The six Moosk-ateers

Posted on 4 November, 2016

When you think of colleges in Canberra that have great music programs, Narrabundah is one of the first that spring to mind.

Ten years ago, I went there for that exact reason, and while I didn’t become a successful musician (or even an unsuccessful musician), many did, and many continue to.

Of these, one of the most recent success stories is that of Moosk, a six piece indie/folk rock outfit. Citing influences such as Sticky Fingers, Ball Park Music and Pink Floyd, the band has enjoyed airtime on Triple J, something of a holy grail for young musicians.

“The music we listen to is such a huge contributor to our music,” explains vocalist Ruby Freer. “Each member has quite different music tastes, and often we cover songs that one of us will like and we get inspiration through that. The mixture of all our music tastes really shows in the variety of our music and the covers we sing and this combination is very fun for us to play”.

“Our original music really draws from all the styles we enjoy but the part we most enjoy is making it our own. Creating songs that we have heaps of fun playing is seeing the reactions from the crowd is one of the best parts of being in a band.”

Moosk’s Triple J Unearthed High page features glowing reviews industry professionals such as Gemma Pike, Dave Ruby Howe and Max Quinn – gratifying and encouraging for the sextet, who write their own music.

“The songwriting process really changes for each song,” says Ruby. “Our first original was two of our bandmates writing the lyrics and then they brought it to all of us and we just developed the melody and the combination of all the instruments.”

“For other songs, it’s been a combination of one person having a tune, riff or lyrics and everyone just creating the song around that. We currently have three originals and a few in the works in the making, which we would like to release on an EP soon.”

Moosk will be performing this Friday 4 November from 6pm at the Ainslie Arts Centre as part of Yuddah, and on Saturday evening from 6.15pm – 7pm at the Telopea Park School La Grand Fête. For more information, find them on Facebook.

Images via www.facebook.com/MooskBand