Just yesterday, I had the wonderful opportunity to sit down with the up-and-coming
Bloomington band Mourning Star. The group, consisting of members Thom Kitchel, Anna
Prager, Nova Hardie, and Cam Parker, has existed for about a year and recently released their
first EP just a few weeks ago called flowers for your friends after months of hard work and
dedication. Our conversation, devoid of Cam due to a potential case of food poisoning, centered
around the process behind this new release, how the EP is being received so far, and the future
plans for Mourning Star.
After we introduced ourselves, I asked the band to share some information about how
they formed, where they’ve played, and what songs they used to cover. As a freshman, I was
fairly clueless on the band’s background but enthusiastic to learn more. Thom, the most vocal of
the trio, explained that the phenomenon of Mourning Star was primarily an accident of
convoluted friendships and band connections. He added that “the band was in the brainstorming
stages in August 2023, but didn’t start playing shows until February 2024.” Back in the
beginning, Thom met Anna and Alex (the band’s former bassist), and Anna knew Nova and
Cameron – the team fell together after that. It was the perfect storm
For the first few months, Mourning Star primarily played house shows and small venues
around Bloomington, focusing on covers of songs they enjoyed. Anna, songwriter and primary
vocalist for the band, explained that the group sang pieces from their inspirations including
Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, the Pixies, and Swirlies. Also, coming as a surprise to me,
Mourning Star performed multiple of their original songs live in early 2024 before they were
recorded and released on December 2nd. The band took off in popularity quickly, playing shows
throughout the year until they paused in November to focus on the EP.
Speaking of which, our conversation then turned to the star of the show: flowers for your
friends. This release was revolutionary for Mourning Star, becoming their largest recorded music
drop since, well, ever. When I listened to it, I adored it. The EP, a mix of shoegaze and moody
alternative, seemed to me like a combination of Slowdive and the Cranes (both of which I also
adore). I asked the band to describe the process behind the EP’s creation, its inspiration, and its
theme. Thom, focusing on the technical and sonic aspects, explained that, “we decided to record
what we’d been playing almost all year, just because we knew we could do it really well.” After
having played their original songs for a while, Mourning Star felt it was necessary to put pen to
paper and make their name official. Dealing with the artistic qualities, however, Anna described
that she wanted to explore “more of a storytelling vibe with [her] songwriting,” focusing on
making the music “whimsical” and set on explaining her personal feelings and experiences
“through a story that’s more interesting.” This EP was also designed to highlight the band’s DIY
nature, both through its production and visual aesthetics. According to Anna, who attempted to
make the EP cover and related designs with a “scrap-book vibe,” Cameron individually created
the entire release from scratch in a basement. In fact, Thom even said that their process was so
DIY that “we put Nova’s amp in a bathroom and we put mine in a laundry room, and we
recorded live.” It was the classic story of a group of college kids getting together and forming an
emergent musical personality in one of their basements – a garage band, if you will. But
Mourning Star is becoming bigger than just a garage band, and the release of this EP has proved
that fact.
Just for a little fun, I asked each present member to talk about their favorite songs on the
EP both to listen to and to play. There was seemingly a general consensus: The overall favorite
was “flower for yr friends.” But Anna also added that she enjoyed listening to “awake in a
dream,” and loved playing “paper cut.” Thom jumped in when he heard that title, explaining that
the song is extremely enjoyable to perform because “it doesn’t matter if it all falls apart,” as the
song provides the freedom for the band members to “go crazy” and “make noise.” Additionally,
just as a little “interesting factoid” as Anna would say, recording “sad song” at the end of the EP
process was a fun party of testing out random guitar techniques and playing around with new
ideas, even adding in bass post-recording as Alex had just moved to Chicago. Overall, the
process to perfect and release flowers for your friends was an adventure in discovering Mourning
Star’s true style and experimenting with new techniques, attempting to establish the band as a
Bloomington powerhouse and shoegaze star (haha, star, get it).
As the EP has been out for nearly two weeks now, I then asked the band about how it’s
been received. Thom explained that “it’s kind of crazy when we check our streaming numbers”
as so many national and international listeners have flooded into Mourning Star’s musical sphere
of influence. Anna even said that she’s received DM’s from Florida asking for a show, and that
there is an extremely odd but welcomed presence of Dusseldorf listeners in the band’s streaming
analysis. The EP has had a broader reach than expected – one that will be carried even further
after the band’s release show tomorrow and a few in-the-works music videos
Future plans for Mourning Star, including the performance on December 14th, are
currently being schemed and plotted. Mentioning a few shows next year without revealing too
many secrets, Anna said that the band will be playing at a college in Ohio next April, then
driving back four hours to Bloomington to perform in WIUX’s infamous Culture Shock. But
that’s just one of the many ideas Mourning Star has brewing. The aforementioned music videos
being recorded by IU media students are in the works for “paper cut” and “flowers for yr
friends,” but Thom said that he “couldn’t spoil the surprises.” So, for any expectant fans reading,
just know that some exciting projects will be shared sometime in the near future to accompany
the masterpiece that is flowers for your friends.
Regarding upcoming music, however, Thom revealed that each of the members has been
working on some new art. But this time, he clarified that the current EP was a situation “where
Anna does all the lyrics and I do all of the structures, so I think we’re kind of moving away from
that to have the band be more of a sonic democracy.” Anna also explained that more
immediately, Mourning Star is planning to produce a “split” in collaboration with the other
Indiana band Fox Runs East, ideally creating some kind of musical combination with sonic
elements from both groups. But for the time being, Thom and Anna affirmed that right now, it’s
all “mostly just writing… [and] trying new things.”
At the end of this wonderful conversation, I wanted to ask a few silly questions to
provide any readers with a more holistic idea of who Mourning Star really is, revealing its
developing personality and sound. First, I asked each member to name their favorite artist or
band. Of course, this is an impossible ask, so the band listed three top inspirations: Anna claimed
Car Seat Headrest, Elliot Smith, They Are Gutting a Body of Water, and I Dialed Your Number
(who can limit musical love to just three creators?); Nova had an affinity for The Cure, The Jesus
and Mary Chain, and The Birthday Party; and last but not least, Thom, struggling to choose, listed
Radiohead, Sonic Youth, and Modest Mouse as role models. Second, I wanted to be able to leave
the readers with a final word of advice from the band, or something that they wanted the public
to know. This was a promotional interview, of course. After pausing to think some profound
philosophical thoughts, Tom closed our discussion with words of wisdom that I will forever take
to heart: “Without the youth and people going to shows, there is no music. For anyone who
already goes to shows, go listen to our EP and be excited for more Mourning Star, but also more
from other bands. Like our friend Seventh Cloud just released a song that’s really good. Just get
involved in the scene. And for anyone who’s trying to start a band, you really just need to go to
shows. Keep the faith. Keep the music alive.” Oh, and one last little injunction from Nova:
“Support college radio stations. The genre of music we play wouldn’t be able to exist without
college rock and college rock lifting up bands.” As a member of WIUX, I back Nova’s sentiment
and Thom’s cry of “Go college radio!” – because yeah, go college radio! It’s the best
This conversation with Mourning Star was incredible. The band is effortlessly cool, more
than willing to share their ideas and plans and excitements and enthusiasms for the future that I
found fascinating. As I’ve heard from multiple sources, if there’s one band to look out for, it’s
Mourning Star. I can’t wait for the day that I can say I interviewed an internationally famous
band after their first big release – I’ll be famous by proxy, I guess (delusion). But seriously, if
you’re reading this, go listen to flowers for your friends. It’s truly amazing, just like its
innovative and unique creator Mourning Star. And don’t forget to listen to local bands and
college radio because, as Thom will affirm, we need to “keep the faith” and “keep the music
alive.”
Be sure to check out flowers for your friends on streaming platforms now!
