Within only a few
seconds of listening to The Moho Collective’s new acoustic EP, “Soma,” the
listener is presented with possibilities.
It’s laid out like a
roundabout. The trio – Kurt Johnson on
acoustic and steel guitars, organ, and banjo, Justin Rister
playing upright bass and toy piano, and drummer Ryan Barclay – has taken a slight detour from its
well-known manic, eclectic, electric strain with a series of five dexterous,
acoustic breakdowns that preach beauty and comfort, and beg speculation. The
purpose wasn’t to befuddle or confuse, but to tone things down a bit.
On Friday, October
26, the Lovin’ Cup crowd will get a taste of these
acoustic tunes at the album release show for “Soma.” According to Johnson, the
EP, named after the Hindu word for moon, has been in the works for some time. “We
had a batch of tunes that lent themselves to this format.” Johnson says.
“Really, with every other record, we recorded as quickly as possible – within a day or two. We did everything
live. We just wanted to capture what we do and just trying to show the essence
without getting bogged down.”
But Johnson says
“Soma” is different.
“This one is different
in two ways,” he says. “There is the acoustic element, but also we really went
all-in with the studio magic and trickery that is available.” The Moho
Collective didn’t need to go acoustic to get wild in the studio. They laid down
some plugged-in Moho mojo, too, for the yet-to-be released “Arca,”
named after the Hindu word for sun. “To be totally transparent,” Johnson says.
“This is a multi-part thing we’re doing. We have the electric EP we’ve done as
well. There are horns and lots of percussion, multiple guitars, and keys and
stuff.”
With this sort of
atmospheric instrumentation sans vocals, the music leaves room for the
listener’s own story, be it rapturous or melancholic. “Soma” saw the band
through some tough times. “We’re dedicating this album to my mom, who I lost a
few years ago,” Johnson says. “The music was written and recorded with her in
mind. I just wanted to make something beautiful. My mom was just a big fan of
the moon. It’s hard to listen to the music without thinking about those times.”
But when the music
doesn’t overtly qualify what it’s about or where it’s coming from, Johnson
doesn’t mind if people listen to it with their own experience in mind. “Hopefully
it’ll be something beautiful,” he says. “Something that will leave an impression and stick with somebody.
Our music is instrumental, so we don’t have lyrics coming right out saying what
we want to say. I’m totally cool with people not necessarily knowing the story
and creating a story of their own.”
Soma was recorded at
Mike Brown’s Temperamental Recordings in Geneseo. The
Moho Collective was joined by Aaron Shewan on French
horn and whistling, as well as violinist and violist Lauren Rister. The band recorded in the spring and did the overdubs in fall, mirroring the
transition of seasonal splendor.
“We recorded basic
tracks live, as we always would as a three-piece, and we left a lot of space
texturally to add stuff in later. And Mike was up for anything, adding horns,
adding strings. There was one tune where we trekked out into a field with a
laptop and banged a shovel on a big empty silo.” Silos and shovels aside, I
once saw Johnson play a lap steel with an Allen wrench.
But it should be
clear, listening to “Soma” doesn’t necessarily require definition or backstory
or explanation. It can simply be enjoyed for the sheer talent that goes into
creating this band’s sound.
“We pay a lot of
attention to arrangement and structure and keeping things fresh because it is
instrumental,” Johnson says. “We try to distill it down to its most necessary
parts to keep it interesting. Because we’re instrumental, we get lumped into
the jam band thing. We don’t play pop songs, but we have pop song structures,
as opposed to jams.”
Johnson says The
Moho Collective is entering a phase of less traveling, less gigging out, less
touring, and “being more of a studio entity and just adding something beautiful
to the world.” In addition to the second EP, “Arca,”
The Moho Collective has a third, still untitled recording to get on the street.
“We recorded the two albums together but they were two separate, distinct
things. Johnson says. “So we did our due diligence and separated the two.”
Unlike previous
recordings, in which the new songs were road-tested, the five songs that
comprise “Soma” will make their debut at the disc’s release party. “In the past
whenever we debuted songs, we’d already played them
and got them tight live,” Johnson says. “Now we’re learning how to play these
new songs live. We’re being very overt with what we’re doing. We’re really
proud of this record.”
In fact, Johnson’s
an unabashed fan of his band and especially this album, fleeting as its sound
may be. “The dynamics of the band is my favorite thing,” he says. “And I think
the rhythm section is great. This record, in terms of being a fan, is a
quieter, more thoughtful, gentle kind of whisper, but it’s just part of the
journey. We’re not somewhere we’re going to stay too long.”
This article appears in Oct 24-30, 2018.
