Hi folks, thanks for joining us today, let’s get straight into it, What useless party trick do you have?
Coaster Flip. Where you take a beer/drink coaster and move it half way off the edge of the bar, hit it with the top of your hand upwards, and in one motion catch it with the same hand.
What was the most fun you have had on stage?
Moviola opened for the Flaming Lips right after “She Don’t Use Jelly” broke. It was at local bar called Staches that hold about 230 people… there were probably around 500 at the show.
I’ve never been that close to that many people who were so incredibly happy that they were at the show.
What was the worst experience on stage?
One of our guaitarists’ strap broke at a show where literally no one attended except for the other band. His guitar head stock hit the floor and snapped the neck into two pieces.
The band we were playing with was Butter Glory – I think they did a CD on Merge.
Tell us something about each member that you think people would be surprised about?
The band has been around since the 1990s, so we are on the older side at this point.
Hopefully people who hear Zero Sum will be surprised to hear it was made by people as old as Pavement.
If you had to describe your band/music to an alien how would you describe it?
This song has a faster vibe than the last record. But I would say “riff centered rush of social criticism in the guise of a Beach Boys chorus and outro.”
What makes you stand out as a band/artist?
We have really good taste in equipment… but no one in the band is a gear head. So you won’t hear that annoying talk about the tubes in our amps…
But the tubes are the good ones.
Right now, what’s pissing you off the most?
The Republicans, Trump, MAGA folks can piss off right now.
What’s your favourite song to play live and why?
“Color Copy” off of our record Frantic. It rocks and some folks remember it when we play it live.
I hear you have new music, what can you tell us about it?
The upcoming single, Zero Sum, was recorded in the Spring and Summer of 2022 by Jake Housh (Moviola’s in-house producer/engineer) at his Oregonia Studio. Zero Sum is a 3 minute jangle pop, riff centered rush of social criticism in the guise of a Beach Boys chorus and outro. “People really plan to take it / Anything they grab / And it’s poker game as life that they’re on.” Utilizing the secret weapon of musical theater major Toby Hattemer, the song spaces out in a spectacular swirling of acapella goodness.
Talk me through the thought process of the single/album/ep?
Moviola just released our 10th LP last year (Broken Rainbows, 2021) and performed at an arts center (Wexner Center) here in Columbus.
The show was highly orchestrated and included all the songs from the record along with interstitial video, spoken word, back up singers… the works.
With this release we wanted to do something quickly. Zero Sum was recorded in 3 or 4 sessions. The mood of the song felt like it wanted to get out into the world faster rather than waiting on other sibling songs to be written and recorded for a full LP.
What was the recording process like?
The band has self-recorded since our founding in 1993. Jake Housh is our in-house engineer and producer.
We usually start with guitar, bass, and drums at the same time and then move on to adding leads, keys, vocals, etc as overdubs.
What was the biggest learning curve in writing the tunes?
How to promote our work in this new social media blog driven environment.
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
I’ve listened to the song 100 times like we usually do when a song is finished. If something should be changed it would have been by now.
What are your plans for the year ahead?
I think Moviola will focus on recording and releasing a few more singles before taking on an entire record.
Working quickly and getting something out within a few months of recording it is very satisfying.
Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?
We have our entire discography on moviolamus…ndcamp.com and all streaming platforms… so, enjoy!