Mother Mother Promise to ‘Come Out With a Bang’ at Lollapalooza India
The Canadian rock act’s co-founder and vocalist guitarist Ryan Guldemond talks about their recent album ‘Nostalgia’ and writing a song called ‘Namaste’
Canadian rock band Mother Mother. Photo: Emily Bradhsaw/Warner Music
Canadian rock act Mother Mother’s Lollapalooza India set in Mumbai, their debut show in the country, came together because of a last-minute swap-in.
Guitarist-vocalist Ryan Guldemond says from his hotel in Mumbai, “There was a cancellation, and so we got sort of a last-minute invitation. We had like an afternoon to decide.” For the band that’s been around since 2005, it was an “easy yes.” The opportunity to play India for a Canadian rock band was too good to pass up. “I don’t even know of any peers that have come to India,” he says.
Guldemond has already been soaking up the Mumbai experience like one would expect from a first-time visitor. While they did visit the Taj Mahal Palace for tea, his preferred mode of tourism is simpler: “My favorite thing to do is just to walk around and soak up the true energy of a city. I don’t love doing the obvious touristy things, but just walking for hours, especially with a camera.”
He also mentions he’s also got a great view from his hotel window — pre-dawn meditators facing the ocean. The band, interestingly, have a song called “Namaste” from their 2025 album Nostalgia. He admits the song’s connection to India is not really intentional, but adds, “There’s a lot of spiritual themes and spiritual angst in our music… trying to find peace, trying to find enlightenment, but failing, and struggling with your humanity. So it’s cool to be in a place that’s so spiritually rich.”
What can Lollapalooza attendees expect from Mother Mother’s set? “Pretty high energy, positive,” Guldemond says. Don’t expect “Namaste” on the setlist, though. “I think it’s a bit slow for our Lollapalooza set. I think we need to come out with a bang.”
The good news is that the band has plenty of ammunition. With two decades of material to pull from, they’re “definitely pulling from the whole catalog.” That means hits from their TikTok-fueled time like “Hayloft“ alongside songs like “Burning Pile,” “Verbatim” and “Amrs Tonite,” plus a few crowd-pleasing medleys that give the band formidable firepower.
It was around 2021 that their older tracks exploded on social media with “Hayloft II” achieving a milestone that still seems to amaze Guldemond. “The lyrics were the most searched lyrics in America in 2021. To me, that was just a crazy statistic. Couldn’t believe it,” he says.
For many artists, being labeled a “TikTok sensation” might feel reductive. But the band has made peace with unconventional success. “I think you have to ride the wave. There’s a natural rhythm to success when it comes your way, and I think it’s appropriate to honor the moment and be grateful for it and not resent it because it’s painting you in a [certain] light.”
With their most recent album, Nostalgia, the band returned to what can broadly be called their triple vocal attack, indie rock “roots” after a decent amount of sonic wandering on albums like Grief Chapter and Dance and Cry. Half of their new record comprises old songs they never recorded but always loved, while the other half features new material. Reception was solid, but Guldemond is open about the fact that it wasn’t their most successful album. “And that’s okay too. It’s just a chapter in the book, right? Every chapter can’t be explosive.”
The key, according to Guldemond is to “do it for the process.” He adds, “You have to love the process more than the outcome. So long as you can make music and be in the process, then you’ll be happy.”
After wrapping up festival appearances in 2026, Mother Mother plans to return to the writing room. When asked about the direction of new material, Guldemond hints at something that departs from Nostalgia‘s retrospective nature. He says, “Now we can be our current selves again. I think probably darker and maybe more complex, like more progressive, more parts, like less formula and more math.”
As the band prepares to hit the Lollapalooza India stage, Guldemond hopes it’s the “beginning of more time in the country.”
For a band that’s learned to embrace whatever comes their way amid viral fame, streaming algorithms, last-minute international gigs and more, Mother Mother will deliver exactly what they promise: high energy, genuine connection, and two decades of songs that can mean something to people, whether they discovered them in 2005 or 2021. “We just keep marching forward,” Guldemond says.
