Niche music has returned. Heralded by the rise of digital music sharing, affordable recording technology, and driven by the larger forces of globalization and (cultural) imperialism, the seemingly monolithic music defined by corporate taste makers is becoming a thing of the past. As with radio during the rise of Television 60 years prior, the music industry has fractured, and even Humpty Dumpty has a better chance of being put back together again. The result has been the return of niche markets for music, allowing for musicians to directly produce and sell their music directly to listeners, with or without the aid of labels. The labels, whose role has changed significantly, are being increasingly useless, with even major artists, such as the White Stripes, and new up and comers, such as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, choosing limited contracts in place of the old record/produce/sell/market/soul contracts of old. As they begin to realize that it is harder to sell bland, generic, lowest-common-denominator music, even more niches will be filled.
This is all even more interesting when one looks towards the already niche markets of indie and experimental music. In the case of “Post-Rock” in particular, it is hard to deny the role that the internet has played in creating a global community, as artist have risen to prominence who could simply not exist in the geographically bound world of the past. Some of the biggest bands in the genre, even today, can hardly fill small capacity venues, and yet their music is likely to continue to enjoy critical acclaim and praise.
One of the newest bands to have enjoyed the praise/hype of the internet taste makers are Moving Mountains, an intriguing band from the suburbs of NYC. The case of Moving Mountains is interesting because very few people understand the nature of this band, having played but one show, and only recently releasing an album. When an music blogger posted the band's demos on his site last year, the band quickly gained a small internet following, propelled by the strength of the music itself, an amalgam of melodic indie rock and spacey ambience. Its catchy melodies were interspersed between long form crescendos and ambient interludes, hearkening to the glory days of the Appleseed Cast. The complex arrangements, multi-layered songs are complimented by vague literary references, whose powerful themes enable the music to resonate emotionally without being overly particular. What few people realize, however, is that this wonderful and sophisticated demo was written and recorded entirely by two kids still in high school.
“I just started writing songs that I knew would somehow capture periods in my life. From then, I started working with Nick, who shared similar musical ambitious, and we began writing songs,” says Greg, the mastermind behind Moving Mountains. Only a junior in high school at the time, Greg had already played in various bands, ranging from ska to hardcore, and had even written and recorded his own solo material as well. Moving Mountains began as a way for him to capture a time in his life, and to express himself without the confines of a typical band situation. This eventually lead to expanding the line up to include other musicians, necessary for the songs to be performed live. At this point, however, although Moving Mountains have just released their debut LP, Pneuma, they have still only played one show. Despite this, they have managed to top several top10-lists, gathering fans through Internet word-of-mouth. Although much of the digital revolution has given us cause for concern, (such as an overabundance of terrible music) it refreshing, and hopeful, to see bands who are able to succeed in attracting attention and distribute their music based on the strength of their music and not the marketing power of their label, or even their live show.
Grouped in with the ‘post-rock’ crowd, largely due to being leaked by a post-rock enthusiast, Moving Mountains do not actually consider themselves to be a ‘post-rock’ band, and wish to avoid labeling themselves or conceiving of themselves as part of a particular scene at all. In spite of this, they are a prime example of the type of bands who are emerging in the new niche-rock world. The Silent Ballet, although commonly thought of as covering post-rock, is actually too a product of this new model. Using the internet to unite disparate influences, bands and artists have risen to prominence amongst communities of fans in defiance of geographic boundaries. As a result, artists whose music is widely disseminated, critically acclaimed, and even selling well, often find themselves unable to play to crowds larger than a barroom. This is of course true of other scenes as well, but seems particularly out stated when it comes to experimental music, since it is often so esoteric that it requires a global audience, thus making the act of touring more difficult.
It is in light of these circumstances that Greg and the rest of Moving Mountains are orienting themselves. Grouped into a scene they are disconnected from, with a vocal and supportive online following (that they didn’t ask for), they may just be the able to walk the line between accessibility and experimentalism. On the eve of Pneuma’s release, I sat down with Greg to discuss the new album, the identity and future of the band, and what it was its like to have all that unexpected attention.
Joe: Moving Mountains essentially started as (and is) your project. For someone so young, you have managed to play various styles of music, from No Name Charlies (ska), to Dodgeball Massacre/Greg Dunn Experience, to Plague the Inventor (hardcore) and now MM. What inspires your writing process? Does it change from band to band? Has your approach to writing changed or matured as a result of you various musical endeavors throughout high school? And what motivated you to do MM? Was it solo by design or by necessity?
Gregory: Music is progressive, and should be approached with the incentive to make something that will personify whatever it is that moves you. The process hasn't really changed band from band, I just finally have creative freedom within MM. The biggest inspiration for me, is generally frustration. Musically, I find it nearly impossible to mirror human emotion. It's just so hard, and I think it's a good thing to constantly strive for.
Joe: Can you explain the process that lead to the creation of the EP? How have things changed since then? How has working on Pneuma changed MM? Obviously recording in the studio must be different for you than recording all on your own. Which do you prefer?
Gregory: Picture this: A really clean basement room with Christmas lights and roomy atmospheric presence, with Nick and I beginning to throw all of our ideas together to begin preproduction demos. Six months later, you'll find that same basement, with no christmas lights (with no lighting at all), garbage, music gear scattered everywhere with no room to walk, and myself living off Fresca and Hotpockets. Oh, and a finished demo for me and Nick to work off of.
When we began to work on Pneuma, things were obviously much easier and smoother. We actually recorded everything ourselves, in the same basement again, except for the drums. The drums were tracked by Mike Kalajian (Life Before This/ Safe As Houses) at his practice space in Pine Island, New York. I brought the Pro Tools sessions home, and we layered everything on ourselves. I like to think of myself as an engineer, but I've got plenty of years ahead of me. But yeah, I prefer recording my own music.
Joe: Will Moving Mountains finally begin to exist as a live band? How has/will the project change? (What I'm asking is, essentially, did you or do you still conceive of MM as a studio project, and if so, how will arrangements differ in a live setting?) Does this necessitate a change in identity for MM?
Gregory: We've played one show, a few months back. We played three songs off the demo, and it was about 17 minutes long. We are planning on having shows, and have rounded up the people who've helped us along the way to play with us. We want to expand our music as far as we can. I mean, as a band, we're still growing, and it's too early to label any identity. And plus, those identities only limit musicians anyways.
Joe: How do you feel about the reaction the demos have received? I know the EP was leaked without permission, so perhaps you have, understandably, some feelings of ambivalence towards the internet band phenomenon. Regardless, it must be pretty amazing to see how good music can rise to the top despite not playing shows or having a physical product to sell.
Gregory: At first, we were pissed, but then we thought it was pretty funny, and now we couldn't be happier those demo tracks got released somehow. Of course it's strange to watch your music be critiqued, and have people label your music, and create these like, images of what they think your band represents. I mean, it can happen almost instantaneously with the internet, and it pretty much did. It's certainly frustrating when people begin labeling you, and filling in all the blanks with everything we didn't supply besides our music (If that). Although, it's inevitable.
Joe: Well, you did say frustration is you’re biggest influence. I noticed that you have many literary references in your song titles. The EP is framed by references to the sun. Surely this is not coincidence. What inspired you to choose these names? Do you feel that the ideas conjured by Sisyphus and Xanadu, for instance, relate to the songs thematically? For that matter, where does the name of the band itself come from?
Gregory: Yeah. That's pretty tough to get in depth about, but it's all certainly done purposefully. I know it's pretty lame. The good thing about a lot of instrumental bands is the ability for the listener to relate, and feel comfortable within the music, without feeling lost in any non-relatable lyrics. With MM, I felt stupid singing exactly how I felt. Rather, I just tagged every emotion, every person and thing, with some form of representation. It's a very selfish album. But in every way, the CD can be interpreted entirely different by someone else who listens to it. I mean, those were my intentions. “Xanadu” and “Sisyphus” are thematically related, yeah. Although looking back, it made a lot more sense then. As for the theme itself, I like biblical forms of literature. I'm not a religious person, I'm just faithful in things other then God. "Moving Mountains" is a frequent expression used in most biblical, and often Greek mythology. I don't know, it just fit.
Joe: The upcoming record is called Pneuma, which is Greek for 'breath.' Is this how you view music? (or maybe just good music…)
Gregory: When I was looking for an album name, I came across Pneuma pretty happily. It's in relation to Pneumatology, which is the study of spiritual phenomena between humans and god. Andddd that means absolutely nothing to me. But seriously, it's also a way to metaphorically describe something. It fit nicely, when I found myself comparing geographical features to people, and other stuff. It's certainly not original, but I like to pretend it is.
Joe: Actually, I think it’s a wonderful concept, and works very well as an allegory for understanding what it is that music does on a metaphysical level. You made a video for Nick's old band, Format and Hold. Have you done other film-related work? Can we expect any video content related to MM anytime soon?
Gregory: I haven't. That video was me being an idiot on Final Cut. We're currently in the works for filming a video for 8105 with the help from some of our friends at RISD.
Joe: What can we expect on Pneuma? More horns? Any surprises you care to reveal? Plans for the future? What else does Greg Dunn have in store?
Gregory: Don't expect too much, because it stresses us out. We have lots of plans, that will unravel themselves as they happen. Pneuma is a little more structured and straight driven rock, in comparable to the EP. We like it, and we hope everybody does too.
Joe: Thanks Greg!
Buy a digital copy of Pneuma here, and check out the band at here.