Mokshah

Mokshah (Liam front centre) - Photo by Steve Fisher

Hello, how are you?
Ey-up – I’m alright.

Can you tell me how the band got together?
Stefan Scally, the bassist, met us all individually over the last couple of years, usually at open mic nights or parties and decided in his head he was going to form a band. Plus Claudia, one of our three lead vocalists, is his missis. One day he got us all together in his smelly student room and went, 'You are the band!'

Where are you originally all from?
I’m a Notts lad through and through duck, raised all over. The other Notts members are Declan, the drummer, from Carlton, Josh, the lead guitarist, from Netherfield and Jules, the Djembe player, from Bingham. Claudia, Stefan and Natasa are from Italy, Northern Ireland and Serbia, respectively.

How would you describe the music that you make?
It’s a tricky one to be honest, mate…Rock with punk, hip hop and folk and…stuff

It’s an unusual name, where does it come from and what does it mean?
We sat round for hours during a practice once and wrote tons of names on a scrap of paper, some really shit ones like Temple of Black or Bear Bicycles! Then Claudia’s mate chirped up with Mokshah, apparently it means breaking free from the cycles of death and rebirth, it’s Sanskrit. It stuck straight away.

There’s not much about the band on the internet, how can people listen you your music?
We’re working on a better web presence right now. We want to promote our upcoming album, although so far we haven’t finished producing the professional recording. But for now, if people search YouTube for ‘Mokshah’, definitely with an ‘h’ at the end, then some of our stuff comes up…Somewhere! It is mainly us practicing and sometimes without all members, so it's not that representative, but it gives a flavour of what we do. It's pretty raw, man. We’re also on Facebook with similar tracks on the wall.

How does the songwriting work?
Myself, Stefan, Claudia and Natasa have all written songs for the band. Josh has played a few tunes on guitar that I’ve spat out lyrics for, like Blow Me Away or You’re Better On Your Own. He is a skilled guitarist and still only 16. Essentially, we all do it and buzz off each other’s talents. Claudia is particularly talented with an amazing voice, real ghost-like and haunting. She wrote Gravity and Sound, both beautiful tracks.

You recently played the LeftLion New Year’s eve gig. How was that for you?
It’s was brilliant. Well done to all involved. We love playing The Maze and personally we like doing ought for Will ‘I’m Not From London’ Robinson, because he gave us our first decent break, and I’ve read and loved LeftLion since it was born and will represent for life - ya get meh?! They pull a good crowd. All the other bands were shit hot and I personally enjoyed Hot Japanese Girl going mental and throwing their equipment about and pissing the bouncers off. The crowd loved it ‘an all.

What’s been the best gig you’ve played in Nottingham?
That’s another hard one…Alley Café for Wire and Wool festival is up there, plus our Glastonbudget festival audition went really well in terms of sound and support. Claudia also loves the first gig we did at The Chameleon for our friend JD, that's special to us all though, I guess.

Have you had any nightmare performances?
We usually arrive at a venue minus a microphone or an amp or something for the drums and end up borrowing stuff, but we’ve genuinely not played to an empty room yet. Although at the Horse and Jockey in Arnold there was just the promoter, his missis, the landlord and one drunk guy at the bar who I think was on the run from loyalist paramilitaries. We sounded great though.

You always seem to be having fun on stage, what’s going through your head when playing live?
Usually, I’m thinking, “I’m dressed in a skirt/dress/wig..oh fuckin’ ‘ell, what am I doing?”
But most of the time we’re all buzzing off the music we’re making. We feel our tunes are impossible not to dance to.

You are still a relatively new band, do you find the city supportive of your music?
Yeah we are getting love from all over Notts, from promoters, especially aforementioned Will Robinson, Gaz and Steph at the Maze and other bands are liking us and relationships are being formed for future gigs. Also Roger 'the gig goer', he's been loving us since our first performance.

What other music coming out of Nottingham at the moment do you like?
Me personally, I like Spittin Inc who played with us at Wire and Wool Festival, they are fresh and raw and the lead singer is cool as fuck and really friendly. We also love Vinolent, because they do that Noise Punk thing, and they're also our mates. I like Hot Japanese Girl, Joe Paris. Fists, Flaming Fields. Notts has loads of talent! Oh and not to forget PeteBox…That Kids cover is mind blowing, the video on YouTube is fucking addictive! Shout out to Nina Smith as well.

What do you like to do on a night out in Nottingham?
We enjoy doing open mic nights, at the Jam Café, The Golden Fleece, The Hubb, The Running Horse and Hotel Deux. It’s perfect for practicing and trying out new songs plus meeting some of the other Notts bands and promoters and other grafters on the scene. Jam Cafe on Wednesday's is best, in my opinion.

If you could play with any other musician, who would it be and why?
Personally I’d say Daman Albarn, simply because he is a solid songwriter and explores genres, which I think quality song writers should try and do as much as possible.

What was the first record that you ever bought?
Guns and Roses, Use Your Illusions 1, I was 10 or 11 years old. Perfect Crime is my favourite track off that album.

Can you tell me a secret?
I once un-noosed a guy who was hanging himself. We were both glad I saved him.

What are the band’s plans for the rest of 2012?
Bring out our debut album which we’re working on with Phil Booth @ J T Soar Studios in Sneinton, get booked for as many festivals and gigs as possible and harass someone mental and able enough into becoming our manager. We wanna hit other cities and towns, too, to try and build a fan base. 

Any final words for the LeftLion readers?
Two things: Keep it LeftLion, or else! And come to one of our gigs, please. We want to give you a great time.

Mokshah play with LiMn, The Conifers and Dodos Aren't Dead at The Maze on Monday 13 February 2012.

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