(Editor's note: This Q&A previews a MAHA Festival Music Showcase, Wednesday, June 22 featuring and curated by MAHA local stage band Noah's Ark Was a Spaceship. Hear Nebraska is a showcase partner for MAHA. The show starts at 8 p.m., is free and for all ages, and also plays host to New Lungs and Ketchup and Mustard Gas. RSVP here.)
by Michael Todd
The third-annual MAHA Festival will take place Aug. 13, but thanks to a bank-swelling Missouri River, it won't happen at the Lewis & Clark Landing in Omaha. This Wednesday — some 40 days and change before such bands like Cursive and The Machete Archive take the stage — Noah's Ark Was a Spaceship might need to start loading up the ship.
In a Hear Nebraska interview, Noah's Ark guitarist/vocalist Andrew Gustafson talks about curating the bands on Wednesday's lineup and hopes his dream of meeting MAHA performer Guided By Voices isn't going to be wet if realized in August.
‘Opener’ by Noah’s Ark Was A Spaceship by Slumber Party Records
Hear Nebraska: Just what does it mean to you to be playing MAHA this year?
Andrew Gustafson: Well, I think it’s important for us to play for a lot of reasons. I think it’s cool that with every year the MAHA festival is able to grow and grow, and this year there’s a great lineup. We’re all huge Guided By Voices fans. So we’re excited to play with them or see them. It’s a good thing for the community, good to have Omaha start having festivals.
HN: OK, and were it to happen that you met someone from Guided By Voices backstage or out in the crowd, how would you introduce yourself as a fan from Nebraska?
AG: Wow, I don’t know. I guess I would just say, you know, I would introduce myself and just go from there. I don’t know, I’m just from Nebraska, so it’d be cool to meet anyone from outside.
HN: And with the conditions as they are this year with the river flooding, do you think that would influence the festival if they had to move to a different location?
AG: I don’t think so, not necessarily. We were asked to do the first one two years ago, and I think the location they have is great. If unfortunately the water levels come so high, I think it would still be OK, it wouldn’t be different. The spot now is a nice spot for the festival, though.
HN: You’ve had the debut out for a little while now, and you were just out on tour also, so how has the reception gone?
AG: It’s been great. We just got back from a tour yesterday, and sold a lot of records. We were able to sell some to record stores along the way. For the most part, people responded well. All the songs we played were from the record. The people we did talk to that were interested in buying records were mostly concerned with buying a record with the songs they heard that night. So it worked out, and they’ve been moving really well.
HN: OK, and for MAHA, tell me a little more about what you think about this year’s lineup.
AG: You know, I think all the bands and the acts are really great acts. We’ve been fortunate enough to get to know the Cursive gang, so we’ll hang out with them, I’m sure. Also with Guided By Voices, we’re huge fans. I don’t know, I’m just excited that the local band from Lincoln, The Machete Archive, is playing, too. I’m super thrilled, super excited, super pumped and the bands on the itinerary seem really great and good.
HN: And as far as this Wednesday’s show, why did you choose New Lungs and Ketchup and Mustard Gas to play with you?
AG: New Lungs are some really good friends of ours. I still haven’t seen them but have heard a lot of good things. They’re an up-and-coming band, so we’re excited to get them on and support them for various reasons along with the other band. Mark (McGowan)’s the guy who recorded the debut. He’s playing with Ketchup and Mustard Gas, so we’re excited to hear them. They’re both good friends of ours, so it just made sense.
* RSVP to Wednesday's MAHA Showcase here.
Michael Todd is a summer intern for Hear Nebraska. He commonly wears pants fit for flooding conditions but only because the clothing industry is evil and does not make pants for skinny, tall men. Reach him at michaeltodd@hearnebraska.org.