Photo by Kyle Shaffer
Nostalgia. Evolution. Magic.
How does one evoke memories from what seems to be a past life? How do you make someone you have never met feel as if they’re evolving through life with you? What does it mean to create magic through a lyric?
Mothé never set out to answer these vast, emotional questions. Yet, that is what they did, and what they continue to do with each lyric and melody they produce.
Spencer Fort, known to millions under their stage name “Mothé,” is a Los Angeles-based alternative artist, musician and producer. Alongside collaborator Luke Gonzales, they have been creating music since 2020 under the “Mothé” moniker.
As they have been releasing music during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has exploded online, amassing millions of streams on Spotify and TikTok. Songs like “Debt Collector” and “It’s Ok to be Lonely” contributed much to the lives of those listening during worldwide lockdown: namely, nostalgia, evolution and magic, according to fans on YouTube.
“The pandemic affected music in the same way it affected everybody else, which is that we spent months freaking out, wondering if we had careers,” Spencer told me, calling in from their studio in Echo Park, CA.
“Slowly, as the industry reopened, it was reopening in such a different way. Everybody was making really weird music. I was a new artist, so it was an opportunity to make music without any sort of bias coming from an audience, because the audience didn’t exist. It was just like, ‘Hey, it’s gonna be weird for two years. Get on the mic and make some noise.’”
That’s exactly what they did. In the past two years, they have released two EPs and three singles.
I first discovered Mothé in the midst of the COVID-19 induced lockdown. On one of our drives, my sister played their music for me, and, just like those YouTube commenters, nostalgia pierced me like a knife.
“I’m looking backwards through the wrong side of the screen … It’s performative and sheen … I wish someone had told me it’s ok to be lonely.”
Lyrics like these from their song “It’s Ok To Be Lonely” left me with a sense of sentimentality, regret and evolution of the human condition. These themes, combined with punk rock and folk instrumentation inspired by RadioHead, The 1975 and Lorde, gripped me. I thought that there was truly something special about their work.
Nearly two years later, they have just announced their debut album, “I Don’t Want You to Worry Anymore,” set to be released on April 8. As Fort and I spoke, I was thrilled to hear details about the new collection of songs.
What is so exciting about it, they said, is that it was recorded in their home — which deepens the intimacy of the piece.
“I used my advance, that I would normally use to go to the studio, here, on a bunch of equipment. It’s really wonderful to work out here because the studio can be a bit stale,” they said. “There’s a lot of natural light here, a lot of road noise from the highway that bleeds into the mics. A record in this space is always gonna sound like a record in this space. It’s limiting, but it’s special.”
The inspiration for the album wasn’t always a well planned endeavor, they said. “For the most part, it’s me kind of wandering around, getting some sort of idea. Maybe I have a moment that feels particularly cinematic, an interesting concept. Let’s put that down.”
Their recording process functions similarly.
“A lot of times the first takes ended up being on the record,” they said. “ I don’t like thinking about it when you’re not in the moment; I don’t like this whole wave of ‘we’ll tweak it and make it perfect later.’ The second that it feels good and I have an emotional reaction, I’m going to commit to this. I’m not going to forget that emotional reaction. And those steps usually end up making most of the recordings.”
Many of the singles released this year will be featured on the album, but don’t assume it will all sound like those, Fort warned.
“I think that most of the tracks that you’re missing are the glue that kind of holds it together for me. The remainder of the album is a lot less pop-py and a lot more introspective,” they said. “They’re more honest songs. They’re songs that make me feel a lot more naked.”
“It’s a very sentimental album. It’s called ‘I Don’t Want You to Worry Anymore,’ because it’s looking back on a moment where I couldn’t figure it out. I was freaking out all the time.”
This album is in some ways an attempt to calm their younger self in a time of distress. In other ways, however, it is simply fun. It is a record to play at the club, a record to sing along with at the top of your lungs, a record for my sister and I to blast with the windows down on a long drive.
“It’s kind of like a party. It’s meant to be danced to. I don’t want to just be some fucking self-proclaimed esoteric artist that’s just sitting there. I feel like it’s super easy to fall into that hole, so I have to push myself to make something people can dance to.”
So far this plan has been successful, with the singles and EPs released over the last two years. Mothé’s videos have been liked over a hundred thousand times on TikTok, and they garner over 55,000 monthly listeners.
“My younger siblings went off to college, and they were like, ‘Oh, my classmates know about you!’ So I got to be super cool,” they said. “I can’t even wrap my head around 20-somethings in New York or 20-somethings in Florida listening to my songs. I’ve been doing this at such a low level for so long that it’s very bizarre, but it’s very fun.”
Fort has been pursuing music for quite some time, even prior to Mothé’s success. They were the singer and guitarist for Moth Wings, which disbanded in 2020, and a touring guitarist for The Wrecks.
“I’m excited to go out on tour and see what that means. To say this number or this weird internet traction, I literally don’t get it. It’s exciting, but I don’t understand it,” they said. “Now when there’s people in a room, you can tangibly understand how connected we are.”
Music as a form of connection is clearly extremely important to them. So, in addition to their own music, they have been working as a producer for other artists out of their home studio.
“I spend half my time producing for other artists,” they said. “In that space it’s just so special to be so involved with somebody else’s passion and idea. I have a lot of community. It’s really amazing to not do this alone, and have just wonderful, wonderful people all around me all the time.”
These artists often spend the night and are greeted by a cup of coffee in the morning. Spencer’s home becomes a sort of collaborative arts residency and means of community building for them.
“I hope that as time goes on, I can build it out,” they said. “We can say, ‘This was like a place we all remember going,’ because I will have lived here for probably 10 plus years. I’m not going anywhere. I certainly love it here.”
Just like they aren’t leaving Echo Park any time soon, they aren’t stopping their musical endeavors.
“It’s a beautiful art form. It moves people,” they said. “My neighbor is a sculptor. He and I talk about this a lot. I can’t stop doing it, and I don’t really know why it’s like this. You just hear it in your head or for him, he sees it. I wouldn’t know how to stop. It’s just this thing that feels incredibly integral to my identity, and I don’t know. I have to do it.”