On the 29th of January, Burn FM’s Marita Farruggia had a chance to talk to Moose Blood before their sold out show at the Oobleck. They talked about their first headlining tour, debated what the best what the best Brand New album is, and explained the true meaning of “Mates Club.”
So how’s the tour been so far?
Eddy (guitar & vocals): It’s been great—it’s been so much fun. Already sold out most of the shows—all of them have been really busy.
Mark (guitar): Yeah, it’s been fantastic. Every show has been so much fun. Some shows we found a little bit harder than others, just because certain days people have been really ill, or really tired, or things like that. But being on tour with Choir Vandals and Boston Manor has been so much fun. So as our first headlining tour, I don’t think we could have asked for things to have gone any better.
Kyle (bass): Yeah, the turn out has been incredible.
I saw that so many of the shows sold out in advance and then you guys are playing the Venn Records showcase tomorrow in London, which is also sold out. So, you guys were just announced as the main supports for Fightstar’s tour next month.
Mark: I’m so scared. My stomach hasn’t stopped going up and down since we found out. It’s a mind-blowing opportunity—one we never thought would be in the cards, at least not any time soon. Going to those venues, going to Brixton Academy and playing as the main support to Fightstar…is like a joke. We don’t know how to make sense of it—it’s unbelievable. We’re over the moon. It’s made us realize that we don’t know what we’re doing. We’re so grateful for the opportunity.
Eddy: Yeah, just so grateful.
And so soon after releasing your debut album, back in October.
Mark: It’s something that’s like wild life for that to happen so soon.
Eddy: It’s great.
And speaking of your debut album, I’ll Keep You In Mind, From Time To Time, what was it like working with Beau Burchell from Saosin?
Mark: Incredible.
Kyle: We loved it.
Eddy: We felt like we made a friend for life. He’s like the nicest person I’ve ever met. He made the whole experience what it was and the album what it was. He’s just a special human being.
Mark: For someone to have that impact on all four of us in such a short amount of time…He’s such a lovely, lovely bloke. Hopefully we’ll cross paths again with him.
Well the resulting album was fantastic. As I first heard of you indirectly because of Brand New, could you please rate their albums from most favorite to least favorite?
Eddy: Devil and God (Are Raging Inside of Me), Deja Entendu…
This might just be the hardest question you’ll ever be asked.
Mark: Mine would be: Deja, Your Favorite Weapon, Devil and God, Daisy.
Eddy: Okay, I’ve got it. Devil and God, Deja, Your Favorite Weapon, Daisy.
Glenn (drums): Yeah, that’s mine as well.
Kyle: I don’t know, I think the way that it came out, for me it would be Deja, because that was the first impactful one, then it would be Devil and God, but the production on that is better. Then Your Favorite Weapon, Daisy? I don’t know.
Eddy: I love Daisy, though, I just want to clarify.
Mark: Yeah, it’s not that it’s bad—it’s great. It’s just not the one I listen to the most.
So what do you guys like to do during your downtime on tour?
Eddy: We like staring at the ceiling doing nothing.
Mark: Just laying down on something soft is our favorite thing to do. Probably catching up on things like The X-Factor.
Eddy: Whatever time I get to see my family, my wife and my kid, is great. Just doing normal stuff is great.
Mark: Yeah, when we’re back home with your girlfriends and family, that’s lovely catch up time. You really miss those people when you’re away. But days off on tour, if we’re lucky enough to stay at someone’s house, it’s laying around.
Kyle: Touring is a funny experience, because you almost put your normal life completely on hold to go out and have fun for the whole duration. So when you go home, you tend to have missed a lot of things that happened during that period of time just in the world. So it’s nice to catch up with friends and family.
Marita: So if you had to describe your music to someone who had never heard the band before in ten words or less, what would you say?
Mark: I would just describe it as a very heart-felt, emo/punk…band. I hate when we get labeled as pop punk. We’re not a pop punk band. That just literally makes my skin crawl.
Eddy: You just needed to put that out there.
Mark: But yeah, that’s how I’d describe it. It’s very honest and we draw from stuff that goes on in all of our lives then make it into songs. So yeah, an emo/punk band.
Eddy: Ollie (the tour manager) had a great answer to this the other day. It was ‘a modern pop twist on the early emo bands you grew up listening to.’
Mark: It’s weird, because you don’t want to say anything that makes it sound like you think you’re really good, or anything like that. But if someone else describes you as something cool, then that’s wicked.
Yeah, I was talking to a friend the other day, trying to class your music and we decided it’s somewhere between Jimmy Eat World, Your Favorite Weapon-era Brand New, and Spitalfield.
Glenn: I had tickets to one of their (Spitalfield’s) last shows, but I couldn’t go.
Mark: Any comparisons to any bands we like is really flattering.
Okay, this is kind of a silly question, but could you explain what Mates Club means?
Mark: Mates Club is basically something that happened on the tour with I Am The Avalanche. So it was basically Turnover, Major League, and us hanging out all the time and then it just came about.
Eddy: We had a guy doing merch for us, our good friend Rich who actually recorded Moving Home, and said, “oh, we’re a mates club.” I guess it just stuck.
That makes a lot more sense now.
Mark: It’s strictly exclusive.
Kyle: You kind of make a bond with other musicians when you tour, because you all kind of get the same vibe. You all get what it’s about; you’re all in it for fun. I think we all made friends for live on that tour, as well.
Any last remarks?
Glenn: Mates Club for life. …I think I need to get a Mates Club tattoo.
