INTERVIEW:
Mozaics
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ONLY yesterday…
I was speaking with a band who hails from Guernsey. Now, I have been chatting with the Jersey-based band, Mozaics. I learn what the scene is like on Jersey and whether there is more material in the coming months – I discover how they came to meet J-Hus!
The guys reveal what they do away from music; whether there are any new artists we need to check out; if they feel the music they are making now has developed from their earliest days; what advice they would give to new musicians coming through – I ask how the band feels when they get on stage and deliver the music to their fans.
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Hi, guys. How are you? How has your week been?
Hello. We’re good thanks; how are you? This week has been interesting for us. The video for B.W.G.O. dropped this week and, so, we’re busy organising radio interviews and some local gigs to promote it! It’s an exciting time.
For those new to your music; can you introduce yourselves, please?
Hi. We’re Mozaics. We’re from Jersey: not the New Jersey; the old one situated off the coast of France in the Channel Islands.
Our music has been described as uplifting anthem-Indie/Trip-Hop. Basically, we’re obsessed with melodies and hooks; if it’s not catchy it doesn’t make you smile! Music that makes you smile tends to make you dance; two things that we think are extremely important.
How did Mozaics get together? When did you all meet one another?
Jersey is a pretty small island - so we’ve all kind of known each other for years. We’ve all gigged together in different bands and have had varying levels of success in different formations. Mozaics really came together in mid-2015. That’s when Craig and Chris joined Christian, who had already written and produced a few records. Tom came along shortly thereafter and the power line-up as it stands now was born.
Before We Grow Old is your latest track. What is the story behind the song?
B.W.G.O. is about a nostalgic hat-tip to a youthful relationship told by someone who didn’t know what they had and took it far too seriously.
What can we expect going forward? Is there going to be more material or any collaboration happening?
The future is rosy! We’ve been hard at work networking and expanding our relationships. Since recording B.W.G.O., we’ve written and recorded four more tracks and we’re as excited, if not maybe even a little more excited, to share those with the world in due course. Watch this space!
Tell me how you met J-Hus. How did that encounter come about?!
There isn’t really much to tell if we’re honest. We met backstage at a festival that we were both playing. He confessed to rapping over our songs during our set and we just started chatting.
Stylistically, you would say we’re very different artists; however, we share a common passion for one thing - and that’s music. Although there’s no immediate discussion about a collaboration, we’d be daft not to follow it up! The future knows no bounds, right?
Do you think you have grown and strengthened since your earliest days?
Without a doubt. We’ve probably all grown as musicians, individually, although we play now more for the music, so it might seem like we’ve paired it back a little from the earlier days. That is, however, where the growth has come: it’s in the songwriting and playing what’s needed for the song. Hopefully, that comes across in the tracks and in our live shows.
Don’t get me wrong; we elaborate where we need to in a live show because that’s an experience and is a completely separate piece of the Mozaics puzzle.
The video for the track, Do This with Me, gained a lot of praise for the performance and concept. Do you guys get involved a lot with pitching videos and the look of them?
Yeah; that’s a really pretty video, that one. We’re obviously biased; however, we’d really recommend it as a must-watch! We like to be involved in the decisions made around video concept. We all have ideas and visualise how it should look and these are shared early on. We are pampered somewhat in that our pals at Nifty50, who have shot all the Mozaics music videos, are masterful videographers. They’re, also, very musical.
Add to those two things the fact that they’re super-down-to-earth and genuine in everything they do. It’s pretty much a trifecta of awesome! We’re lucky to have worked with them and plan to continue to work with them as our journey continues.
Do you have any gigs lined up? Where are you heading?
Yeah. We’ll be announcing shows soon; keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages. We’re also very keen to share another live-streamed gig on social media - something we tested earlier in the year and became a huge success. If you get a chance, visit our Facebook page and watch the live gig on Facebook. It was streamed live from our practice space. Off the top of my head; we’re headlining a show on 23rd June in Jersey at the Watersplash.
If you’re on the island, come and have a dance!
How important is it getting on the stage and seeing the reaction of the crowd?
The live performance is everything. Any and every artist will say the same thing. There is no substitute for the buzz of a gig and the interaction you get from an audience of people who love music as much as you do. It’s therapeutic. It’s what artists (us) live for. If you love music and you’ve experienced music at a live gig, you can almost always recall the emotions that you felt at that gig, the lights, the sway of the crowd; it’s memorable because it’s an experience like no other.
Live music shared with people who love music is a really powerful thing. Live performances from our favourite artists are what inspire us and what fuels our passion. It’s the reason we make music.
What do you hope to achieve in 2018?
2018 is an exciting year.
For us, it feels like momentum has been good through 2017 - and everything has been leading to this year. We’ve been bottled up and spent the past year or so shaking things up: 2018 is about blowing the lid off (so to speak) for Mozaics. Having seen the support for the most recent single, Before We Grow Old, and knowing that we quite possibly have, dare we say it, more belters to follow; we’re super-excited and anxious to share our art with the world on a bigger stage.
Have you each got a favourite memory from your time in music – the one that sticks in the mind?
There are probably plenty. One that really sticks out for me (Chris) has to be our first performance in this line-up at Jersey Live. I think it was 2015?
Anyways; we’d yet to play a show locally...and so no one knew what to expect. We were all really excited to play the show and I think, secretly, we knew our set was going to be something the island had never seen. Plus, we’d rehearsed it quite a bit and we were ready to share our songs with the world. We played in the middle of the day in a tent at the back of the festival in between main stage turnaround.
Not expecting much, we packed the tent after our first song, bossed the rest of the set and played an encore to a hungry audience. Thereafter, we sold every single one of our E.P.s and there was a real buzz around the festival about the band. It was pretty special and definitely a moment I’ll never forget.
What advice would you give to new artists coming through?
We’re not really advisors - and we continue to learn, every day, that we do this. We have, however, all been doing this music thing for a number of years. We’ve all had some success in different forms and we’ve all experienced just how difficult it can be to turn heads and make people notice what you’re doing. The only bits of advice we can give derives from our own experiences. First and foremost, believe in the product and believe in the band. If you don’t believe, no one else can.
Secondly, there is no substitute for good old-fashion hard work. If you want something you have to roll your sleeves up and get busy with it. No one else is going to invest time or money in a band that isn’t interested enough to invest their own time and money in themselves.
Thirdly; every single relationship/contact, no matter how brief with a venue contact, a fan; another band, a D.J.; a promoter, a bar manager; a friend of a friend, etc. is as important as the last. Make those relationships work for you; make sure they remember you for the right reasons. You never know when you might need to rely on them in future as part of your journey. Plus, they’re more likely to buy your music when you release it out into the world. Better yet; if they like you, they’ll probably promote you to their friends, who will promote you to their friends and so on...
Sorry...that kind of dragged on a little!
IN THIS PHOTO: July Talk
Are there any new artists you recommend we check out?
Check out JULY TALK. They’re a really cool Canadian Rock band making waves on both sides of the Atlantic. Chris roomed with their guitarist at university. Other cool under-the-radar acts to check out are Winterfalle, Alex Alex and Tadhg Daly - all musicians from our small island in Jersey and all making waves in the music world.
IN THIS PHOTO: Tadhg Daly
Do you get much time to chill away from music? How do you unwind?
We do. Everyone is very close with their families; most downtime is spent in their company. When not doing that, Christian meditates and does jiu-jitsu. Chris is an avid golfer and has more recently developed a passion for long-distance running. Craig is really into yoga and spends a great deal of his time reading.
Aside from being the band hunk, and the guy everyone wants as their best mate, Tommy teaches music professionally, and so, when he’s not playing with Mozaics, he’s playing with others (not in that way; at least we think). You can take Tommy out of the Music but you cant take the Music out of Tommy!
Finally, and for being good sports; you can each choose a song and I’ll play it here (not any of your music - I will do that).
QYURRYUS by The Voidz. We’re really into this track at the moment. It’s way dope
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