MOSSOM
Cleveland, Ohio, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2015 | SELF
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Band of the Week: Mossom
By Jeff Niesel
MEET THE BAND
David Allen Moss (vocals, bass), Russ Herbert (drums)
RURAL ROOTS
Moss grew up in Amish country in Geauga County. He went to Rochester to go to trade school but then moved back to Northeast Ohio in 1999 and played in the New Lamonts, a jazz-funk band. "It taught me a lot about improv," he says. "I even learned to do improv vocals. I think a lot of musicians are afraid of that." After working at Beachwood Studios for six years and jamming with the musicians who would hang out there, Moss put Mossom together in Chardon, where he was born. At the time, the band included a guitarist and Herbert, who had been drumming in a local ska party band Pirates of the Burning River. In 2015, the two started writing together and set up shop in Herbert's A-Bear Studio. Most of their early catalog of songs were written mere minutes away from the area where the Moss family settled in the early 1700s. A former minor league pitcher, Herbert plays with "an undeniable athleticism" and counts the Police's Stewart Copeland and Dave Matthews Band's Carter Beaufort as inspirations. "I've been in power trios and you hear that juxtaposition of the guitar and bass," Moss says, "but I bring both to the band. It's licks and riffs."
THE WORLD'S SMALLEST MARCHING BAND
Moss has referred to the group as "The World's Smallest Marching Band." "I was in college and high school marching band. When I realized that some of our tracks have this march to them, it made it kind of funny. I can't help myself. We thought it would be great to put a little horn section together."
WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR THEM
Produced and mastered by locally based multi-platinum veteran, Michael Seifert, the band's debut EP delivers what Moss describes as "an authentic, broad-shouldered blend of indie-meets-progressive rock." The EP commences with the menacing "No Fomo," a song that features some Neil Peart-like drum fills and sputtering vocals. The Rush-like "Levels" offers a warning about the consequences of global warning as Moss sings in a near falsetto over a snappy bass riff. "I'm not afraid of prog-rock," says Moss. "I think it rides that line. It's a little more tangible, and it's just rock really. I feel like it fits in with rock bands like the Dead Weather."
WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THEM
mossom.band
WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM
Mossom performs with Dead East Garden and DePrator/Kearns at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 29, at the Beachland Tavern. - Cleveland Scene Magazine
Discography
MOSSOM
Forthcoming Self-Title Debut EP *
- Levels
- No FOMO
- Stick in the Eye
- Drifter
- TOAD
- Treebox
All songs written and performed by MOSSOM
http://mossom.band
Produced & Engineered by Michael Seifert
http://michalseifert.com
©2015 MOSSOM // RUSSUR LTD
®All Rights Reserved
Recorded in Cleveland, Ohio
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Bio
Debut MOSSOM EP Sets the Pace – Released December 21, 2015
Cleveland, Ohio - January 12, 2016 MOSSOM sets the pace with an inspired mix of anthems on their self-titled debut EP, released December 21, 2015 on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, and more.
“What… no guitar player?” laughs David Allen Moss, bass-vocalist for Cleveland’s emerging original rock duo.
Moss has referred to the bass and drum phenom as “The World’s Smallest Marching Band,” on occasion, but as the once Big Ten bandsman illuminates, there’s nothing small about their sound. Produced and mastered in Cleveland by multi-platinum veteran, Michael Seifert, MOSSOM’s EP delivers a broad-shouldered blend of indie-meets-progressive rock.
The two-piece recently performed at The Foundry in Lakewood, and is scheduled to appear at Wilbert’s Music and Food this Friday. Tickets are available online for both the 1/15/16 Wilbert’s show, and MOSSOM’s CD Release Show, scheduled for 1/29/16 at the Beachland Ballroom and Tavern in Cleveland’s Waterloo Arts District.
As the band’s lyricist, Moss takes his writing roots to task with each track on their spirited EP. Marrying an arresting vocal style with hopeful urgency, he mixes the occasional palindrome with sarcastic 70’s nostalgia, weaving in themes of modern dystopia and the earnest struggle for self. Replete with innovative bass riffs reminiscent of Geddy Lee and Mike Watt, the EP conjures a survivalist message that climbs higher with every listen.
The band’s headlong flight is powered by Russ Herbert’s dynamic drumming. The former minor league pitcher brings an undeniable athleticism and craft to his playing, after nearly a decade on the mound. A fanboy of The Police’s Stewart Copeland and Dave Matthews Band’s Carter Beauford, Herbert’s adventurous arrangements grip the road like a chopper screaming down the I-90 Shoreway.
In every way, MOSSOM brings a refreshing brand of storytelling, musicianship and presence to their performances. In the tradition of a growing cast of groundbreaking rock duos from the Midwest, Moss and Herbert follow in the footsteps of bands like the Black Keys and Mr. Gnome, delivering a distinct resonance all their own.
MOSSOM Rises Up from the Roots
The band came together in rural Chardon, Ohio, where Moss was born, after a chance meet-up at the House of Blues in 2010. This was all years after Herbert and Moss’ wife grew up in and around the same sleepy neighborhood of Mentor, Ohio.
“I thought, who is this spaz?” says Herbert, who was drumming in ska party band, Pirates of the Burning River, at the time. It was wasn’t until 2015 that the two decided to push ahead as a duo, as Herbert explains. “We were having a tough time finding a guitarist, when a friend suggested trying to make the duo work, a la Royal Blood.”
For Moss, who’d returned to Ohio after a decade of performing in other power trios he fronted (Katzenjammer, Godboy), setting up shop in Herbert’s back woods studio was serendipitous. In fact, most of MOSSOM’s early catalog was written and composed a stones throw away from the township where the Moss family had settled in the early 1700s.
“There is something special and improvisational about the music we’re making now. We’ve got a half dozen new songs already in the works, since moving into new rehearsal space on Waterloo last Fall. We can’t wait to share them with the World,” says Moss.
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