MoTHER, The Waters Project

Just as the year 2015 was winding down, Doc Coyle of VH1 wrote an article called “10 Bands That Show Why Hard Rock May Be Getting Good Again”. Listed were the likes of rock-staples Failure and more recent risers like Nothing More and Bring Me The Horizon. Then there was a video clip of a relatively unknown band, a clip that danced between the New York City landscape and an enthralled crowd laid out in front of four musicians, a clip Coyle couldn’t help but heap his praises upon.

For New York City’s rock export MoTHER, crowds like that are just another day at the office.

MoTHER may have been on the radar in 2013, however, their story goes much farther back. The beginnings of the band follows the friendship of vocalist Nick Fargo and bassist Johnny Bass, who have spent the better part of a decade drinking and playing music together. It took a bus from
Pennsylvania to New York, five hours of jamming, and a late-night standoff that brought guitarist Mike Gowen into the fold. The trio would then devote many late nights to crafting their sound, a testament to their relentlessly powerful work ethic and a few bottles of their favorite whiskey.

Coyle called MoTHER’s sound “pure hard rock with a bluesy underbelly”, an apt description of the intersection between Gowen’s powerfully textured guitar work, Bass’ rock-solid rhythm work and Fargo’s driving vocals. This take-no-prisoners sound became crisply sharpened while on the road with accomplished rock colleagues Saving Abel, Fozzy and Buckcherry. Taking this momentum, in 2014 the band recorded their EP A New Life, marking the band’s evolution from promising rock prospect to legitimate contender. This energy further opened the door for the band, earning them opening slots for Red Sun Rising, Pop Evil, Godsmack, Slash, and Clutch among others.

After more regional touring throughout 2015 and early 2016, the band drew the attention of Flexitone Records and their founder/producer David Ivory, the engine behind the development and ultimate rise of Silvertide and Grammy-winners Halestorm. This introduction kicked off an almost year-long collaboration that resulted in their latest offering, a scaldingly-hot burner of a rock track entitled “Medicine”.

If anything has proven to be true, it’s that MoTHER defies the notion that hard rock may be getting good again.

They’re proving it never went away.


The Waters Project is an original rock band from NYC founded in the fall of 2014 by songwriter David Lee
Waters as a creative outlet for the original music he has envisioned over his 40+ years as a highly
regarded live and session guitar player in his musical community. Much of his inspiration comes from
his favorite artists such a Pete Townsend, Tom Petty, Neil Young/Crazy Horse, Smithereens,
Pretenders, AC/DC, Pearl Jam, David Gilmore and many others. After spending many years as a
sideman for a variety of songwriters in his home town of Cleveland , Boston and NYC David has finally
organized a band of fellow veteran NYC players to realize the ‘sounds in my head’ as he likes to put
it……. The Waters Project consists of David on Lead Guitar and vocals, Anton Oppenheimer on Rhythm
Guitar, Phil Ligori on Drums and Marcel Hamel on Bass.