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Taken from Taiwan News (Apr 18, 2018)
Angelo Moore of Fishbone comes to Taiwan for the first time
Interview with Angelo Moore
by Te'Qin Windham ,Taiwan News, Staff Writer
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) –- After a thrilling performance at Urban Nomad Opening Freakout, I had the pleasure to interview Angelo Moore of Fishbone, where he discussed his inspirations, performing, and his band The Brand New Step.
Angelo Moore and The Brand New Step came to Taiwan to perform at Urban Nomad on April 14-15. They performed both days and offered the crowd a wild and interactive performance.
Angelo Moore was the lead singer of the American band, Fishbone. Fishbone has released about a dozen albums since 1985.
Angelo Moore continues to tour and perform around the world. Currently, he is performing with The Brand New Step.
Te'Qin: Where are you from?
Angelo: I'm from L.A. (Los Angeles, California, USA)
Te'Qin: How long have you been performing?
Angelo: I've been playing music since '79.
Te'Qin: Well, the way you performed out there, you were performing like you were 25…hopping into the crowd and everything.
Angelo: I'd figured it was about that time. The one guy tried it earlier, and I was like: "Oh it can be that kind of party." I was like let me just get out here and do it for real then…and I keep telling myself, ah, it's not going to happen this time…
Te'Qin: This isn't the first time?
Angelo: That kind of stuff (stage diving) be happening every show…at least every Fishbone show. This one, with The Brand New Step, is a new project, and it's more contemporary, more on the contemporary side from what I usually do. And it's wide open for possibilities. Endless possibilities. "Endless possibilities," that was the second song [I played tonight].
Te'Qin: What inspired "The Brand New Step"?
Angelo: Jim (keyboardist) and Chris (guitarist), those guys came to Fishbone's movie, "Everyday Sunshine." So they came to see the movie, the premiere of the movie and they stayed for the questionnaire. Then I remember Chris and some other guy walked up to me and Chris was like, "Man, I want to do some music with you man. Let's do some music together." I was like, "Ok, I'll try anything once." Yup, so we connected….he's got music, like got beds of music he does on his guitar, and stuff like that, rifts. And Jim, the keyboard player makes a lot of tracks, electronic dance tracks. And so when they put me in the mix, I just put a bunch of lyrics to it and horns. Lyrics and horns, and some Theremin in there.
Te'Qin: I noticed you played a few different instruments (in the show). How many instruments can you play?
Angelo: Saxophone is my main instrument. And then, there’s the Theremin, and then I got into the drums, I can play drums. And lately, I've been playing the organ, double-tier organ.
Te'Qin: I love the (clothing) style. You have a very particular style. Where does that come from?
Angelo: Well, this one, I got from a store called "Why Not" in D.C. (Washington D.C., USA). And they got all kinds of things like this (his suit) in that store. I remember, all my clothes got left behind on the plane on the Fishbone tour, and I was in D.C. and I didn't have any clothes to change into. So I found a store called "Why Not." And I've got a bunch of [clothes] like this (points to his suit and chuckles).
Te'Qin: Where does the inspiration come from for your music?
Angelo: So many places it comes from; where do I even start? With this particular project, it's kinda like modern dance music. You got different eras of dance music, the kind I am attracted to, like the 70’s disco, at least when it comes to that kind of thing, 70's disco or jungle, house, and the reggae. And plus those guys, Jim and Chris, they make beats and rifts, and they make them all the time. So, they just put them altogether. Then they're like, "Angelo, we want you to write some lyrics to this one here," and they'll send them to me. Or they’ll just bring me up there to San Francisco (USA). I live in Los Angeles. Sometimes, I'll catch the train up to San Francisco and spend the weekend up there. I got an Aunt up there living in San Francisco. So I just go up there and work it out with them. It's a different challenge, because Fishbone doesn't have any tracks play with our music. It's just straight band. But these guys got tracks coming in and out of stuff. So, I had to struggle with that for a while. So, now we got the tracks all in the right place and just enough to where they're an element and not the foundation, which is good. To me, the real foundation is live music. Before it becomes a mixed piece, it's always live.
Graphic art from Olegna Phenomenon. (Photo courtesy of Angelo Moore) |
[He hands be a thumb drive]
Angelo: It's called the "Olegna Phenomenon". So on here are the short stories and dramas of Dr. MadVibe's journeys through Niggalonia. I'm Dr. MadVibe, that's my alias. I make up my own characters…I got the lyrics in there too, a PDF of all the lyrics. As you're listening to it, you can read along.
Graphic art from Olegna Phenomenon. (Photo courtesy of Angelo Moore) |
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