Band of suburban mothers find The
Mydols is antidote to midlife crisis.

ROYAL OAK--On a recent weeknight, Pat McGough-Wujcik sends her three youngest kids to grandma's, clears some space in the basement and pulls out her drum set and amp.
    There, in her basement laundry room, wedged between toys, stuffed animals and laundry detergent, McGough-Wujcik and fellow Royal Oak moms Judy Davids, Paige Gilbert and Kara Rasmussen jam out to original songs like "Soccer Mom Stomp" and "Mydol Twist."
    It's hard to believe, but this high-energy quartet known as The Mydols hadn't played one note together less than a year ago.
    "Last Memorial Day, none of us knew how to play instruments," says drummer McGough-Wujcik.   
    These self-described "middle class, middle age" moms--who connected through Longfellow Elementary School--formed their band on a whim last summer. Guitarist Davids, 43, heard Jack White of Detroit's White Stripes duo play acoustic guitar at a special Longfellow event last April; it inspired her to sign up for guitar lessons. "It's not wasn't at all. I had no natural ability," Davids says.
    Bassist Gilbert also got the band bug after a friend mentioned a battle of the all-moms bands being organized in California. At a neighborhood picnic last Memorial Day, the ladies vowed to perform in the 2003 battle.
    "We had almost more fun talking about it," says Gilbert, who sheepishly admits the group had T-shirts and a Web site before they ever practiced one song. Though the band contest fell through, the ladies were hooked.
   They switched roles a few times, with McGough-Wujcik, a 37-year-old mother of four with no musical background, picking up the drums. Rasmussen, originally the bass player, ended up on vocals.
    "Originally I didn't want to be the singer. I'm kind of shy," admits Rasmussen, who at 32, is the youngest Mydol. Having only sung in high school choir, she battled some serious stage fright before their first "real" performance at an open mic last fall in Hazel Park. "That terrified me--but the more you do it, the more at ease you are."
    Ferndale drummer Jeremy Kanouse, who helps organize open mic nights at Hazel Park's End of the Park, encouraged the moms, even lending them equipment and practice space for early rehearsals.
    "Their bass player knew what she was doing," he recalls. "The rest is history. They took off like a rocket. I was amazed by their draw and the response they can get from an audience."

    Publicizing themselves to a network of friends, family, fellow moms and PTA supporters, the band had a ready-made fan base. An American Cancer Society benefit at Lily's Seafood in Royal Oak recently drew a crowd of several hundred, who ate up the moms' blend of garage punk sound and defiant lyrics.
    "I think people are slightly amazed to see us do it. They think we're brave," adds Gilbert, who has the most musical experience, having played cello into her teen years. Back then, she had dreams of playing in a band in her native Britain, but she says it's better doing it now, at 38. "In your late '30s, you don't have anything to prove to anyone. Now if you screw up, everyone thinks it's funny."
    After all, how many moms juggle PTA duties, soccer coaching, potty training, part-time jobs and punk rock?
     "All of us can't usually practice all together," says Rasmussen, who has a 5-year-old and another child almost 2. "But it's inspiring that we can do it at all. You just make time."
     We're just trying to nip our midlife crisis before it starts," jokes McGough-Wujcik, who is raising four children, ages 3 to 17. "It's something fun that doesn't involve diapers.
    The Mydols' blend of garage-abilly rock" with a touch of surfer punk, is paired with original song lyrics, written mostly by Gilbert or Rasmussen's husband, John. The ladies stay away from complex cover tunes.
    The women admit they could see their own moms forming a band--much less a punk rock one--as they neared 40, but, somehow, it makes sense for the Mydols generation.
    I only listened to rock n' roll. It's natural for me," says Davids, who counts the Ramones and the Cramps among her favorites. "I grew up with that music."
    The Mydols' catchy "Soccer Mom Stomp" describes the "dance" of juggling carpool, soccer practice and children with work pressures.

    Even Jack White inspired a tune--"(I Wanna Be) Jack White's Mom," a tongue-and-cheek ditty about their "motherly" affection for the front man. "We're all old enough to be his mom--but we don't really want to be his mom," says Davids, flashing a naughty smile.
    Friend Rick Ruiner, lead singer for Detroit's punk band The Ruiners, points out the Mydols' unusual following, which ranges from teen girls and PTA moms to twenty-something single guys.
    "They usually get the crowd pretty worked up," says Ferndale's Ruiner, of the ladies sex appeal."
    They now play to a range of crowds--everything from community fund-raisers to hard-core punk fans. A recent performance paired

them with Seattle-based speed metal band Bloodhag.
    "No one would guess they are all moms," Ruiner says. "Part of their appeal is that they're sort of rootsy and just starting out. There's something really great about that moment where things are simple and catchy."
Another song "Runaway," jokes about ditching the PTA and running away with a rock star.
    "The best advice I ever heard was, 'it takes more guts than talent to start a band.' We prove that time and again on stage," says Davids, mother of two boys, ages 10 and 7.
    Ironically, two of the band's most popular hits, "Soccer Mom Stomp" and "Mydol Twist," were actually written by Rasmussen's husband, John.
    "When you boil it down, it's just writing. You take what you think would be their experience," he says. "Somewhere I've found my feminine side."
    John is 100 percent supportive of wife's newfound passion.
The first time he saw them perform, they were a bit rough, he says politely. " It was a week before their first gig in a bar. The next week, it looked like they belonged there. They play up to their venue."
    Watching his wife light up on stage has even coaxed John a band member in the 80's, back to music. He continues to write lyrics and now plays guitar with a new band, Cadillac Saints.
    "I've lived the cubeland office existence for so long," says John, who works for a Southfield publishing company. "Now at almost 40, for me to say I'm still creative…if that's all I get out of it, that's great."
    Even the moms say their songs are all in good fun. They don't really want to jump ship and head out on the road in a tour bus. It's just a fun fantasy.
    "It's a good excuse to get our friends out of the house," McGough-Wujcik says.
    Even their kids have gotten into the spirit. "They think it's fabulous. They walk about the house singing Mydols lyrics and act out being rock stars," says Gilbert, of her two girls, ages 7 and 5.
    So what's next for The Mydols?
    They want to keep playing, putting themselves in front of new crowds. Maybe even make a second CD. The first, a rough five-track recording financed and produced by friends, was "very raw," Davids says. "But it captures us as we are."
    "It's about having fun. When it stops being fun (that's it)," Gilbert adds.

Daily Tribune Associate Editor Judith Cookis can be reached at 248-591-2552 or
judith.cookis@dailytribune.com.