed particularly inclined to dabble in a fiddle-related genre, but are trying to keep their Keane comparisons to a minimum.

“We’ve kind of deliberately tried to underplay [our involvement in Keane] as much as we can,” keyboardist and vocalist Rice-Oxley begins. “But obviously, it’s the very first thing that people latched onto, so we quickly realized that we should enjoy that – that people come to Mt. Desolation because of [Keane].”

“We could’ve easily gotten sucked into that horrible mess of how people would perceive it how it would relate to Keane,” he continues. “And I don’t even know what a record company would make of that, but you’ve got to make music for the right reasons, basically.”

More than well-acquainted with the music industry, Quin and Rice-Oxley were aware of how Mt. Desolation would likely be perceived, but saw their project as an opportunity to indulge themselves in their own tastes and interpretations as opposed to courting sales, public reception and chart placement.

“People judge a band that sounds completely different on the fact that two of the members are in another band,” guitarist and vocalist Jesse Quin explains. “[But] I think one of the main perks of a side project is that if the main band is good, they’re main job is to entertain and to create something beautiful to enrich people’s lives, and it’s not supposed to be a selfish thing. Whereas a side project is allowed to be a little more self indulgent [where you don’t] worry too much about whether anyone’s going to buy it or not.”

“We didn’t even know if it was going to get released or if anyone would like it, or if we were going to get to go on tour, or any of those things,” Rice-Oxley adds. “So it felt very pure, and I think it’s understandably quite different to make an album with that spirit these days. If you’re worried about paying the rent, you’ve got to worry a bit more about whether people will like it or not.”

With paying rent no longer an issue, the two have found new concerns with the transitioning music industry and their place within it. However, thanks to a loyal fanbase and the buzz surrounding certain cameos on the record, Mt. Desolation has been a project that the duo believes has been received well and interpreted correctly.

“When you’re 17, the hardest part is trying to get a good guitar sound and play the chords right, but you’re not worried about whether your music’s still relevant or there’s still a context for what you do,” Quin shares. “Whereas as you get older, your skills become much more honed and you . . . start wondering if it is relevant and if there’s a context for what you’re doing.”

“I started to worry once we’d done the recording and were creeping closer [to its release] about whether people would start seeing it with that negative [vanity project] viewpoint,” adds Rice-Oxley. “But I think you can feel that music, I hope. So I think that’s why people have received it in the right way.”