The band name, tracklist, and album cover of MAN ON MAN’s (or M.O.M.) self-titled LP already tell a story about the musicians and the content of the record, before you even press play. The two bandmates and lovers, Joey Holman and Roddy Bottum, grimace in a playful embrace on the cover, which often transcends genre while simultaneously owning their sound.
The shoegaze-adjacent opener “Stohner” is engulfed in distorted guitars and a patient tempo, with longing vocals and a persistence in the instrumental ebbs and flows through the track’s six minutes. The listener knows they are in for a dynamic experience by track two, “Daddy,” in the sing-song lyrics and playful guitars breaks. With a variety of influences ranging from alt-rock, pop-punk, and R&B, ultimately the record is the result of two lovers and artists trusting each other.
“I think we relied on each other more than anything,” Bottum says. “Joey was honestly my main influence. We hadn’t written or made music together, and I was doing my best to impress Joey, as cheesy as that might sound.”
The project was born out of the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine, and the pair admits that M.O.M. and this album could very well not exist had it not been for this unprecedented event. They say there wasn’t any agenda, rather more of a back and forth of ideas, which ultimately allowed for an intimate and fluid creative process.
“There wasn’t a structure, other than the both of just passing ideas back and forth or writing together, and it was in those moments of collaboration that we started connecting more deeply as a couple,” Holman says. “We were in the middle of sharing this intense experience while also working on something we weren’t quite sure what it was just yet, so it was vulnerable but also incredibly fun. We created a quarantine bubble and made the most of it.”
While it was initially a low-stakes endeavor, the intensity of pushing through the project once it began only worked to make the LP what it is.
“Getting through them together was part of the theme and the sound and the outcome of what we did together,” Bottum says. “It provided a safe haven for us to get to know each other better and to make ourselves feel worthwhile while everything else fell apart,” he adds.
The album is dense in references to the couple’s relationship, and navigating the world through a lens of queerness. Songs like “It’s So Fun (To Be Gay)” could easily become a new Pride anthem. The vibrant “1983” plays around throwback synths, with tender lyrics discussing feelings of safety and understanding in each other’s intimacy. As listeners creep deeper into the tracklist, they come to a more thorough understanding of the bond these two artists share. By track eight, the two are harmonizing and serenading one another on the ballad, “Lover.”
And in the couple creating authentically with each other, they are posing a challenge to current queer mainstream representation in music in culture. When the music video for “Daddy” was released, featuring the couple dancing seductively in their white briefs, YouTube removed the video for violating the “sex and nudity policy.” M.O.M. says they are not OK with being silenced from history because of their age or size, and want their music to foster that same openness, and start a mutual, participatory experience for all queer people.
“It feels like there’s a responsibility in this age to address a global community of queer people,” Bottum says. “We talk about creating safe places on tour, online and offline, that makes room for queer people of all identities to share and grow together. I’d like to be able to serve as a role model in that regard, but also I’d like to learn from the community in the same way, ideally creating a real reciprocal back and forth.”
The project, born from turmoil, sprouted into a multifaceted testament of two queer people taking on the world together. Ultimately, M.O.M. want to use their music to open even more doors in the future, for themselves and other queer artists.
“We are also thinking about what our live show will look like, not just how we’ll sound and who will be in our band, but what an actual lineup would look like,” Holman says. “Maybe it’s not opening bands and then we play. Maybe it’s a poet, and then a comedian, and then a live podcast, and then we play our set. And the merch area feels more like a pop-up of other local queer artists selling their stuff. Who knows? There are so many places we want to take it. We’re just getting started.”
M.O.M. takes listeners on a journey of love, reflection, and often optimism, some tracks instantly prompting a bop of the head with others, like the closer “It Floated,” pushing your tear ducts to the brink, its simplistic and raw emotion flourishing throughout the entire record.
MAN ON MAN is out now and available to stream and purchase. Check out the video for “Baby, You’re My Everything” here:
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Photo courtesy of MAN ON MAN.
