Italians Do It Better

MOTHERMARY

Live · Music · Ritual · Desire

Eight chapters in the story of Elyse and Larena Winn — from a Mormon household in Montana to the stages of Berlin, Brooklyn, and beyond.

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Behind the Music

Missoula, Montana

The Mormon Roots

OriginFaithMontana

Elyse and Larena Winn grew up as the youngest of eleven children in a strict Mormon family in Missoula, Montana. The youngest of nearly a dozen, they were raised in what they describe as a "high-demand religion" — a world of prescribed roles, moral certainty, and impossible expectations placed on women. Every detail of their upbringing was structured around belief. The name MOTHERMARY is drawn directly from that world: the mother of Christ, the ultimate symbol of religious devotion and the impossible standards placed upon women.

"It was our world… our paradigm. We were brainwashed." — Larena Winn

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Behind the Music

From BYU to New York City

The Escape

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Elyse left BYU-Idaho without knowing anyone, hitching a ride to Salt Lake City and eventually landing in New York. She bartended at Featherweight in Brooklyn, ran a Drink and Draw series above the bar, and began making music alone in a Bushwick bedroom. The earliest MOTHERMARY flyers featured only Elyse — the project was hers before it was theirs. She taught herself music production as part of claiming creative control over the sound.

"I was doing Mothermary on my own for a long time." — Elyse Winn

III

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Behind the Music

Larena Joins in Brooklyn

The Twin Reunion

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Larena arrived in New York later that year. She brought with her a background in theater — she had played Jennyanydots and Bombalurina in a surreal, fully-furred production of Cats at BYU, and had toured with a children's musical. When she joined Elyse, the project became a conversation between identical twins who had lived different versions of the same childhood. The tension between their separate paths and shared blood became the engine of the music.

"She started MOTHERMARY by herself. I joined later." — Larena Winn

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Behind the Music

MOTHERMARY

The Name

IdentitySymbolismReclamation

Named after the mother of Christ, the project takes the ultimate symbol of religious devotion and turns it into a question. Mary is the woman who was told what to believe, what to feel, and what her body meant. MOTHERMARY reclaims that figure — not as a symbol of submission, but as an invitation to ask what you worship and why. The name is both tribute and provocation, a way of holding the sacred up to examination.

"It's about women reclaiming their holiness." — Elyse Winn

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Behind the Music

Dark Electro-Pop, Self-Made

The Sound

ProductionSynth-PopDarkwave

The music exists in the space between ethereal and industrial — synths that feel like church organs filtered through a distortion pedal, vocals that move between whispered devotion and defiant declaration. Elyse produces the tracks, a skill she taught herself to ensure the sound would be entirely her own. Chris McLaughlin, met in New York and now a creative partner, co-produces and mixes. The result is a catalog that feels like a series of prayers written for a religion that doesn't exist yet.

"A Sin Wave work of Art Pop that's utterly singular."

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Behind the Music

The Label and the Lineage

Italians Do It Better

LabelJohnny JewelCinematic

MOTHERMARY releases through Italians Do It Better, the label founded by Johnny Jewel — the producer behind Chromatics, Glass Candy, and Desire. The connection is more than a business arrangement; it places the twins within a lineage of cinematic, synth-driven art pop that treats atmosphere as seriously as melody. The 2026 tour places them on shared bills with Desire and Johnny Jewel himself, bringing that label relationship into a live context.

Featured in Pitchfork, The FADER, Gorilla Vs. Bear, Mojo, and Record Collector.

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Behind the Music

The Debut Statement

I Am Your God

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Released January 28, 2022, the 12-track debut album establishes the vocabulary of the entire project: prayer, fire, resurrection, desire, devotion examined rather than accepted. Titles like "Pray," "Catch Fire," "Resurrection," and "Burn With Desire" are not metaphors — they are the literal language the sisters use to interrogate faith. The record was described as "a glorious celebration of blasphemy" and "by turns thrilling, creepy, and unabashedly sexy."

"An invitation to ponder what you worship and why." — Elyse Winn

VIII

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Behind the Music

Self-Directed Cinema

The Visual World

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The sisters direct their own videos, creating a visual language that mirrors the music: religious dreams, obsession, marriage, suffering, and the surreal. "Coming For You Remix" was selected for the SXSW 2023 Music Videos Program, described by the festival as a surreal narrative involving two nuns. The visual work is not separate from the music — it is the music given physical form, a space where questions about religion, power, and personal expression can take shape.

SXSW 2023 Music Videos Program — "Coming For You Remix"

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See Them Live

The 2026 tour brings MOTHERMARY to Pioneertown, Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Brooklyn, Berlin, Rotterdam, Zagreb, and Belgrade.

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