Doomed Confessionary: Sara Mehner (Moon Mother)
Photos by Julia Moon
Moon Mother is a dark folk duo from the western parts of Sweden, consisting of Sara Mehner and Pat Ahlström.
Moon Mother takes you on a real and soulful ride through their world of shadows and light. In a universe intertwined by the sounds of earthy alternative rock and dark emotive indie folk the duo from Sweden invites you to dwell inside the wilderness of mysticism and intimate introspection as they walk through their own sorrows and pains to weave stars inside the darkness to excist within it all.
The duo that is crafting a truly authentic, down-to-earth sound doesn’t fail to evoke emotions and even if it’s uncomparable in many ways, fans agree that their music makes them feel nostalgic and somehow reminds them of tunes from the good old days and bands like The Cranberries and Tarnation has been mentioned in comparison.
Can you say a few words about your band?
Real. Moon Mother is like an extension of my own healing. She lights up my night. Like the moon. Freedom. I feel free only when I sing.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Finding the strenght and confidence to start all over again after meeting rock bottom and splitting it up and to do what we can out of what we have forward. Getting through our personal and relational hardships and become a good team again. It was hard but glad we didn’t give up.
What can you be most proud of so far?
That we produced our debut album without no previous experience, just me and Pat. It was intense and we learned so much, it has been so rewarding.
What was your biggest regret?
That we didn’t do that sooner. That we didn’t believe we could do that sooner that somehow we let other people decide it wasn’t important, when in fact Moon Mother and our music is the MOST important thing in both of our lives.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
We’ve only been active again since summer of 2023 but we’ve played a couple of cool places since then, one of them was a fortress from the 1300th century here in Sweden. That was pretty epic!
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
That our music seems to connect with people wherever we go. That somehow it stirs up something emotional inside them, like if what I put inside of it for myself to find is finding it’s way to others aswell, that’s pretty amazing and spiritual.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Hmm, heavy and heavy. I listen to a lot of Wardruna these days but also I’m not gonna end this sentence without saying that Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds dropped the album of the year! (Wild God)
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
To do our thing. To not try to sound or do something someone else is doing but to go for OUR THING. Also play a lot of shows. Make noise. People are going to notice you.
What are your guilty pleasures?
Lol. Guilty of watching some truly shitty girly TV-shows from time to time whenever I need to zoom out.
Can you say something more about the music scene in your part of Sweden?
We’re in the western parts of Sweden. Somehow something cool that’s happening is that the musicscene seems to grow outside of the cities aswell. People starting up like venues in their barns, it’s awesome.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
Year is almost ending so no more shows for us but we’re cooking on cool stuff for next year.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
Keep doing what we’re doing, not waiting for some certain breakthrough or something but just to keep doing what we do and keep being who we are. You can do a lot of things on your own if you’re willing to work for it. Keep on living for the music.
Do you have any special plans for New Year’s Eve?
No not really, Pat and I are going to be taking care of my moms dogs as they are going away on a new years party. It will be calm and cozy and we will probably sleep before the bells will ring LOL!
How can people best support your band?
Come find us on social media and say hello. Buy our merch. Save your favorite song from us on your playlist. Tell a friend about us. Tell your favorite café or bar or barn lol that you would like to see us live there in the future. We would love to play outside of Sweden!
Do you have any message for your listeners?
You probably have a hidden talent or creative magical thing inside of you that you are not aware of yet. Explore, create, follow your dreams and find the dicipline to make them real. Do what makes you happy, excited and passionate and START, just somewhere, sometimes starting is so hard but that’s the first step I believe in you!
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well