We caught up with Mahto Addison-Browder of Mahto & The Loose Balloons, an Appalachian-rooted songwriter whose honest, stripped-back style has been quietly carving out its own space. Now based Tennessee, this unique artist brings a lifetime of music obsession to his latest project. The title of his new four-track EP was inspired by the folk saying “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue,” which signifies the different items that a bride might have to bring good luck into their marriage. With his band, Addison-Browder blends personal storytelling with raw arrangements, favouring authentic energy and emotional resonance over perfectionism. For On The Record, we explore the origin of the EP’s unique concept, the challenges of capturing a no-frills sound and the collaborative spirit behind standout track ‘Crisscross’. From layering harmonies to crafting harmonica tones with a twist, our interviewee opens up about his songwriting process and what lies ahead for him and the Loose Buttons.
Welcome to Unrecorded! For those who aren’t already familiar with Mahto & The Loose Balloons can you introduce yourself?
My name is Mahto Addison-Browder. I live in Johnson City, Tennessee, nestled in the Appalachian Mountains. I’ve been playing music since I was 12 years old. I started out on trombone with the school band. I quickly picked up bass guitar and played in several bands before switching to guitar and taking on more of a songwriter role. I have a band I play with called The Loose Balloons. Currently it’s made up of Will Diebold on bass, Niko Graham on drums, Travis F. Welch on guitar; piano; mandolin; banjo; just whatever the song needs, and Abraham Vidrio on Accordion.
What initially sparked the idea to build your EP around the old bridal saying?
I just went through the stage of life when everyone you know gets married. I actually got ordained and preformed two weddings myself. Somewhere along the way I heard that saying and it stuck with me. I thought there must be a million other ways the interpret that.
How did you interpret the themes old, new, borrowed and blue?
I had several contenders for each point. Narrowing my choices was quite challenging. For old I wrestled with if I wanted to use a song that I had written a long time ago versus a new song about an old topic. I decided to go with Parking Lots which is a new song written about a break up from over a decade ago. New was probably the easiest. Self Portrait at 30 was first song I picked once I had the title. I was split on borrowed. I had Crisscross written by Niko Graham and a song called You written by my other friends, David Randall and Travis F. Welch. I didn’t want to do a cover from someone I didn’t know. For some reason it felt important to keep it close to me. Crisscross won out because it had a little bit more of an “up” feeling to it. Lunch w/ You (Bagels) was an easy choice as well. It’s written to be a sequel to a song written by my friend Samuel Bowman wrote called Breakfast w/ You. I play in a band with him called Achy and it appears on our ep Friendly Animals. It was a song where I was trying to talk about more complex emotions and it ended up being just a song about depression.
With each song, you try to maintain that early recording, stripped-down effect, so what were the challenges in creating this no-frills sound?
I had about 10 songs I was considering. So I spent a lot of time recording each song over and over again until I got a pass I thought was a good rendition of the song. Had the energy and clear picking without too many fumbles. Getting all the words right was particularly challenging. So I probably have 50 alternate takes of these tracks.
Can you walk us through your layering process with the initial take and the blended vocal?
To be honest there was one song where it wasn’t very clear what I was saying. So I recorded another vocal on top because I really liked the take otherwise. I wanted the whole piece to be consistent so I recorded another vocal on every other song. With that I just went line by line trying to get as close as I could.
How about that distinct harmonica tone?
I was really excited about that part! Instead of playing it all at once, I did multitrack the harmonica. I figured I’d get a better recording if I wasn’t trying to capture everything with one microphone. Then I put just a hint of bit crusher on it. I really like what it does when you don’t take it all the way to Super Nintendo territory.
How did the original version of ‘Crisscross’ compare to the collaboration with Niko Graham?
Niko sent his version of the lyrics one day just to show me what he was playing around with. I was just kicking it around on my own time when I came up with the riff. He has a bit of a different cadence than me so I ended modifying the words but I tried to do so in a way not to change the meaning. I still wanted to it to be his message. I recorded it and showed him later on. I was actually nervous he would hate it but he seemed to enjoyed luckily! It wasn’t until much later did he play his version, performed on piano, for me. They couldn’t be farther apart. Niko’s version is much heavier with big chords. Maybe the world will get to hear it one day.
What are your thoughts on genres, are they helpful labels or too restrictive?
I don’t pay too much attention to that. I think it’s all made up terms to sell music. It’s nice for maybe broadly describing music to a friend. It seems to me that when musicians think about genres in their work they make bland music. Smash things together and don’t worry so much about labels.
Looking back at your journey so far, what’s been the most surprising part of your evolution as a songwriter?
I’m surprised I’ve managed to make so many songs. I think the nature of songwriting puts me in a space of perpetually needing to get a song out but not believing it will ever happen. Each song seems like a little miracle that’s only possible in that moment.
What’s next on the horizon for Mahto & The Loose Balloons?
We have a few shows lined up. We are play at The Rhythm and Roots Festival in Bristol TN/VA in September. We also have a gig at Lily’s Snack Bar in November. My wife and I just had a baby so I’m going easy on the shows this year. The band and I are working on a couple more releases though. One is a full studio album and the other is a collection of live radio appearances. So we’ve got plenty to keep us busy. Of course we’re open to interesting opportunities too.
You can also find EP track ‘Crisscross’ in our Folk This Way playlist.
Follow Mahto & The Loose Balloons:
UNRECORDED 