Interview for the Almeria Life channel

Here’s an interview with me from my studio, The Indalo Cave, conducted by Almeria Life’s Catherine Eleman, in which I discuss my work across the different bands and genres. Enjoy!

Kev Moore

Happy Easter!

Sometimes, I do really daft stuff. This is one of those times. A few years back I threw together a few eggs, and made an omelette of a video of ineggscrable  puns, all to the tune of Irving Berlin’s ‘Easter parade’ on Electric guitar. Seemed like a good idea at the time! So, here it is again!

Kev Moore

Turn on your receiver, I’m gonna lay it on the line….

….sang Dan McCafferty of Nazareth, once upon a time in the 70’s. I thought it an apt title for this post, as HEAVY METAL MANIACS are re-running my one-hour radio special from last night this Sunday night at 7pm European time. HMM is an organization dedicated to metal – we (Witch Cross) played their festival in Hoorn, Holland last year and they run an internet radio station accessible from their site. So if you missed it yesterday, just click on the HMM icon below to listen tonight. I’ve enjoyed getting into broadcasting, what with my Bay Radio slot twice-weekly here in Spain, and now with Heavy Metal Maniacs, I’m getting the chance to play some of my favourite rock music, stuff that inspired me back in the day, some from my friends in the biz, and some of the new stuff that’s coming out. It’s a fun gig- and I’ll probably do it again!

Kev Moore

Off topic: Don’t give up the day job….Artwork as a sideline to Music.

You may or may not know, but in addition to my career as a musician, I like to create artworks when the mood takes me. Recent weeks have seen a nice return for this activity, as I’ve sold a variety of items featuring my art in one way or another. I thought it might be a good time to share them.

A few weeks ago I sold some greetings cards featuring ‘Souperman’, and ‘Dali the Dog’, and more recently, a couple of T-shirts featuring my ‘Like Father like Son‘ artwork. Then yesterday, a framed print of Pinetop Perkins, (see above) the legendary bluesman I had the pleasure to meet in Austin, Texas in 2010, when at the grand old age of 96, he proceeded to get up on stage and blow me away.

I was inspired to write the song, ’96 on Sixth’ about the experience and it featured on my album ‘Blue Odyssey’ from the same year. You can hear it by clicking on the widget below:

It’s always fun to create art, and always a big incentive to do more when people appreciate and buy it! -and with that in mind, click on the Fine Art America logo below if you are interested in any of my artworks

Kev Moore

Gun Law

I’m sure a lot of our Transatlantic cousins won’t agree with me on this one, and perhaps that’s the problem. A country that fought its way into being by the law of the gun, defending personal land claims from others, seems intrinsically unable to face the fact that ‘the right to bear arms’ is an area of their constitution that urgently needs revisiting. When a country’s hope and future – it’s children, are being mown down with shocking regularity, when it’s brave firemen and policemen, first responders, are lured to false alarms in order to be murdered, something HAS to change.  As a songwriter, I was moved to say something in the best way I know how…so here is ‘Gun Law‘. The lyrics are below. You’ll also here another voice on the song: The Chairman of the NRA. The words he speaks are his, but necessarily in the order in which he intended. Curiously though, he now makes more sense to me……

Land of the free Home of the dead
Clung to liberty while you children bled
2nd amendment, written in ink
Well let me tell you something your freedom stinks

Freedom to maim, freedom to kill
Freedom to mow them down at will
Do you believe that its the measure of man
That you must rip his gun from his cold dead hands

We must fan the flames of change
Not the flames of hate
Try to reconnect with that-  which made your country great
One child’s life is far too  high – a higher price to pay
Better put things right before – you meet your judgement day

Gun Law
Its all we ever talk about
Gun Law
No more
Let’s find something worth living for (living for)
Gun Law
Its all we ever talk about
Gun Law
No more…no more war

Say can you see by the dawns early light
what so proudly hails of bullets cut down in the night
You’d better believe that it’s coming to pass
 Watch the death of nations – while you sit on your ass

Death of child, death of a town
Death of a dream turned upside down
Do you believe that an innocent soul
Should be ripped from a child to achieve your goal?

We must fan the flames of change
Not the flames of hate
Try to reconnect with that-  which made your country great
One child’s life is far too  high – a higher price to pay
Better put things right before – you meet your judgement day

© Words and Music Kev Moore 2012

Still passing the Biscuits…..

Me with Sonny in the KFFA studios, 2010

I’m going to be away in Lanzarote on November 21st. But I wanted to do a post about that date. Because it’s an Anniversary. It will have been SEVENTY-ONE YEARS exactly since King Biscuit Time started broadcasting on that very day in 1941, out of Helena, Arkansas, on the banks of the Mighty Mississippi. presented by Sonny Boy Williamson it also at one time featured the late great Pinetop Perkins in the studio band – a legend I was privileged to meet just a year before his death, in Austin, Texas.

Sonny – still broadcasting loud and clear in September this year

Now clocking in at 16,500+ broadcasts and still going strong, it has been presented by the legendary Sunshine Sonny Payne, 86 years young, since 1951.
When I was on my ‘Blue Odyssey’ to Nashville, Memphis, the Mississippi and beyond in 2010, I dropped into the KFFA studio, located within the Blues museum in ‘beautiful downtown Helena’ and was interviewed by the man himself. The man, the programme, the place, is a legend, and I was privileged to be on his show. Not only that, but he graciously agreed to do a voiceover on my homage to this amazing show – a song I wrote which takes it’s title from Sonny’s catchphrase “Pass the Biscuits!”

With ‘The Two Sonnys’ – by the Mississippi levee at Helena 2010

So here it is, All Instruments and vocals by myself, except drums by my dear friend Stef Cybichowski, and of course, featuring the inimitable Sunshine Sonny Payne – here’s to you Sonny, congratulations on King Biscuit time reaching 71 – here’s to many more!

Kev Moore

The Writing Process…..working on a follow-up to Witch Cross’ 1984 release ‘Fit for Fight’

..we don’t really write it down like this…I don’t even think Mozart wrote ‘Freewheel Burning’ this way….

People often ask me ‘how do you start to write a song?’ Well, there is no one answer.  I’ve written alone for many years, sometimes starting with merely a title, sometimes a few chords, or a melody, even just a sound can set me off on a path that results in a complete song.

When you start factoring in a writing partner, you are often running a risk.  I’ve written with someone else before – Adrian Foster from Tubeless Hearts – and we had a good working relationship. Now, I’m working with Mike Koch, as we put together a hopefully fitting follow up to Witch Cross‘ cult Metal classic ‘Fit for Fight‘.

What made that release so great in my opinion, was the immediacy, the sheer strength, of the songs. That is what we’re faced with emulating if we can.

With the advent of the internet, ‘remotely writing’ has become much easier, and Mike and I have developed a great ‘ping-pong’ style of writing as we bounce the song back and forth across cyberspace, changing and moulding it along the way, until we arrive at a concise demo that we’re both happy with. It’s a great system, because we’re both very honest with each other, keeping true to the genre and style of the band, and recognizing that whatever we do, it has to be for the good of the song.

The band was initially born of the late 70’s/early 80’s ‘New Wave of Heavy Metal’, and while  we are planning to use all that modern production can offer, we are taking care to make sure it remains faithful to that era.  This involves a discipline, because in effect we’re writing in a different time, and you have to put aside influences that may have crossed your path along the way.  I’m enjoying writing this way, because it is very different to how I’ve written songs before. My songwriting is often eclectic – my last solo album encompassed a huge number of styles across 18 songs, and I’ve also written songs in different styles to complement articles on my radio show, but that is not what is called for here. What we’re doing is tapping into the vibe that existed when bands like Saxon, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden first came onto the scene. With that in mind, it was great when, as we toured with Swiss band Gotthard recently, their guitarist Leo commented that Mike and Paul’s guitars in Witch Cross had that ‘Saxon‘ quality – occupying different places in the sound spectrum, but complementing each other perfectly, just like Graham Oliver’s and Paul Quinn’s did on their classic hits.

I think we’re on the right track!  The most important thing, at least from a songwriter’s perspective, is that we’re not drying up, the ideas are coming thick and fast! So roll on 2013, when we’ll unleash the new Witch Cross album on the world, almost 30 years after its predecessor – it’s been a long time comin’!

Kev Moore

First Witch Cross videocast from The Indalo cave!

Yes folks, I’ve ‘gone public’ and posted a new video from my studio here in Almeria province, Spain, giving a sneak preview of a new Witch Cross song  and speaking a little about Metal Magic V. There will be more occasional videocasts such as this one, so keep a look out!

Kev Moore

Mmmmm………..Bassssss!!!!!

The postman always rings twice here in Spain. No , really – he does. He brings the letters and stuff, then he tells me he’ll be back cos he’s got a paqueta in the van for me.

Headless Heaven

So, five minutes later he returns with my new acquisition,  A beautiful  mint condition Fernandes Tomahawk Headless bass from 1987. (see above pic) These beauties came in two versions, one with a maple neck, and one with a graphite neck, the latter being the more expensive, at 115,000 Japanese Yen in the catalogue – that’s around £932 in real money! This one is the Graphite version. I do like variety in my bass collection, and this one fits the bill perfectly.

From the 1986 Fernandes Catalogue

I already have a Fernandes FRB 100 5 string, which I got from Saxon’s Graham Oliver in the early 90’s when Saxon had a deal with the company, and I was working on a couple of things with Graham. I also seem to remember designing a plectrum logo for them too. They are vastly underrated basses in my opinion, and I’m really happy to have added one to my collection – and for a real bargain price too!

My FRB 100 – who now has a friend….

It’s great to receive a secondhand bass that’s clearly been so lovingly cared for, and it sounds superb.

Kev Moore

FLOGIC!

This is normally something I’d post in my Want Some Moore blog, as it is a song I wrote to accompany one of my comedy ‘rants’ that I have the privilege of presenting on Bay Radio. Bay Radio is an English language station with a listenership of over 1 million, that broadcasts along the Spanish costas, from Valencia all the way down to Almeria. I feature twice a week, on The Sunset Strip, Friday nights 9.30pm CET, and The Sunday Brunch, around noon CET. Find out how to listen live by clicking on the icon.

Anyway, the theme for this week is feminine logic, ‘flogic’ for short – and please ladies, don’t kill me, because it’s all very tongue in cheek, and a bit of fun. I really enjoyed writing the track. (If you want to hear the rant too, tune into Bay, or check back on my Want some Moore blog next week, when I’ll put it up on a player)

It’s a funky kind of thing, with a nice bass line, and very choppy staccato guitars, and a lovely contrasting guest vocal from Kay Frances, whose album I produced a few months back.  The guitar ‘solo’  such as it is, was a bit of an experiment, removing the low E and tuning Keith Richard style, and giving it a ‘chordy’ sort of vibe. enjoy!

Kev Moore