It’s Friday! Round off your week by checking out some new sounds from a band you’ve (probably) not heard of before…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Reading. Though we sometimes say London as well because we rehearse and record there at Jason’s studio (our drummer) and that is also where we met.
How did you meet?
Recording the album in the studio. By September 2017, I (Marisa) had written most of the songs for the album but still hadn’t found the right people for the project, so instead of waiting for it to happen I decided to record and ask favours from friends to get it done. The band built naturally through this process.
How long have you been playing as a band?
We had all joined the group by the end of 2017. Our first show was April 2018, so we have been playing shows for about a year and a half, but we have been a band for a total of 2 years.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
It took a while to think of a name that fit well with the music. Liam (bass player) suggested having my name in it back when I didn’t have any permanent members as it was still completely my project that I was pushing. However I wasn’t keen on having my name in it at first as I really just wanted something that sounded like a proper “band” name. I then misheard something Liam suggested as a band name, thinking he had said “Marisa And The Moths”. We both agreed that it was really cool and made sense with the music. The more we talked about it, the more it felt right and so it stuck.
What are your influences?
90s rock bands mainly. Bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Skunk Anansie.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
The unusual melodic vocals over heavy music. The use of dynamics. The style of solos that Sophie plays over the otherwise fairly simple chords arrangements in the songs. But also our energy and relationship as a band. We are all very different as individuals and musicians, but somehow manage to gel the way that we do.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
I go into my experiences with mental health issues, my feelings about everyday sexism and prejudice, as well as the usual heartbreak and relationship troubles.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
I’m not sure how many shows we’ve played now. I’m thinking it must be nearing on 40 shows. Which doesn’t sound like a lot but some of those were festivals and a chunk of that was our own headline tour. I would say that we have grown massively in this short amount of time and have really found ourselves as performers. We are all very energetic and engaging on stage! We love to perform!!! It probably does help a lot that we all have experience performing with other bands too.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
We recently shared the stage with our good friends, A Void. The singer Camille decided to climb up an amp and try to hang from the ceiling lighting which quickly collapsed from the ceiling and took her down with it. She landed on a stage monitor but ran out like nothing happened! She’s crazy awesome!!!
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Drums: Jason
Kit: Tama Starclassic Maple, well maintained and tuned.
24″ bass drum 12″ 14″ and 16″ toms plenty of good cymbals stands and hardware. Wireless in-ear monitoring.
Bass: Liam
Ampeg SVT CL Heritage Pro Amp head, with Sansamp for DI, and 8×10 Ampeg bass cab (fridge). Smaller Hartke 4×10 cab available if overkill. Audix OM6 vocal mic.
Lead guitar: Sophie
Diezel VH4 Head4x12 Marshall cab with vintage 30s
Guitar and lead vox, stage centre: Marisa
Rockerverb 50 Head
4×12 Orange Cab with vintage 30s and Tone Tubbies
(Alternate smaller rig – Orange Rocker 50 combo can be used instead)
Wireless in-ear monitoring, unit provided with cables for desk feed.
Audix OM6 or OM7 vocal mic. depending on venue.
Rhythm Guitar Chris:
Orange Rockerverb 50Marshall 4×12 cab or Orange 1×12 cab can be used for smaller stages
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
The debut album release. Marisa And The Moths came out on 15th November. We are also pushing our next music video for our upcoming single “Needy”. We are also pushing merch sales and tour dates!!
What are your plans for 2019?
The second album. Bigger tours. More music videos. We want to take over the world!!
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
We would love to support Hands Off Gretel, so have them on the headliners and then have our very good friend Finding Kate opening for us. It would be such a sick gig!
Marisa And The Moth: facebook | twitter | instagram | bandcamp | youtube
wpDiscuz