MOOSE BLOOD INTERVIEW

Canterbury's emo gang Moose Blood have been causing a bit of a fuss in recent months with their debut EP 'Moving Home'. I spoke with drummer Glenn Harvey for the next issue of A Short Fanzine About Rocking.

How did you decide on the name? Why Moose Blood?

Eddy and Mark both work together and one time they were just saying as many dumb names as they could think of, this one stuck.

How did you guys meet, and how did it all come together?

We all kind of met through our old hardcore bands. Mark and I played in a band, Sam and I have been friends since school and used to play in a couple of bands, Eddy and Mark were in a band and knew each other outside of that beforehand. It came together pretty easily, which was cool. Eddy had some songs written, asked if we wanted to start a band, sent us a couple of demos and we were instantly down.

You've had a really good reaction to your debut EP, a lot of blogs etc tipping you to be one of the next big things. Had you seen that coming?

I knew some of our friends would be into it when I first heard Eddy's demo of 'Bukowski' because I absolutely loved it. But beyond our little circle, I honestly had no idea people would care at all. We've said it a bunch already, but it really is crazy the way the EP has taken off. None of us saw it coming. We're all so happy though, we just really want to play shows all over the place now to make sure people who bought the record are able to see us.
 
It was released by Day By Day Records who are associated with some great bands such as Gnarwolves and Dads. Do you have friends in any of the other Day By Day bands?

Dads fucking rule. I first got into them a couple of years ago, and when I heard Day By Day were working with them I was so stoked! Gnarwolves are our mates and the nicest guys.

Who do you enjoy playing shows with?

Gnarwolves are the best. Always positive, hardworking and just fun to be around. We just played at the Camden Underworld with them and it was the first time both of us had played there. They absolutely killed it. So fun to watch a bunch of kids going off to your friends. I think we've enjoyed all our shows so far to be honest. There have only been about 15 of them but we've been lucky enough to play with some great bands so far.
 
There's a lot of great bands in the UK right now. How do you feel about the whole emo/punk rock scene at the moment?

I think it's great, I'm gutted we won't get a chance to play with Basement (probably/maybe/who knows?) but Sam and I's old band got to play with them and Daylight a while before 'I Wish I Could Stay Here' came out, which was a really cool show. Everything comes and goes in waves. In 2010, Basement were really one of the only decent UK bands doing what they were doing and that obviously led on to a lot of other bands taking influence, which is cool. It's good to see the hard work paying off for Gnarwolves right now, as well as bands like Nai Harvest and The Winter Passing.
 
Any recommendations?

Every band I've mentioned so far and also Pet Symmetry, Dowsing, Great Cynics, Ten Speed Bicycle and Loose Cannons. In a more general sense, I'd recommend that Tigers Jaw not break up, and Basement get back together sooner rather than later. But I'm not sure I have much say with either of those.
 
You reference a couple of bands on tracks on the EP – Jimmy Eat World, American Football, Dashboard Confessional and Death Cab For Cutie if I remember correctly. Do you guys all share the same kind of taste, generally?

Pretty much! Every so often Eddy will put something on in the car that I've been listening to and I had no idea he was into, like Brave Bird or Mansions, which is cool. On the flip side of that, I found out he had never listened to Jawbreaker until recently so I'm not even sure if we can be friends anymore.
 
What's next for Moose Blood?

New music, more shows, some tours. Hopefully.

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