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Moderate Rebels


 

Moderate Rebels say it and make it clear in every opportunity, as in the little talk we had with them: They are here to talk only through their music. They don’t care about big words, they want the world to hear them and decide on their own, considering nothing as given. Their absence from the social media (except an account on instagram) is also a way to ignore everything around them, as all ignore their existence too. They don’t think of themselves as a band, but rather as a collectivity in which any of its members can offer musically.

Last but not least or commonly “last but equally important”, the first album of the British came out at the end of 2017. Their debut "The Sound Of Security" came a few months after their first EP named "Proxy" with two of its songs included in the album too. And why Moderate Rebels from London are here? As they themselves say in the little manifesto accompanying their music, trying to prevent our distraction: "The point was to remove ourselves, our beliefs and our intentions as much as possible, just let it happen. It's never been about us, we want to make music that is more important than that ". This self-proclaimed, honorable and striking statement, is really supported within the 13 songs that are featured in their release in digital and CD.

Trying to get rid of themselves and let the music speak, they use their minimal lyrics in a wise way. In the more radio-attractive from all songs, "When the Cost Has No Value", they are politically depicted describing the social division of our time. But, do we lack politicized lyrics? Well, we lack the originality and the insight into placements, which Moderate Rebels seem to have. Personally, in addition to the general post-psych atmosphere, I can hear an early Velvet Underground sound, I also hear alike Kate Tempest revolutionary rhymes and some Stereolab inspired krautrock. The band sings all together, they use few and subtle instruments without any unnecessary impressing noises, while most of their songs are instrumental. This outstanding group of friends with their "arrogant" indifference to what is happening around them, plays this post-rock masterpiece with so much sonic simplicity...

We are already in love with what they do and here is a little chat as we were looking for more details…
 


The Sound Of Security by Moderate Rebels (released 8/12/2017)


 

The Basement: Hello Moderate Rebels ! First of all, thank you for joining us for this interview. Debut LP "The Sound of Security" out in December 2017... What pushed you to do this record?
At first Moderate Rebels was just one song – God Sent Us – which we played live non-stop for 20 minutes. The crowd loved it and doing that was the most important thing. Things grew from there, we didn't try to make a record, it just arrived.     

The Basement: Do you all come from London ? Let us know more about how you guys met and formed the band.
We don't all come from London, no, in fact none of us do – we're from all over England and Scotland. We all came to London to live, some of us 15 years ago, some of us 1 year ago. Some of us met through other bands we were in, some of us met through work, some of us met by falling in love; there's so many of us! We're not really a band, more of a collective – of whoever is free to come to the studio or play the gig. 

The Basement: What does "Moderate Rebels" mean?
We want to know that too – because you do hear the phrase used very casually and frequently in the news and media.

The Basement: Did you really come to ruin our lives?
No, we are your friends; probably. 

The Basement: Who of you writes the music? Tell us more about the writing process.
It's a shared thing; we try to keep everything really simple. Most songs begin as a couple of words on a scrap of paper, and we try not to get much more complicated than that. 

The Basement: Your lyrics somehow attack British politics. Is that right?
In some songs we are upfront, others more ambiguous. We believe there's power in not explaining much, then people might ask questions, and hopefully be encouraged not to never take anything they're told for granted.  

The Basement: Your sound is mostly subtractive. A sonic simplicity adding no special effects, no studio tricks. Tell us more about what you had in mind when recording.
We wanted to keep everything simple, definitely; to allow accidents to happen; we wanted to give people space and time to think. 
 


 

The Basement: Whose idea was the cover of the LP? Does this black and white globe want to tell something?
We do all the designs ourselves. There is definite meaning to the map and there are clues in the lyrics, but we'd love for people to investigate it themselves. We're trying not to explain anything, which doesn't make for a very interesting interview probably, sorry !

The Basement: Is this gonna be printed on wax or CD? (we can't wait!)
It's available to buy on CD now (along with the single and EP) HERE but we'd love to release on vinyl, hopefully soon. 

The Basement: How do you make a living?
Obviously music is not your primary business, at least for now. No, definitely not. But we're always writing phrases on little scraps of paper. 

The Basement: What type of music is the mainstream in England today? What is your feeling?
Honestly, we don't know. We're not the mainstream's 'market', demographic or target audience and we feel good about that. They ignore us, we ignore them – everyone's happy.

The Basement: Is your absence from the social networks an attitude, a way to express yourselves better?
As we don't really want to say very much, it doesn't feel relevant to us. 

The Basement: Are you planning to play any gigs soon?
Yes, we have two gigs coming up in February – 10th at Tooting Tram in London, 24th at the Finsbury in London. More to come very soon.  

The Basement: What are your ambitions for the band?
Possible world domination. 

The Basement: Thank you so very much MO, it was wonderful talking with you. We wish you the best for the future !
Our pleasure, thanks for asking.

 

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