After achieving success with his previous band, Natives, McKinley Moore and pals started a new psychedelic rock band, The Wrists. They play a record release show Haymarket Whiskey Bar on Friday, January 16. Moore caught me up on their antics.
What happened with Natives?
We got to do some great things: made a record I’m proud of, got invited to SXSW without applying, we were personally picked by Graham Lewis to open for Wire. It was some serious life goal type shit. But we went through some lineup changes and hadn’t managed to write a new song in a year. So creatively, it seemed to have run its course. And honestly, how long can you be in a band with three guitar players? That said, those guys are some of the best friends I have in the world. I guess that is why 3/5 of us decided to switch things around and start another band. I moved from guitar to bass. Jason Sparks is still playing guitar and Matt Filip switched from guitar/vocals to drums. About a week after the last Natives show, we got together with (guitarist) Colin Kellogg and it seemed to click pretty immediately.
The Wrists are releasing a new cassette tape. Haven’t you heard that vinyl might be making a comeback?
Gotta stay ahead of the curve! Vinyl is 100% back. Tapes are next! We wrote and recorded that record very quickly and wanted to release it in the same manner. And it just so happened that our friends JC Denison and Matt Dodds decided to start a cassette tape label, AuralgamiSOUNDS, and were willing to make us their first release (other than JC’s stuff he has been putting out under the same name for years). I know not everyone has a tape player these days, but cassette tapes are cheap, quick and a very good way to get people a digital download but still give them an object that they can hold in their hands. And I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. Jesse Lucas did such a great job with the artwork!
You’re playing with A7A and Cher Von. What do you like about each of them?
I have never seen two A7A shows that were the same, and I have never seen one that wasn’t amazing. It’s incredibly refreshing to see a show that consists of an entirely new composition. JC (Denison) is a musical force and I’m so glad to have him back in town. And there are so many of my favorite musicians performing with him that night: Dane Waters, Scott Carney, Drew Miller, Drew English, Cheyenne Mize… The list goes on, and it is ridiculous. I am sure they will be setting the bar absurdly high for us to follow. I just hope that we will be able to steal some of them for our own performance.
And I caught a set from Cher Von at Decca recently. I had never heard her before. She is the real deal. It’s like all the talent and ability that you see with TuneYards, except with the added bonus that I actually enjoy listening to it. I can’t wait to see her set.
How do you feel about the Louisville music scene at this moment in history?
Oh man, I couldn’t feel better. I’ve been inspired by all the growth I’ve seen among people in my age group … And I could probably talk to you for an hour about how great I think the young kids are right now. White Reaper are so good, and so are the Debauchees. I’m so happy that kids are picking up instruments and playing things that I love. There was definitely a minute where I thought every person in that generation was gonna grow up to be a DJ - no disrespect meant to DJ’s.
And I can’t talk about Louisville’s music scene without mentioning Cropped Out. I look forward to punk rock summer camp every year … Honestly, I probably would have moved by now if it weren’t for the music scene. There are definitely better places I could go to focus on being a glass artist. I have passed up several opportunities because I have found the idea of leaving my friends and this music scene behind incomprehensible. It really is a special place.
c. 2015 The Voice-Tribune
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