INTERVIEW: Bob Moses - "We thought; fuck it, Bob Moses is not having a cape"

With two successful EP’s under their belt, a spot on Resident Advisor’s Top 20 Live Acts of 2014, BOB MOSES have finally released their debut album Days Gone By.

The album was released off the back of their second appearance at Burning Man, the first of which was a “catalyst for their career”. Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance are two genuine guys who love their audiences, their music and being able to give their fans something they can get lost in a moment with. We were lucky enough to get the guys on the phone for a brief chat to delve deeper into the Bob Moses world.

You guys have had two successful EP’s, and some very successful festival appearances, what made you decide it was the time to record and release your first album?

BM: Natural progression. We’d worked on two really in-depth EP’s and released something like 15 songs in two and a half years so it just seemed like the natural thing to do next.

Other than a labour of love, what is Days Gone By to you? Is it taking Bob Moses in a new direction, or just showing everyone what you have else you have up your sleeves?

We were at a release party for one of our EP’s and realised we wanted to step out from the DJ booth and step onto a stage with a guitar and microphone. The EP's were all pretty involved, and at least five tracks long. It was a very organic process, but we are blessed with having a fan base, who trusts us to just do what we do.

You guys are a bit of a musical chalk and cheese, with one half rock, one half a bit more techno or trance, is there any particular tracks where you feel one influence shines through more than the other, or are you very careful not to be parents showing favourites?

We’re really happy with what we accomplished. We both came from band backgrounds and became really engulfed in the sound of Bob Moses and experimenting with it.

For example the track ‘Tearing Me Up’ was a very motivating track for us, it’s a very special track. Writing it gave us a lot of confidence for recording the whole album. There are just moments that you can build on to have that confidence to know that what you are doing has to add up to something in the end. ‘Tearing Me Up’ was just so fun to write, so everything fell into place after that. It felt like “let’s just go”, because we could see the bigger picture in terms of what we wanted to do with Bob Moses.

In the end everything we do is song writing; creating club tracks with a unique arrangement. Some tracks have a rock background with more of a classic structure, some have a house or techno beat.

You have said that Days Gone By is quite melancholy, was that the intention or is it just the way the songs all came together?

I think we just started saying that because people were asking us what the themes for the album are. We just write the style that is us. We’ve been on the road a long time and haven’t been home in two years so you learn a lot about yourself and life and the repercussions of following your dreams.

Writing is a cathartic process. Our favourite music, and a lot of popular music, particularly music like Blues, is about letting go of your troubles through your expression in music. People go to gigs and festivals to lose themselves in a moment, to escape, and that is where a lot of our musical drive comes from.

We don’t want to interfere with peoples interpretation of our music. It means something to us, it means something to them and that is that. We don’t want to get in the way, it’s like when you read a book and imagine what a character should look like, then see them in a movie and its kind of ruined for you. We want our lyrics to seem universal, they may have a meaning to us and sometimes that’s obvious, sometimes it’s not.

What would your dream collaboration be?

That’s a tough question. Maybe Rick Rubin? Working with someone like that, someone who is like a fathering mentor, who pushes you to do you best would be great. We don’t need interference with our writing, but he would be someone who would say “I think you can do better”. He would be someone with the respect under his belt to really push us.

I hear he does things like ask you to write 30 songs, goes through them, says these five are good, go write 25 more. Plus we might get a few yoga sessions in.

Do you take inspiration from watching your audience and fans during live shows?

Its great how people move and get caught up in the music. We played over 80 shows during the making of the album, so this was a huge part what inspired the making of it. We would take the energy from the gigs back into the studio. Live shows is totally a testing ground to inform the writing.

Do you think Berlin is the magic music Mecca, or do you think somewhere else is coming up to take its place like say Belgrade?

It’s about where you feel comfortable. We’ve written music in New York, Brooklyn, London, Vancouver and Berlin. Berlin has a great vibe as a whole; great restaurants and beer. It's perhaps lost a bit of the magic it once had, but it still has a lot of it. It just feels like Berlin has been discovered with Berghain appearing in Rolling Stone, everyone has heard of it now. It is still a great place though. It’s not clear where the next Mecca is; there are a lot of talented people in the world, and a lot of great scenes and places.

Is Bob Moses a person to you?

He’s a mythical creature; the best parts of both of us put together, a super hero. But no capes, they just get in the way. You know in The Incredibles where she goes “but no capes!”. We thought; “fuck it, Bob Moses is not having a cape”.

Bob Moses is planning an Australian tour early next year. For those of you who missed out on seeing them play at 2015’s Let Them Eat Cake keep an eye out for them.

Days Gone By is out now through Domino Records.

Words by Madeline Kilby

SEE ALSO:

BOB MOSES ‘TOO MUCH IS NEVER ENOUGH’

BOB MOSES ‘TALK’ (OFFICIAL VIDEO)