Oxford music magazine Nightshift’s monthly guide to the best local music bubbling under (from the August 2017 issue)
Who are they?
Moogieman is Shan Sriharan, plus his Masochists: Claire LeMaster (keys); Vincent Lynch (bass), and Stefano Maio (drums/guitar), plus part-time member Clare Heaviside (saxophone).
It began as a solo acoustic project for Shan before he recruited Vincent on electronic drums at an improv night. Claire was recruited at Catweazle Club in 2014 at which point The Masochists were born. After a string of demos the band opened the Oxford Punt in 2016 and last month released their debut, `Girls & Film’, a concept album about analogue photography on All Will Be Well Records.
What do they sound like?
They describe themselves as “psychedelic geek pop with synthesizers and drum machines,” which sums it up neatly. Shan’s idiosyncratic but heartfelt vocals bring to mind Syd Barrett at times; there’s a stripped-down, wayward post-punk spirit about the sound, while his obscurist’s eye for lyrical subject matter can take the songs into the realms of QI via Photography Monthly and Mark E Smith’s strangest acid flashbacks.
What inspires them?
“People who do totally off-the-wall things: from a guy I knew at an open mic who made it a rule to go on with absolutely no idea of what he was going to do, to Ernst Toller, a poet and playwright who commanded the militia of the Bavarian Socialist Republic in 1919 against an attacking force of proto-fascist government-backed shock troops because he was the only
one around willing to do it, winning a resounding victory.”
Career highlight so far:
“The reception of our first album `Girls and Film’, released in June. Nightshift and BBC Introducing have been very supportive. Most of all, musicians who I really respect have said some lovely, insightful things about it.”
And the lowlight:
“Playing a solo gig at a strip club in Reading. The punters seemed pretty impatient and strangely unimpressed with my witty lyrical musings.”
Their favourite other Oxfordshire act is:
“Crandle. Like being in a film joint directed by John Hughes and David Lynch: comforting, glamorous and deeply unsettling at the same time.”
If they could only keep one album in the world, it would be:
“`Chips From The Chocolate Fireball’ by The Dukes Of Stratosphear: a reminder of all the different sub-genres of the late 60s.”
When is their next local gig and what can newcomers expect?
“There’s ones in the pipeline for September but the next confirmed gig is Klub Kakoffaney on the 3rd November at the Wheatsheaf. By then I’m not even sure what to expect: more synths and more shouting, perhaps.”
Their favourite and least favourite things about Oxford music are:
“Favourite thing is Smash Disco, the hardcore/punk/new-wave gig night at the Library. In a fairly unpropitious venue the promoters have created a high-energy, inclusive atmosphere where pretty much anything goes. Least favourite: there’s so much exciting, innovative, diverse stuff going on you’re always having to tell your friends you can’t make their shows because there’s three other things on you have to see.”
You might love them if you love:
Magnetic Fields; Momus; early Pink Floyd; The Human League; Olivia Tremor Control; Television Personalities
Hear them here:
moogieman.bandcamp.com
Tags: interview, Nightshift