We were lucky to catch up with Connor Bracken recently and have shared our conversation below.

Connor , appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I knew before I even had a guitar that I wanted to be in a band. I never had any interest in playing music on my own or in my bedroom. I wanted to immediately be in a band. Ever since I first saw bands I loved, I knew that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It seemed so much fun. It seemed like a place I could be myself. I really didn’t know who I was until I discovered this love for music. It was the bands I listened to that made me start feeling like I was me. It was the first time I was sure about something. It was pure freedom. I could do exactly what I wanted with my life. I went out and got my first guitar before I knew how to play and got my first band together before I even learned how to play a note.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Connor Bracken and the Mother Leeds Band play Rock and Roll music and we are based in Asbury Park, New Jersey. I’m Connor Bracken and I play guitar, sing, and front the band who are; Rich Seyffart on drums, TJ Haefner on bass, and Dee Dimeola on guitar. I started playing when I was 15 years old and pretty much haven’t stopped since. I never really wanted to sing but I always wanted to write the songs and after enough people were sick of my bullshit, I started having to sing them too. Since then I’ve completely dedicated myself to the art of songwriting. Trying to write every day and slowly (very slowly) getting better at it over time. I pretty much have no talent, I’ve just been working really hard for a really long time. Through trial and error, I’ve found a band and group of collaborators to help me do this thing, people who are equally as committed as I am and willing to put in the long days, nights, and years. I’m most proud of the people that we’ve been able to bring together at shows and how amazing those shows have felt. This thing can often be a lot of hard work but once you’re in front of people at a show you really see it all pay off. The main thing we want people to know about us is that we’re not going anywhere and if they come along for the ride they won’t be disappointed.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When Covid broke we had one of our largest tours ever on the books, yet to be announced. After we realized that tour was obviously not going to be happening that year, we pivoted and started really honing in on our studio work. In the past we’ve always tracked live, just the band in the room, singing and playing everything live, occasionally 1 or 2 overdubs but at least 90% a live track. You can hear that on our first 2 albums. When we pivoted I started focusing on how to capture the best studio performance we could by making intricate demos focusing on each part of the song and how every single note sounded. It was no longer a big picture, I was honing in on how every note reacted and what each player was bringing to the track. I let myself off the leash of only having 2 guitars, bass, and drums. I have been perfecting the way we track ever since then with our producer Dan Malsch (Ghost, Avenged Sevenfold). We’ll never actually reach perfection but our records are finally sounding as good as they are in my head.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The freedom of it. I love being able to wake up every day, chart my own destiny and chase my creative side. I often have to remind myself how lucky I am to have the privilege of doing so. To have a team of people around me helping me create something and a group of people out there who are willing to listen and be part of this is a beautiful thing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.motherleedsband.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/motherleedsband/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/motherleedsband
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/leedsrocksusa/videos
• Other: Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/5dPzAReI4DC2waEnlvXwMg?si=2phGz2ipRh6lkHpiwaE9VA

Image Credits

Single Art – Joe Ruff

Photos by Carina Duffy and Bill Baumann