the spotlight on moving mountains is now archived. please hit the sidebar to get a hold of that page.

i’ve been a huge fan of moving mountains since i heard their 2006 demos. their sound is hard to pin down to just one category, but in any case, they have a beautiful sound. atmospheric, heavy, melodic, ambient, poppy, jazzy — moving mountains’ covers many bases.

foreword, their latest ep/album/creation, was released late last year on their own label, caetera recordings. it’s gotten some good buzz, both from us and other outlets. i’d recommend this band to any fans of the appleseed cast, explosions in the sky, nighttime/dusk and vocal harmonies.

i got the chance to correspond an e-mail interview with the entire band, and they discussed everything from their progression from their old releases to foreword, their unanimous love for peter gabriel and future touring plans. and i’ll stop here, mainly to prevent myself from any further ass-kissing. enjoy the interview.

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Roshan Bhatt, weworemasks: First, state your name and position in Moving Mountains.

Nick: My name’s Nick, I play the drums.
Greg: My name is Gregory and I build things. I also sing and play guitar.
Mitchell: Mitchell, Bass.
Frank: My name is Frank and I play guitar.

WWM: You just released Foreword, which is your second proper release, correct? How has the reception been?

Greg: The reception was awesome. It took much longer then we had hoped – but everyone was very patient with us. Luckily, we’ve been blessed with the most wonderful fans who show support through everything. Releasing Foreword sorta felt like our first proper release, as we were still somewhat unknown when we released Pneuma. The reception was slow with that record, but this time around everybody was just as excited as us to release it.

Mitchell: Just about all of the feedback has been really positive. Most fans consider Foreword so different from Pneuma that they find it difficult to compare the two. That’s a good sign for us since we’re always trying to write new music and avoid the pitfall of writing the same sounding songs album after album.

Nick: Very good. Much better than Pneuma was initially received, actually. Our sound has certainly evolved since Pneuma so it’s been really great to have such great support right off the bat.

Frank: The reception so far has been great. It took us a while to get the record out so we’re just excited for everyone to hear it.

WWM: What did you hope to express with the song on the EP? Songs like “Lights and Shapes” seem to be more of a straight-forward rock song in comparison with songs like “8105.” Was there a particular reason for that approach?

Mitchell: Musically, we knew we wanted these songs to be darker and heavier yet more dynamic and delicate at the same time. We were stretching our sound at both ends of the spectrum.

Nick: There wasn’t too much in terms of what was discussed when writing the newer songs. It was the first time me and greg we’re writing with two other people, so it was quite different in that sense. Everything just kind of came together as we began to write, and at the time it was just naturally heavier than anything we’ve done before.

Greg: We didn’t really want to make a Pnuema 2.0, and we also just naturally wrote different songs as a 4 piece for the first time. I think the aggression, and more straight forward feel was a result of what was going through our lives at the time.

WWM: The graphic on the cover of Foreword is a bit intriguing. Is there any significance behind it?

Greg: Like most things, the significance took on more and more meaning as thing progressed. All the photographs taken on the album artwork was taking by this phenomenal photographer/audio engineer/insanely talented/wonderful person John Carey. (fiftyfootshadows.net) He was nice enough to let us use his photos, as they expressed such amazing imagery that we felt represented the theme of the record. Especially in the case of the cover – I felt almost pulled towards it.

WWM: What were the biggest differences in the recording processes for Pneuma and Foreword?

Greg: Well for one, there was four of us. But not much changed at all really, besides experience. We were still scrummaging around for gear, recording things in basements and apartments, and doing our best to make something sound good the best we could. We recorded Foreword 3 times in total, and if we weren’t pressed with time, probably would have continued recording it over until the end of time.

Nick: Locations where we tracked and mixed were entirely different, but the process was already fairly familiar. Greg mixed and engineered Pneuma so it was like doing it again, but I think we were able to get things right that we didn’t get right on Pneuma. This isn’t to say that one recording is better than the other, they’re quite different in fact, but I think it certainly captures where we were at in our lives at the time and translates it well. To me, that’s what a good recording should do.

WWM: Pneuma had several recurring themes, especially in the lyrics. Many of the songs had religious/spiritual overtones — like “8105” and “Sol Solis.” Could you elaborate a bit on what you guys set out to do with it?

Greg: It’s tough – since it’s been so long. We didn’t really have a plan for what to “do with it” at the time, being as Nick and I were the only people listening to the music we made. Although I was hoping the lyrical content would take on many different adaptations through other people’s interpretations. Music can be tough to relate too sometimes. I wanted everyone to relate.

WWM: Considering the state of the music industry, the lacking of album sales and the fact that you’re still an unsigned band, what are your thoughts on downloading? If I hadn’t discovered that first set of demos that were posted online, Moving Mountains would’ve stayed under my radar.

Greg: We’re all for it. We’re all big nerds, and do nothing but read blogs and share mp3s. Of course with everything, there’s balance and moderation. Without downloading, we wouldn’t be here. Although downloading could also result in us not making enough money to press records, go on the road, continue to do what we do.

Mitchell: Downloading is a great, great thing that has helped us get a lot of exposure to a lot of new fans and helped people discover new music. Digital files are convenient and portable. However, you can lose sound quality and the excitement of having a physical package (CD, vinyl) that you can carry around with you or keep on your shelf in a collection. As for the labels and the financial side of things, paid downloading is great for cutting our middle men and helping more popular musicians (Radiohead, NIN) getting more money for their art. For smaller bands where a t-shirt or CD sale can make the difference between being able to drive to the next show or buy parts for a broken amp, free downloading or ripping songs off a friend’s computer can really threaten the survival of the band. The band and the fans that do what they’re supposed to (by paying for music) take the hit for those crafty torrent fiends when tours get canceled or a band can’t pay for a new recording.

At the same time, it’s important for everybody who wants/needs to hear our music to hear it, even if they can’t afford to buy a CD or t-shirt. I just wish we got more play on radio stations or college stations where people can hear our music for free but everything’s paid for by advertisements. Commercial radio is too political and motivated by money and indie/college radio is often dismissed as obscure garbage. Most people I know really only listen to their friend’s radio shows. Why listen to radio when you have an iPod and a 100 GB iTunes library?

WWM: What was the motivation and ideas that inspired you guys to create your own record label, Caetera Recordings?

Greg: We found ourselves in a position where, on top of recording our own stuff, designing our stuff, promoting our own stuff, we figured we would also distribute, package and sell our own stuff. From that, sparked the idea of properly releasing it through our own record collective. This was a long term goal that Mitchell and myself had, in hopes to release our friends albums, and other music we love that doesn’t get the notoriety it deserves.

WWM: Will we be seeing a re-release for Pneuma on Caetera?

Greg: Perhaps in the future. Our hands are tied for a few more years with Pneuma stuff.

WWM: How was it working with Andrew Maury of RAC? (ed note: Maury will be remixing “Lights and Shapes” for the vinyl release of Foreword) How did you guys end up collaborating?

Greg: Andrew is the man. He’s actually been one of the best people we’ve ever worked with. He pumped out that remix in about 3 days. It was unreal. On top of his obvious talents, he’s also a a super down to earth guy. We’d love and hope to work more with him in the future.

WWM: Any major plans to tour in 2009? If not, who would you like to tour with? P.S. Texas, please.

Greg: Nothing yet. I’d like to tour with Peter Gabriel, but that ain’t happening. Texas on the other hand, is totally doable in 2009.

Nick: Tour plans are up in the air. It tough because 3 of us go to school full time and one of us works full time, but who knows what the future holds. As far as bands I’d personally like to tour with… Sigur Ros, The Helio Sequence, Thursday, The Velvet Teen, Thrice.

Frank: mewithoutYou, As Cities Burn, Thursday, Minus The Bear. We would love to get out the west coast sometime in the near future.

Mitchell: Thursday, Thrice, Circa Survive and Peter Gabriel.

WWM: Are there any tentative ideas for the next EP/LP? What can we expect from the next phase of Moving Mountains?

Greg: Only tentative ideas. We’re hoping to buckle down in a few months to begin writing for a new full length.

Nick: Nothing that we can speak of yet, but we all certainly have stuff brewing inside. Although Foreword has only been available for a few months now, we’ve been playing these songs for over a year. We’re definitely ready to start exploring what will becoming the next album. We can’t even say what that will be yet. Only time will tell.

WWM: What are you guys currently listening to? Reading?

Nick: I was recently turned on to Passion Pit, who I’m really intrigued by. Really euphoric sound and catchy as all hell. I also just got the new Phoenix album [Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix] which has been on repeat non-stop. Can’t get enough. Right now I’m in the middle of reading The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. It’s quite good so far.

Frank: I just got the new Cursive record [Mama, I’m Swollen] and have been listening to that recently. I’m really excited for the new As Cities Burn and mewithoutYou records that are coming out soon. Also, I’m helplessly awaiting The Velvet Teen to release their next record. Just finished reading Another Country by [James] Baldwin.

Mitchell: Peter Gabriel and The Watchmen.

Greg: Gabriel. Also, got turned onto this band Defeater on B9. So amazing.

WMM: This one’s somewhat interesting. Both Thrice and Usher have songs called “Moving Mountains.” Have you heard them, and are you a fan of either? I enjoy both, personally…

Greg: Thrice is amazing. I haven’t heard the Usher one…

Mitchell: Like Thrice’s “Moving Mountains.” Never heard the Usher song.

WWM: That’ll wrap this up. Any last words for the readers of weworemasks.com? Hopefully we’ll see you in Texas sometime in the near future.

Mitchell: Can’t wait to visit Texas!

Frank: Thanks for listening!

Nick: Thanks! We hope to make it out west very soon.

Greg: Ciao!

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download “with one’s heart inside one’s mouth,” a song off of foreword:

moving mountains – with one’s heart inside one’s mouth

stream all of foreword here.

moving mountains on myspace.

preorder the foreword vinyl here.

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check out a live video of “with one’s heart in one’s mouth”:

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that’ll do it. support this band and enjoy.

-grizzly