By Chris Robie
Photos by Erik Kabik
Moksha is band on the rise out of Las Vegas, NV. Their last album 'Mammal or Machine' impressed everyone here at HGMN, even making it into the final 5 for HGMN studio album of the year 2010. 'Mammal or Machine' is a personal favorite of mine (CD review). It entered the HGMN radio charts in May of 2010, peaking at #6, and just recently dropped out this month (1 year!). The Las Vegas City Life chose the album as one of Las Vegas' top 10 albums of the year. The track 'Interface' was nominated by the Hollywood Music in Media awards. Yes, the album is just that damn good. So what have these Las Vegans (pronounced Vay-gans, not vee-gans) been up to lately? They've been hard at work on their highly anticipated new album 'Here to Go' due out this summer.
John Heishman - Bass & Vocals
Brian Triola - Organ, Keys & Vocals
Pat Gray - Drums & Percussion
Jeremy Parks - Guitar, Lap Steel & Vocals
Sam Lemos - Vocals
HGMN: So, let's talk about the upcoming new album. 'Mammal or Machine' was one of my favorite albums of 2010 and was also in the final 5 for HGMN studio album of the year. How would you compare the two?
Pat: Our new album, titled "Here to Go", is more cohesive conceptually, sonically and in terms of vocalists. We were in between singers when we recorded 'Mammal or Machine' and because of that our singer, Sam, was 1 of 4 singers on the album. We really loved what he did on 'Interface' so we asked him to join the band. He appears on all but the instrumental songs.
Brian: 'Mammal or Machine' was a very transitional record that took a lot of time to come together. During the making of the album we were in-between lead vocalists and at the same time learning our equipment and basically how to record ourselves as a band. Neither situation was quite ideal but the chaos and ample amounts of time for experimentation ended up working out for us.
Sam: I wasn't involved in 'Mammal or Machine' as a full-time band member and really only contributed to the one song (Interface), so for me it was an exciting opportunity to collaborate with a great band that seemed to be doing big things. Plus these guys are my good friends so that made it all the more enjoyable.
HGMN: 'Interface' is one of my favorite tracks on the album and also the one that seemed to get the most radio play. What were you doing before you joined the band full time?
Sam: I was primarily involved with a hip hop group at the time and had been for a couple of years, and my whole focus was on writing short hooks on electronically produced tracks. So when they presented me with the 'Interface' instrumental and asked me to write a full song over it I jumped at the chance to get back into some real songwriting, which is what I was doing before my sojourn into hip hop.
HGMN: How would you describe the experience from contributing just one track on first album and then coming on as full time band member and record on the new album?
Sam: The whole process was a real pleasure, and I would say the biggest difference for me personally was that there was very little stress involved being an outsider contributing. When your involved in the whole process, as I have been for 'Here To Go', you experience not just the great moments, but all the difficulties and stresses as well. You're much more emotionally involved in every detail and getting five guys to agree on every little thing is impossible. But that's all part of collaboration, and I think the record's better for having the five distinct perspectives all contributing.
Jeremy: Everyone in the band has known Sam for a while and been in previous groups together so it was a good fit. Moksha has really come a long way this last year in consideration to forming a more concise sound.
Pat: Sonically speaking, 'Mammal or Machine' was recorded in several locations over about 8 months. We were just learning how to record so we experimented with all kinds of crazy microphone techniques and equipment, results varied wildly. For "Here To Go" we were lucky enough to record the entire album with James "Bonzai" Caruso (who mixed Mammal or Machine) at Odd's on Studios here in Vegas. It was a big jump in quality so we're really excited for everyone to hear it.
HGMN: How long did it take to complete "Here to Go"?
Brian: Live tracking at the studio was done in 5 or 6 days and the record was mixed in about 8 days. So outside of a few overdubs, the entire record was completed in a span of less than 2 weeks.
HGMN: Your songs are very inspired and go in all sorts of directions. Can you describe the song writing process?
Pat: Usually someone will bring in a lick, riff or chord progression that they came up with and the rest of the band will jam along and see what comes up. Different members of the group will inject ideas for changes and additional sections.
John: Then we'll all join in with some creative input by either adding or subtracting something or just plain out change things around. After we have a completed musical piece then we take that and develop lyrics and vocals on top of that. We all tend to be very open to exploring different musical avenues so bringing in an idea that's way out in left field is kind of exciting for us.
Sam: I think 'Starswarm' off the new record is a good example of that. Then a song like 'Real Show' was an instrumental track that Jeremy had worked on at home and brought in, which I then added vocals to and the band then took and developed into what it is on the record. 'Sampling The Sampler' was a song that I had written for another band that I was in years ago (actually a band that Tree and Pat were both in as well) that broke up before I got to show it to them, and I thought it would be a good fit for Moksha.
Brian: When someone comes to the table with an idea regardless of how polished it is we will work it out within the context of the group and woodshed it until the song comes out clean. After a song comes together at that point, we work it into our live shows and it continues to evolve in that setting.
Pat: Sometimes we'll break out new tunes that haven't been fully finished during a show just to see what happens.
Sam: As far as the lyrics are concerned, I usually come up with them initially at home and then work them up in my head throughout my days: at rehearsal, in the car, in the shower, walking the dog, etc.
Jeremy: We like to play the types of music we all listen to. Thankfully we have never felt the need to cater to one genre or another. In my opinion there is too much good music out there to settle on one. Everyone in the band has similar and drastic tastes in music so I guess in the end everyone can feel good about the music we choose to play.
HGMN: What is your favorite song off the new album and why?
Sam: 'The Measure Of All Things'. That song seems to be the centerpiece of the record to me, and I think it's the best blend of song structure and jam we've done so far.
Pat: 'Leg up'. It has a beautiful melody and it's a different style of song for us so it makes it really fun to play.
Jeremy: Tough question! Ummmm? 'Real Show' if I have to pick. I like the groove and Peter Apfelbaum's horn arrangements are amazing. Sam's Lyrics are awesome too!
John: I don't even know if I can answer that one, maybe 'StarswarmMeasureofAllThingsRealShowBubblesIntoThinAir'. That's the short answer and I'm sticking to it.
Brian: Its difficult to say since the album came together so quickly. There are a lot of songs that have an immediate and memorable vibe; 'The Measure of All Things' and 'Leg Up' immediately come to my mind as examples of this. The record as a whole is more coherent sonically and because of that its a bit harder to isolate the songs from one another. They now have become somewhat intertwined in my mind, which I think is definitely positive.
HGMN: Any significance to the album title, 'Here to Go'?
Sam: 'Here To Go' is originally from William S. Burroughs. He used to say "This is the Space Age, and we are here to go!" The significance of the title in 2011 has a lot to do with the environmental and spiritual crisis we find ourselves immersed in and the two seemingly (or superficially) conflicting points of view I seem to always carry with me in my mind, which are : 1. We're in such a mess environmentally, politically, spiritually, etc. that there's no way we could ever pull ourselves out of it and what we're looking at in the relatively near future (from a week to a hundred years from now) is a planetary crisis that could be nothing less than an all out apocalyptic nightmare scenario and 2. That the human race is essentially good and precious and rare and not just something that builds great things and then fucks up only to be tossed away into oblivion, but in fact is a fetal angel, some kind of hyper-spacial embryo living out it's gestation in time and space, and through the birth canal of history will then catapult itself into hyperspace or someplace comparable. My mundane observations ally myself with the first scenario and my unwavering faith in the essential goodness and eternal nature of the human spirit with the second. The title 'Here To Go' is the annunciation of my choice to lean toward scenario two, that humans are here on Earth to leave it behind so both the planet and the human spirit can continue to exist happily within and without each other post-historically. How do we get there? I haven't the slightest. But my intuitions tell me that we will.
HGMN: Wow, that was pretty deep.
Sam: That's an explanation of the title, and really my own personal one. It was really a song title before it was an album title, and the lyric to that song came in the wake of the BP oil crisis of last year and the conundrufuck it put me in mentally. I hesitate to say that I speak for the whole band with that explanation. In fact I'll say right now that I probably don't. We like 'Here To Go' as an album title because it is simple, succinct, can mean many different things to many different types of people, and ultimately it's how we feel about Moksha the band. We have convened here in our home Las Vegas so we can then respectfully, lovingly leave it behind and see the world through our chosen vehicle: music.
Pat: To me, "Here to Go" signifies the end of a transition and looking toward the future...it also sounds cool.
John: The way I think of it is... as humans we're always in a temporary mode of passing through, if you will, so in essence we're all "Here To Go". Basically, Here WE are....now lets learn, grow, experience and then move on to the next level or destination.
Brian: On a more grounded note the album has a dual meaning to all of us which has to do with the immediate state and future of the band. Constant traveling has become a large and necessary part of our lives. Last night we were up near Chico playing a festival. Today we're in Vegas. Tomorrow we're in Hollywood to master the record. It seems we're never in one place long enough to leave that state of perpetual motion. But we're also on the way up, pushing harder to go further. We're here to go baby.
HGMN: How did you guys come together as a band?
Jeremy: We all had known each other for years playing in a variety of groups. John and I were in a band called Stretch for a few years and then Pat joined us replacing our original drummer. We played a few shows around Vegas when Brian Triola, a good friend and fellow player, sat in one night when our keyboard player had to leave before the second set. Instantly the crowd and all of us seemed to realize this was different and fit together well. We started rehearsing and renamed the band Moksha. Our first show was on July 27th, 2007 and had 3 horns in addition to the four of us.
Sam: I came to Moksha because they were looking for a full time singer, they liked what I did on 'Interface', and my appetite for getting back into full-song composition and performance was fully-whetted after doing that song for M Or M. Also doing the hip hop thing for so long and being cooped up in a studio all day had sort of stunted my performance and live vocal chops. Singing for Moksha provided me with the perfect opportunity to get that all back in working order.
HGMN: What other bands were you all involved with?
Sam: Tree, Pat, and I were all in a band called Vav Ohm together back in around 2006, plus we've played in several different jazz groups together. Actually all my most formative musical experiences came from playing jazz saxophone with Tree when I was younger. We both attended the Las Vegas Academy Of Performing Arts together and were very tight in those years.
HGMN: Where did the name "Moksha" come from?
Pat: The name "Moksha" was a suggestion from John's girlfriend who has studied eastern philosophy. We liked the meaning so we went with it.
John: With the loose interpretation being release or liberate. We thought it was a good fit being that music helps people release and open up.
HGMN: How would you describe your live show?
Pat: A genre bending funky dance fest.
John: A high energy, swampy dance party or a sonic journey.
Sam: Ever-evolving. We're still learning how to adapt to different crowds, and we've been kind of spoiled by our Vegas fans. Our Vegas shows are huge multimedia extravaganzas of light and sound and high energy both on and off stage. On the road we're still learning how to draw people in who've never heard us before, which is a challenge. A great and amazing challenge though; the road is the great professor. I feel so grateful for it's lessons, its successes and its failures, getting better all the time.
Jeremy: Our live shows tend to be a party when everything works right. Our music for the most part is groove based with a good portion of improvisation so people like to dance and get down. Sometimes there are body painters, projections,canvas art and guest musicians. Our classic line which you probably heard from the other guys is, "We like to put on a show that we would want to go to".
HGMN: Compared to other cities, how would you describe the live music scene in Vegas?
Pat: The live music scene in Vegas is pretty fractured.
Sam: Scattered and weird.
Jeremy: It's hit or miss.
John: The Strip seems to soaks up most of the energy of the city, so it's hard to get people out to enjoy local music. It seems like a lot of good bands are starting to bubble up right now. Compared to a San Francisco or New York though the Las Vegas music scene isn't as diverse.
Pat: On one hand you have the entertainment on the strip which draws a lot of great musicians to the city but unfortunately there is very little room for creativity in those environments. For the most part they play either top 40 covers or music for a show (which never changes). On the other hand you have the indy music scene, which is getting better all the time, but there are very few venues for new bands to develop in. We found out early on that we were going to have to develop our own scene because we couldn't find any bands or venues that were doing the same thing as us. I mean, if you're a new punk band its easy to get a gig in a punk club but if you're doing something like we are that doesn't easily fit into a genre it's a little tougher to get gigs starting out.
Sam: Scenes seem to have a hard time congealing here and they don't seem very exciting or original. Don't get me wrong, there are some great local bands in Vegas, but they are few and far between, and I think most people who live here would agree with me. That being said, somehow we've been blessed by an amazing, dedicated group of people who come to our shows and fuel what we do with their incredible energy and ingenuity. I think the love they show us is a testament to how much this city and its citizens want something big to happen here. Vegas has always been a city with endless potential. My sister's fiance is an architectural engineer who's working on the new Smith Center here in Vegas (due to open in 2012) and I got a little private tour of it the other day. Mind blowing, a venue to rival any large scale theatrical and concert venue in the country. If that place is successful in its goals it will do a whole lot for this city culturally. And also there's this other thing, a certain attitude or understanding that goes along with being a Las Vegan. Every city has their distinct aesthetic circulating and evolving through and amongst its citizens. The Vegas perspective is very American, very humorous and dry, very occidental (warts and all), and one that should, needs to, and will be expressed through its art.
HGMN: Do any of you have any other current projects going on besides Moksha?
Jeremy: I have been working on this band full time since its conception. I do some studio work occasionally and playing with friends but for the most part its all Moksha.
Sam: I still work with F.I.N. the hip hop group I was in before I joined Moksha. I also do a little stuff on my own. I just got Ableton Live and have been having a lot of fun with that lately in my spare time.
Brian: Sam sings with F.I.N. (Future is Now) and I do production work for the group. Glenn Thomas and I have a tight musical bond after working together on music for so many years, and watching his rapid development as an artist has been incredibly rewarding. The new stuff he is working on now is amazing. I also play organ and kick bass in a jazz group here in Vegas called the Shapiro Project. Eugene Shapiro is a brilliant writer, his brother Boris is an absolute beast on the drums, and saxophonist Phil Wigfall is one of the best kept secrets in Vegas and was a hero of mine growing up here. The music is challenging and always keeps me on my toes and working to become a better musician.
HGMN: What are some of your musical influences?
Pat: Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Phish, Radiohead,The Beatles, Tool, Jay-Z, Tribe called Quest, John Scofield, Joni Mitchell, Sigur Ros, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, Pink Floyd and The Talking Heads...to name a few.
John: I draw musical influences from all avenues. I'm a big fan of The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, Bob Marley, Phish, Pearl Jam, Jurassic 5, Jay Z, The Meters and NWA.
Jeremy: Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Steve Kimock, Frank Zappa, Tool, Yes, Peter Gabriel, Jeff Beck, Yonder Mt. String Band, STS9, Bill Frissel...
Sam: My favorite band is Radiohead, has been since high school. I'm in love with Joni Mitchell. I think Kurt Rosenwinkel is the greatest musician on the planet. My favorite vocalists are Jeff Buckley, James Taylor, and Peter Gabriel, and Gabriel-era Genesis is my latest obsession. I've got a playlist on my iPod of all the Gabriel Genesis albums from Trespass to The Lamb that I've been listening to over and over again. I find the whole arc of Genesis's career to be so fascinating. The whole Taylor/Simon musical dynasty fills me with such joy, love, nostalgia, and compassion I can't put it into words. My favorite rock drummers of all time are Phil Collins, John Bonham, and Ringo Starr. I love Glenn Gould, Rufus Wainwright, and Neil Young. My favorite albums: All Radiohead records from The Bends through the King Of Limbs and beyond, Joe's Garage, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, Ladies Of The Canyon, The Next Step, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Animals, Want One, every Beatles record, Tonight's The Night, etc.
HGMN: So, what's been keeping you guys from coming out to the East Coast?
John: Ahhh man...We've actually been dying to make it out east and hope to make it a reality this year. It boils down to logistics and finances, we do everything ourselves as far as booking and management goes so we just decided to focus out west last year and start building a solid foundation. Going out East is definitely one of our goals for this year.
Sam: Lack of a tour manager.
Pat: We would love to tour the east coast. Honestly, finances are the only thing keeping us from touring out east. Given the right offer we'd go in a heart beat.
Jeremy: I moved to Vegas 16 years ago from Maryland and I have a lot of friends that want us to come out. So cross your fingers.
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