With an immense set of ‘70s reminiscent, originally crafted rock in its cadre and an astute ability to ad lib as the music takes a path of its own, Mos Generator isn’t a band typically in need of openers in their hometown.
Especially in the case that it’s a free show, as it will be this weekend at Winterland — near the corner of Warren and Sylvan in East Bremerton. (A free rock show from a band with a frontman who could very well be the spawn of Ozzy Osbourne, what more could one ask for?)
Regardless, Charlton Heston and a gang of snarling apes will be warming it up for them Friday and Saturday.
The Generator will share the stage with “Planet of the Apes” June 22 followed by “Beneath the Planet of the Apes” June 23 for a special event they are calling “Mos Generator and a Movie.”
Mos’ music starts at 11 p.m. which will be professionally documented for a live DVD to be released in December. Lights, $20,000 cameras, nine straight-ahead songs each night.
“We want to let the people know that we appreciate all those years of hanging out with us,” said Mos frontman Tony Reed.
Reed recently shared the story of Mos Generator with What’s Up, from their beginnings (more than 15 years ago) through hiatus to the ever-present pull which eventually fused the three-piece back together in the new millennium.
Mos Generator started out sporadic, Reed said.
With all three members — Scooter Haslip (bass), Shawn Johnson (drums) and Reed (guitar/vocals/keys) — involved in other projects at the time, one thing led to another, and, “We all ended up on the road,” Reed said.
The Generator’s members hit the highway as part of different bands — Treepeople (Reed/Haslip) and Mindfunk (Johnson). But they would sometimes run into each other in various cities or at random concerts. Eventually, the Mos force guided the veterans all back together in Bremerton in the year 2000 — “from the ashes of a 10 year off and on collaboration,” the band’s bio says.
In 2002, they recorded and released a solid, self-titled CD on Reed’s indie label — Music Abuse Records (also the home of other storied Kitsap bands like Neutralboy, the Swinos and Kane Hodder.)
As Mos Generator began its ascent from the ashes, still rooted in heavy ‘70s rock (the Black Sabbath/Deep Purple type), they were bringing it back more focused, more experienced and “locked in.”
“We were totally locked into where and what we were playing,” Reed said of the difference between the early and latter years. “Really as friends and musically there’s not been two other guys that I’ve ever locked in with better.”
Built on that premise, the Generator stomped into 2006 with two new releases — their second full-length, “The Late Great Planet Earth” followed by “The Vault Sessions.” So far, 2007 has brought the release of “Tales From the Vault” a 10-inch vinyl (on Flotation Records), and a 7-inch vinyl split with the band The Hitch from Music Abuse.
Upcoming this September, Mos Generator will release its third full-length titled “Songs for Future Gods.” (Check for updates at www.mosgenerator.com — in December, it will be paired with the live/documentary DVD.)
In the past few years, other indie labels — most recently Small Stone Records out of Detroit, Mich. — began taking notice of the Generator and prompting distribution as the band played shows at home and abroad — including the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas this past spring.
And though they’ve not toured there yet (all bets say they will soon), Mos Generator’s music seems to have taken on a substantial following in Europe. Many of the band’s myspace.com hits come from out of the country, Reed said, while Mos Generator is also slated to appear on compilation disks in England and Portugal.
But first things first, they’re putting their beloved Bremerton scene on DVD, with two free shows this weekend at Winterland.
