Moriaty: The Records Are For The Head And Heart, The Shows Are For The Heart And Feet!

Life is full of change and unexpected occurrences, taking us on journeys we never thought we’d take. Devon-born rock duo MORIATY set out to explore these experiences and produce something that they could put their heart and souls into. This takes the form of their second studio album, The Die Is Cast, which was released in November last year.

Speaking to vocalist and guitarist of the band, Jordan West, he explained that the band always felt as if they were more confined than conventional bands due to there only being two of them. Although this made the band unique it limited the amount of creativity they could let loose open their creations, however West went on to say, “I’ve always enjoyed being in that box, but finding ways to make that box bigger from the inside out if you know what I mean.”

Speaking about the theme of the album, change, West told of personal events that happened to himself and band partner Matthew Partridge, in between the release of their first album and this new release. “A lot changed for us between releasing the first record and beginning the second. Matt‘s relationship ended, I lost my mum and had a child, plus the world went completely nuts with Trump/ Brexit/Social Media/Mental Health etc. Every time we started building up to something, it seemed another life changing moment happened.” Often when writing songs, bands will take these personal experiences and use them as inspiration, making the songs very heartfelt, and you can hear the influence of these events in the album, through the passion and impactful tones throughout.

When asked about the difficulties of working as a duo in, West explained that it could actually be more of a positive. “We started the band at 25 or 26. And by that age it was difficult to tie people down. Matthew and I have always just been able to say ‘you free for a jam?’, and it’s simple, it’s either yes or no. When you start adding people it just makes it harder to pin everyone down.” He also went on to explain that by working with just one other person, it allows your ideas to be more refine, and allow you to be completely happy with it. “It’s given us a natural progression as well. From being a bit more bluesy and THE WHITE STRIPES-esque in the beginning, to relying on the riff to fill the bass void, to creating a new kind of instrument and writing around the frequency range and looping.”

Both the members really enjoyed the recording process of this release, saying that the first record was quite rushed so they made a point of taking as long as they needed to record this new one, “We re -recorded Balls for example because I thought it was 5bpm too slow! And I endlessly changed things and deliberated, much to the pain of both Matthew and Josiah (the producer). But the tinkering and fine tuning was just magical. I didn’t want to say ‘that’s good enough’ at any point. It had to be the best it could be. Not for anyone else’s benefit but my own, but it was a piece of art and creating it was a journey.”

The last song on the album, Netflix, is very different to the prior tracks, being more piano based, and West spoke about how that song had many different iterations throughout the recording process, with both members trying to sing it at different points. He goes onto say that at one point the producer Josiah did a mix one day that sounded as if it was K-Pop. “Everyone just wanted to drop it and move on, but I was determined to get it on the record. I thought it was a great song, with some great words. It’s about living with depression, or more importantly, living with someone with depression and offering to just be there when it’s probably the least and the most you can do. This whole record felt like such a mind melt for me, that Netflix was the perfect arm around my shoulder to see me through into the night.”

The final product came about in a surprising manner, with West experimenting on a mini concert piano that their producer happened to have in the studio. “I was pissing around on it for a while (for most of the sessions as I remember, although I can’t really play the piano!). I thought I’d come up with something and started bumbling Netflix over the top. So I called Josiah and asked to go over one evening. I had several drinks to muster up some Dutch courage, got him to set up a mic and just did it in one take, hence all the bum notes!” They both really liked the rawness and honesty about how this recording sounded so decided to keep it in, “I think I needed to lose my anxiety and inhibitions about the track and just sing it from the heart. Which was really fitting for the content and texture.” West finally said that he knew immediately that this track needed to go at the end, to act as a reflection on the things they had been through, but also the whole recording process.

The Die Is Cast is out now via self-release.

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