Interview with The Moss

For about two years now, the band The Moss has continued to spark my musical interest. By creating a smooth blend of indie rock, surf rock, and a tiny bit of grunge rock, I have continuously found myself enjoying their sound. Their music perfectly accompanies a good road trip, a relaxing day by the beach, or even some easy listening tunes to have in the background of a laid back get together. They began releasing singles in 2018 and in 2019 they released their debut album titled Bryology. Following their first album, they spent 2020 releasing singles, which was how I discovered them, and then released their second album in 2021 title Kentucky Derby. Their most recent single titled “Insomnia” has continued to solidify my status as a fan of The Moss and made its way onto many of my playlists. Since I have been listening to them, I have heard a lovely mix of influence from genres and bands I enjoy so I decided to reach out for a chance to learn more about their various influences, creative process, and more. The lead singer and guitarist, Tyke James, was kind enough to answer some of my questions. Read along below for the full interview:

Me: So, how did the forming of The Moss come about? Were each of you set out on joining a band or did it sort of just happen?

Tyke - Lead Singer of The Moss: “It all just kind of came together over a few years. Me and Addison, the guitarist, used to play music together when we were younger and perform at food trucks and things like that around Oahu where we grew up. Willie lived in Hawaii for a while and we met him there.”

Me: One of my favorite questions to ask artists is who their inspirations are. So, who are some artists that the band as a whole and/or individually that you all draw inspiration from?

Tyke: “I really love 70’s stuff like George Harrison and Neil Young, a lot of us do. We also listen to some reggae music, our drummer Willie probably listens to the most reggae. We all like Sublime and King Tubby, and aside from that, we all love indie bands like Pinegrove and Indigo de Souza.”

Me: Where did the name “the moss” come from?

Tyke: “It’s a long story, but I accidentally took some acid when I was six and it kind of came from that experience and always stuck with me.”

*for what it’s worth - the band apparently answers this question differently every time it is asked so we can take this response with a grain of salt haha

Me: As a band, how does creating new music happen? Is it usually just random and whoever has an idea shares it? Or is someone more lyrics based and then someone else more melody base, etc.?

Tyke: “I generally write all the lyrics, but the music inspo can come from any of us really, everyone has an influence on the sound that comes into our songs.”

Me: As someone who has been listening to your music since 2020, something I really like about your sound is how it gives a nice balance of indie rock and surf rock. However, how would y’all best describe your sound?

Tyke: “We don’t really like to describe our sound hahah, we just kind of make music we like and let other people do the boxing. When people ask we just say we’re in a beach rock band, because it’s vague.”

Me: If y’all could collaborate with another group or artist, who would it be?

Tyke: “Olivia Rodrigo”

Me: How did the pandemic affect the progression or trajectory of the band?

Tyke: “The pandemic is when we started jamming a lot and recording more music. It was a hard experience not being able to play shows regularly, but I think it made us better in a way. It made us work harder to find other ways to keep things growing and progressing, without the satisfaction of live concerts.”

Me: What is an achievement as a band that you all would consider to be “making it” or like a long-term goal for the band?

Tyke: “Since the beginning I’ve been trying to get everyone to quit their day jobs, so for me, when that happens, that would mean we made it.”

Me: What does the rest of 2022 look like for you? Any touring plans or new music? Anything exciting to share?

Tyke: “We’ve got our biggest hometown show to date coming up that we’re stoked about, and after that we’ll just be working on new music. We are planning on playing a lot more shows next year in a lot more places, and we have an EP set to release sometime next year as well. We’re really happy with the way things have gone this year and it’s made us really stoked for what's to come.”

Me: Lastly, if you all had 15 seconds to speak into a megaphone that the whole world would be able to hear, what would you say?

Tyke: “I think I’d plug in a Bob Marley song, he says good stuff the best.”

As always, it is a pleasure to chat music with bands and artists I enjoy and root for. The Moss is still such a young band and I look forward to seeing where they take their music. If you are a fan of bands like Flipturn, Peach Pit, or Trash Panda I definitely recommend adding The Moss to your list of bands to check out.