Spotlight On... mokusla

Earlier this week, Glasgow-based, Donegal-born singer, musician and producer Lou Rowland released lovely people here, but it's just not the same, her second EP as mokusla. A serene meditation on friendships and the passing of time, these ideas are beautifully explored across four tracks that hold the listener's attention unwaveringly across its neat 21-minute runtime. For this week's Spotliglht On... we catch up with Rowland to find out more about what inspires her music practice, the EP and look to the future of mokusla.

First of all, can you start by telling me a bit about yourself, and what inspired your move from Donegal to Glasgow?
My name is Lou and I make music as mokusla – inspired by the Gaelic ‘Mo Chuisle’ (my darling). I’m a songwriter, singer and producer from Donegal, blending ambient dreampop, electronic and traditional folk. I’m also a visual artist, mostly illustration and printmaking. I moved to Glasgow to study illustration at the art school and completely fell in love with the place. Growing up I was a huge Belle and Sebastian fan (I still am) and I always had Glasgow in the back of my mind. I moved here when I was 23, telling myself I was pursuing visual art, but looking back I think the music scene was the real draw.

How and when did you start making music, and who/what inspires your music practice?
When I was young I started learning the piano, which is my favourite instrument to play. The guitar and the drums followed, and I’ve always loved music being a big part of my life. I was a very shy performer growing up. I hated playing in front of people and was often too scared to audition for things or put myself forward. But I always loved writing words and creating music. I have memories as young as ten, writing wee songs on the guitar. As a teenager, I kept it up on the piano and then started to record clips on my phone in my early 20s. It took me a really long time to pay attention to what I was writing, nevermind showing anyone!

During my course at the art school, I was able to pick an elective from another course and I chose Sound For the Moving Image. It was then I first downloaded Logic Pro, and started to bring my compositions into a DAW. The idea of mokusla began as far back as 2018. By then I had accumulated many years of songs, ideas and concepts and it started to feel like if I didn’t try and do something with them I would always regret it. I then started learning how to produce in 2020 making my first demos, and have been learning ever since!

I feel like the relationships I have with the people in my life have been my biggest inspiration to write about. I’ve always been really drawn to an interesting turn of phrase or sentence that someone might say in passing, like ‘bring your good coat’ or ‘the metal man’s asking for you’. I often remember these and come back to them, reflecting and writing more. 

Your latest EP is a celebration of friendships, in particular long-distance friendships, with an almost back-handed compliment for its title – why did you want to explore this topic in your music? And have you found it's made you feel closer to those friends and moments you're reminiscing about?
This EP is a celebration of friendships, but less about physical distance or a particular place, and more about the passing of time. I wanted to create a sense of nostalgia, which can be a beautiful and yet uncomfortable feeling. The tracks were written a long time ago, during a time of feeling quite lost and craving old connections as it took me a while to find my feet during my 20s. Creating this EP has definitely made me feel closer to the friends and memories I’m inspired by, it has been very grounding. These songs are my way of expressing love and gratitude for the people in my life.

What’s the significance of the conversational samples that appear occasionally throughout the EP?
I’ve always really enjoyed hearing conversational samples in music, and I really wanted to create a sense of intimacy. And so I wanted to capture the essence of these friendships from old videos and voice notes between myself and my friends.

When it comes to the instrumentation, why was it important for you to feature instruments like the bodhrán on the metal man, and violin on enjoy tomorrow?
I was drawn to these instruments, including the tin whistle which I play on the metal man because I’ve always been heavily influenced by folk and traditional music. As a solo artist, incorporating these instruments through collaboration was really exciting for me. I met musician Lisa Meech through the Flos Collective and was so delighted for her to play on the track. It completely changed the track and brought a whole new life to it. My brother played the bodhrán on the metal man. When I was trying to decide on the beat for the track, I knew I wanted the bodhrán sound. So I sent him a demo and asked him for some ideas. We grew up playing music together and I often send him things I’m working on, so this was really nice to create.

You’ve released a couple of visualisers for two of the singles from the EP so far, and describe yourself as a visual artist – why is it important for you to have a strong visual aesthetic alongside the music? And can you tell us more about the visualisers and how these maybe relate to your live shows?
I’ve always envisioned mokusla being an immersive and otherworldly project, combining my visual and musical practices. I feel with this EP I have really started developing mokusla’s visual aesthetic. The EP celebrates the ebb and flow of friendships over time, which to me is like the tide, and so water and the tide is a big visual theme in the project. I was lucky to collaborate with so many amazing visual artists and designers such as Zoe Sheehy, Alana Conlon, Kerry Boyd and Steven Gilligan.

The ghost visualiser was created by Eloise Shaw and the the metal man visualiser by Dalian Rynne, two motion designers who I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with. Dalian created the visuals for my EP launch, which was an immersive show with stage design and visual projections. I really aspire for mokusla to have exciting visual live shows.

What does the rest of this year, and indeed next, look like for mokusla?
I feel very excited about what's ahead of me. I’m opening for Xiu Xiu on 16 November in Glasgow at Room 2, and will be part of Celtic Connections, opening for No Windows on 25 January at The Hug & Pint. In early 2025, I have been invited to join the Sound Studio Residency in the RCC, Letterkenny in Donegal which I am really excited about. I will be writing new material and experimenting as a producer and composer.

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