“Philly is one of my absolute favorite cities in the US! I’m from Houston, and there’s no other city (maybe Atlanta) like Philly, that has the same kind of aggressive talking style that I’m used to!” says pop artist, DJ, and producer Mothé of the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection. While we last saw Mothé in the summer of 2022, touring behind 2021 full-length debut I Don’t Want You To Worry Anymore and opening The TLA for pop rock outfit (and phriends of PHILTHY) The Wrecks, since then the currently-LA-based artist has played Union Transfer alongside Microwave and supported Bears in Trees at PhilaMOCA.
Later this week, Mothé — who I’d like to think is a new phriend of the publication — hits the road for two weeks of dates supporting yet another PHILTHY phriend, Indigo De Souza, which will have the two at Union Transfer on October 22nd. Last month they dropped collaborative track “Serious,” a celebration of being not so serious. The stand-alone single follows Mothé’s third LP, Total Popstar, which dropped in August, and De Souza’s fourth LP, Precipice, which dropped in July. During my recent phone chat with Mothé, they admit that, despite all of this recent shared billing, their friendship is actually relatively new. “We met this year, but we got very close when we met. We live right by each other in LA,” they tell me of connecting with the formerly-Asheville-based artist (and Drop of Sun alum).
While Mothé says they’re a big fan of De Souza’s work (“There’s a directness and a point-blankness in the lyrics and the way they hit that other artists don’t have. Like, my favorite line on [Precipice] is from ‘Dinner,’ when she says, ‘Dinner won’t go down in the way I know it should’… I could never say that!”), they express that they’re also super grateful for the friendship, which seems to be perfectly captured by the sentiments of “Serious”: “She’s maintained this childhood wonder on her view of the world… I appreciate her so much for bringing me into her world!”
And the connection seems to be mutual. I find out that, while the two were writing the song in the studio (during their very first meeting, in fact), Mothé was actually never intending to appear on it: “It was a song for her, but she was like, ‘I think you should sing this, too!’ She felt something magical in it, and I felt something magical in it. She reached her hand out and was like, ‘Grab the mic!’ and I’m like, ‘I don’t know if I should grab the mic!’ and she’s like, ‘Just grab the mic!’” The single’s accompanying video, which captures the two running around LA in full clown regalia, apparently came about in a similar manner: “I had no idea we were doing that that day! I just showed up! I thought we were just doing a photoshoot, I didn’t even know we were making a video!’”
Clowns and costumes seem to be a reoccurring theme in Mothé’s life. When I ask about their favorite things to see at their shows, they tell me, “There’s always one person that has insane clown makeup, or just insane makeup, and it’s like, ‘You came here to be the party!’” They also admit that, if this jaunt – which runs from October 18th to November 3rd (in Atlanta!) – had a date on Halloween, they would dress up as Pitbull and do “Time of Our Lives,” but reveals that they might just have to find a good karaoke night for that performance. However, they do say they think the holiday to lends itself to that brand of whimsy: “I love Halloween! It’s so fun, and a very communal holiday that isn’t necessarily about family, so you can celebrate with your friends wherever you are.”
However, Mothé also explains that their actual everyday life, which takes place in a 1800s Victorian-stylized home, is quite well-suited for Spooky SZN: “I live in a very scary-looking house; every house on my block is super spooky… Every year, I get 5,000 pieces of candy, and give every kid one piece, and when I run out, there’s still a line [laughs].” Apparently preparation for the event is hosting a house party where the entry fee is a bag of candy…
Total Popstar, the album they’re currently touring, blends Mothé’s love of being both a pop artist and club DJ. The first run behind the LP came this summer, with a headlining jaunt, which Mothé tells me proved to be incredibly fun and validating: “I felt really appreciative of the fanbase that I have. The tour was like two weeks after the album came out and they knew all the Total Popstar songs, maybe better than the older songs!” “They were just with me, and I felt so supported the whole time,” says Mothé, which they were especially grateful for, considering that the run had a handful of major hiccups, including stolen gear and having to abandon a broken-down van.
I learn from Mothé that some of these fans have actually been around for quite a while: “I love it when I have fans who come up to me, and are like, ‘When we found you, we were in eighth grade!’ A lot of the familiar faces that were there from the beginning are now turning 21 or 23 and just now having a nightlife, and I love being there with them, watching that, and watching their fashion change, just as my fashion changes.”
This month actually marks the fifth anniversary of Mothé’s debut EP, Cindi (which they admit they didn’t even realize). However, when I ask how Total Popstar relates to previous releases, Mothé explains that one of their favorite things about pop music is that it doesn’t really have to: “One of the reasons I make pop music is that I think the music is meant to document chapters of our lives… Pop music is great at documenting a very specific period of time, like a time capsule… Pop music is always about trying to find the next story that’s worth telling, so the first EP couldn’t be more different than Total Popstar in that way!”
Although these dates opening for Indigo De Souza will have Mothé playing sets that are a little condensed, compared to their August headlining shows, they tell me they’re not super abbreviated: “It will be a set up with electronic drums and synth and guitar switching, and it will be 40-45 minutes, which is a pretty decent set, and I will be playing a lot of Total Popstar, because it’s more electronic and lends itself to this setup, but I’ll do maybe six other songs. Obviously, I have to play ‘Debt Collector!’ I can’t not play ‘Debt Collector!’” They also say that there are definitely some perks to playing rooms like this: “There’s physically more space, and I think bigger stages allow for different behavior. It’s the opportunity to be louder, be bolder, dress weirder!”
When I ask what the future holds for Mothé, they tell me that there’s a lot going on: “I actually have a lot of stuff in the works that I can’t talk about.” But they do say that fans can expect something new relatively soon: “A lot of people try to wrap things up before the end of year, but I think I’d like to put one more song out before the year’s over… As far as 2026, there’s a lot of question marks that I’m very excited about, but I plan on being very active.”
*Get your tickets here.
