Interview with Moore Ave

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

• Honestly it was definitely our parents that got us into music. Shawn’s dad is an amazing Fiddle player and he has grown up around open jams and traditional Irish tunes. Our parents (Josh, Joe, & Jack) had us learning everything we could about every artist/band that came on the radio and we would frequently be found have family dances around the house while the 5 disc changer was on shuffle!

• If none of us got into music I am pretty sure we would be in some kind of art based career. Shawn is a video/film buff and makes all our music videos so he definitely would be following that forward. Jack is working to become a Personal Trainer and has always been into fitness and activity. Joe would most likely have found a way to make video games a career. And I (Josh) always wanted to be at teacher.

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

• When we aren’t playing music we are usually helping out our community or playing Pokemon and watching cartoons. 3 of us are members of our local Kinsmen Service club and we help put on lots of events fundraiser around our community. I am not really sure how those things affect our creativity, honesty too much screen times between video games and cartoons probably cuts down on creativity more than anything haha!

How long has your band been around?

• We have been playing together since high school. We named ourselves Moore Ave in 2009/10 and have been going strong ever since! We started out playing a lot covers and putting on small shows in our hometown and in 2018 we released our first single “Red” and haven’t looked back since.

Where are you based and how did that influence your music?

• We are based out of Aylmer, Ontario. It’s a small farm town about 40 minutes Southwest of London, Ontario. I don’t think the town itself has really influence our music too much because we aren’t a country group. The town did help create the circumstances around what most of our tunes are written about though. It is actually pretty odd that we have so much support from our town as punk rock isn’t very widely accepted here.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

• We originally went by the name Moore Ave Underground because we live on Moore Avenue and we jam in our basement (Underground). We have recently dropped the “Underground” and just go by Moore Ave. This is what we always refer to ourselves as and also what our friends and fans have always called us. The place we live in has a lot of history for us; it is were we all really grew up, it’s where we all learned to play music, it was a great place for everyone to hangout after school because it was close, and there has been a lot of love and heart break in that place. 85 Moore Ave really shaped who we have become as humans and as musicians.

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

• One of our favourite shows was at a festival our buddy hosts called “Black Out Fest” out of Brantford, Ontario. We got to play right between two of our favourite bands; Like Pacific and Seaway. The crowd was absolutely incredible and the energy was everything we need to put on one of our best sets. There was also one we played this year (2022) at Fallen Leaves Festival; which is a festival another friend of ours host in Strathroy that helps raise funds and awareness for the local indigenous groups. We had our first mosh pit at that show and the whole park we played in was packed! We also got to listen to some really rad independent indigenous artists and meet a lot of rad humans.

• We also host house shows out of our jam space on Moore Ave and almost every single one of those shows have been packed shows with incredible bands. We have such a rad community here that come to the house shows and it just makes the energy so welcoming and addictive.

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

• One of our favourite places to play is Palasad Socialbowl in London, Ontario. Whenever we play there Marty always takes such good care of us and there’s a great local draw. Plus who doesn’t love playing at a venue with bowling, pool, and an arcade?!?

• One of the venues we haven’t played that is a dream venue would be Lee’s Palace in Toronto!

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

• Being on a bill with Seaway, Like Pacific, or Rarity would be so rad! Those are some of our favourite Canadian bands! But we did just write a new record that is coming out in 2023 that was produced by Wade MacNeil from Alexisonfire and we would be super stoked if we could land a bill opening up for them! Maybe toss Moneen on that lineup and it could just be perfect!

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

• The biggest piece of advice we can give is just to jam with your homies and have fun. The more fun you have the more that energy will come out in your tunes and your stage performance!!

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

• Going back in time I think we would advise our younger selves to play more music and less video games!

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

• Of the released tunes; I think the one that means the most is currently our song “Sleeping on the Floor.” It was written about a lot of personal feelings and stuff that I struggle with. Of the unreleased tunes, I think it would have to be “Binge Drinking.” That tune is about some of the struggles I have had with alcohol.

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

• I think one of our favourite tunes to play is an unreleased tune called “Alright.” It’s more of a hardcore tune with a super groovy breakdown and we usually bust it out at the end of a set and really send people into the next band or out for the night with super high energy. It’s a lot of fun to see how it affects the mood at shows!

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

• Josh generally writes the tunes! He tends to write with a lot of introspection and honesty and then brings these tunes to the band and together we come together with some add-on ideas. Then from there, we jam it out until it’s tight enough to play live and then see how our friends and fans like it. If it goes over well then we take it to the studio!

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

• As a group we have a motto: Everybody Love Everybody (ELE). We like to push this forward at all our shows and promote inclusivity and love towards each other. Our songs are about real-life stuff. Love, Heartbreak, Struggle, Loss, Mental Health, & Growth. I don’t think our tunes have a specific message, either way, we just want to play tracks that people can scream sing, and relate to.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

• With 3 brothers in the band, we argue and get on each other’s nerves constantly! We always feel bad for Shawn because he usually just has to sit behind the kit and wait for us to cool off which sometimes never happens. Generally, if we take a little time away from each other we cool off pretty quick and are able to combat the issues with a clear head and heart and move forward.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

• As we said before we are putting out a new record in 2023 called “Turn Around.” We just released a cover of Sublime’s “Santeria”  this November which will be on the tail end of the record and we are planning to have a couple single releases going into the new year with the album dropping in late March if all goes as planned. We had Wade MacNeil produce this record at Camera Varda Studios in Welland Ontario with Ian Romano as our engineer. Kenneth Meehan mixed the record and Kristian Montano mastered it. We will be releasing with the help of our friends who are starting up an Indie Label called Steady Riot Records!

How can your fans best keep up to date with you, any socials you want people to check out?

• Our most active socials are Facebook and Instagram but we are also on Twitter and Tik Tok! We have tunes currently released on all major streaming platforms and a bunch of rad videos on our YouTube channel! Just search “Moore Ave” on anything and we will pop right up!