Moe Title Moe attacks stage with his own concept of the organic industrial music with tremendous energy. He fills the stage with industrial debris... springs, oil drums, brake drums, bicycle wheels and so on; not to mention sacrificial ceramic items and television sets. He then engages in a long series of furious drum-rolls on every surface in sight for the duration of the performance, in general coming on like a one-man version of Einstuerzende Neubauten or Sharkbait.

People who haven't been following the organic industrial field are mesmerized by the sight of him in action, pounding on flaming alcohol drenched oil drum... and even the more jaded members of the audience come away impressed by his energy and the many touches of creativity he displays throughout the show (He clutches an old rotary dial telephone in each hand, and goes crawling around behind the audience, rapidly banging them against the floor, while the old-fashioned bell ringers clang loudly).

And despite the limitations of the medium he's chosen (solo percussion), he really does manage to produce quite a variety of rhythms and acoustic textures on stage, and definitely keeps things moving

Moe has already performed a number of places around the Bay Area, such as the Dark Circle Lounge at the Hotel Utah in San Francicso, Beanbenders in the Berkeley Store Gallery, and quite frequently at the place to be in Livermore: Basset Books. We can only hope that he'll soon add KZSU to his growing list of radio appearances (Hint: this March, check out "The Day of Noise" on KZSU, during the interim period between academic quarters.)

Moe In addition to his solo percussive work, he was also one of the core members of the group Negativ in Bestimmt along with Dustin Jones, though they've recently agreed to put that project on hold as Dustin concentrates on his more gothic, drone-oriented work with Kill Deer Creek and Moe focuses on his solo performances. Moe is also returning to work as a drummer in his original band, now called The Secret Milk Cabinets of Aaron Burr (when it was formed five years ago, it was called Alternative Sections, though for obvious reasons, they've decided to get away from the word "alternative").

Moe's first 7" vinyl release should be out soon, but for the moment we must be content with his tape releases... which are amazing displays of creativity in their packaging as well as the content. The copy of the Negativ in Bestimmt tape that I own came encased in lead sheet (Implying that this is dangerous music? Well, I always wash my hands after playing it...). In comparison, Moe's solo tape comes in a cloth bag with a draw string (like a set of lost marbles?).

One of the things that interests me about Moe's approach is a somewhat unusual emphasis on positive attitudes. Industrial music is often taken to be a harsh, sinister, negative kind of music, and people interested in it are often only comfortable with things that seem sinister (trust the Voice of Doom on this one, I know what I'm talking about). In comparison: the Negativ in Bestimmt tape bears the logo "- -> +" and flyers for their shows bear the slogan "Stay Positive" on the bottom. The idea seems to be to achieve a positive attitude through the cathartic focus on the negative. He believes that if you feel rage at the state of the world, you can smash the feelings out of you.

Some closing words from Moe himself:

"If you see any of my flyers taped to a taco bell speaker box, read it and come to the show. And keep smashing television sets."

-Voice of Doom

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