In Conversation With #184 - moa moa
South London band moa moa have just released their debut EP ‘Brain Feelings’.
United by their love of wonky, chonky pop, friends Dan Byrne, Connor James, Sophie Parkes, and Matt Taylor assembled alongside songwriter and producer James Ratcliffe in 2019 to form moa moa. A mission statement emerged: to create unpredictable, ambitious, and hook-laden songs that take all the best bits from their diverse musical backgrounds.
The band have also been building a reputation as an exciting and eccentric new live act, with shows offering everything from lush slide guitar solos to bright pink boiler suits. Last year, moa moa sold out two headline shows at the legendary 100 Club, played a number of city festivals including Dot to Dot, Live at Leeds, and Liverpool Sound City, and embarked on a UK-wide support tour.
With glitchy synths, pulsing drums and catchy choruses, moa moa are proving that pop can be weird and accessible at the same time; the perfect psychedelic soundtrack to the comfortable tedium of life.
They took a moment to talk to us about how the EP came together.
Hey Moa Moa, how are you? So your debut EP is out now, how does it feel to have it out there in world?
Hello When The Horn Blows. We're fantastic, thank you. Hope you are feeling zen and happy too with your brain feelings. It's great to have a bigger body of work out! A lot of work has gone in to make something that's not just one or two tracks. And with moa, tying everything together coherently with art and videos etc means there's so much that goes into what we put out... We often get stuck in whatsapp time warps arduously debating pantones on the corner of a piece of art. So, finishing something and releasing it into the world is always a beautiful thing.
We've also got a big headline at Peckham Audio on April 7th that is surely going to be nothing short of life-affirming!
It is called ‘Brain Feelings’ - what is the meaning behind that?
It's kind of two-fold. It's firstly a bit of an in-joke about myself (Matt - drummer) singing something very specifically about Brain Feelings at a practice in a power-ballad-esque way - the only way I know how to sing. Weirdly these talents haven't ever come in handy for moa moa?
More importantly, though, when we were thinking about what to call the EP, 'Brain Feelings' came up as a suggestion because it felt that on a broader level, it's a pretty accurate (and slightly silly) way of grouping the songs together on this release. The EP is an expression of a variety of things that James has felt or feels towards a wide range of things, be it love, politics, self-reflection etc - 'Brain Feelings' is just the embodiment of that.
Where was the EP recorded? Any behind the scenes stories you are happy to share with us from the creative process?
The EP was recorded mainly between James' house in Hatfield and then at a couple of different studio spaces where we tracked drums, some guitars/vocals and textural aspects. On Drive, for example, we did drums, some vocals and extra guitar bits with Charlie Andrew in his studio, before building things in James' house. James is the song-writer and often de-facto producer of moa, so the inspiration and execution for this EP comes from his weird and wonderful imagination. In terms of behind the scenes stuff... Working with Charlie was a brilliant process. His attention to detail on things was so precise and focused, down to things like tuning the drums in a specific way before we started tracking things to mimic the feel of the sample that the beat was inspired by. It's all nerdy stuff that probably no-one noticed, but just generally watching Charlie work with moa material was a real highlight.
What are the key themes and influences on the EP?
Musically, the influences are pretty varied. You've got the more traditional moa stuff like Tame Impala, but then on things like Sad Girl, it's a bit inspired by things like Billie Eilish or Bon Iver. Drive has a bit of an MGMT and some weirder elements etc. In terms of themes, on a broader level, the EP is touching on the idea that when we're experiencing time, stories and emotions, more often than not, we're doing it internally, and we're unable to manifest these internal day-to-day experiences into real life. Thematically, things vary depending on each song, with some of this being more general. Drive, for example, narrates apathy/scepticism towards the validity/reality of everyone's enthusiasm global change post-pandemic, whilst other songs are more of a direct discussion of moments or experiences, such as I Do, Florence, which is about a previous relationship. I like that there isn't a set characteristic or mode to the lyrics of moa moa - Information is about exploring sexuality in an age of online promiscuity, Coltan Candy is about unethical mineral mining in Africa, and Spinning is about self-love. There's no specific rules to what can be discussed, which feels healthy.
Do you have a favorite lyric on the EP? If so, which one and why?
A personal favourite of mine is 'wanna form a cult, but got left on read. Considered occupying but I love my bed.' from Drive - it captures the whole mood of the song, and I like that it touches on the idea of the limitless possibilities of life, but also how we're often so unwilling to tap into that because of the comfort and familiarity of our surroundings.
If you EP could be the soundtrack to any film, which one and why?
We've had tunes played on Love Island and a HBO series, F'Boy Island, so maybe we need to be honest about what the world is spelling out to us... Richard Curtis, give us a ring if you need us.
Now the EP is out there, what next for you?
We're already getting the next batch of tunes together - we've probably taken too long obsessing over inconsequential things, so we want to be more proactive on this front. And then, obviously live stuff. I've said it before, but the band essentially had its first proper gig in May of 2021, despite starting in late 2019 just before the lockdown, so we've been robbed a bit of those really important live moments. We had a brilliant run the second half of 2021 and we are really looking forward to doing more touring.
