This week’s edition of New Music Monday’s focuses on an Athens, Georgia, based artist named Marshall Moore, but better known as “the quiet pack.” This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
VM: Tell us about your project.
Marshall: My conception for the quiet pack was that it would be a slow-jams oriented music project. Not exclusively slow in tempo, necessarily, but somewhere in line with the tradition of music to put on when things get steamy. That’s where the ‘steam’ in the EP steam zone comes from. I sort of like the idea of music that feels like a place you can go to. The way I do that, which is sort of a hacksaw way of going about it, is that most of my songs take place in some sort of distinct setting. So I knew that I wanted the name of the project to be vaguely geographical. ‘zone’ seemed like the most fun location-based word I could find.
VM: Did you have any previous experience with music before starting this project?
Marshall: Yeah, I have been doing music stuff in some sort of capacity for several years. Before the quiet pack, I had a rap project called Hairy Confucius. that project was more consciously goofy I guess, not that the current one necessarily isn’t, but you know. I pursued that for a while until retiring it in December of last year. A friend of mine actually hosted a funeral house show which was probably the most fun show I’ve done. Everyone wore black and it was my last show under that name. I don’t know, this certainly isn’t unique to me but sometimes it just feels kind of necessary to obliterate some creative thing you’ve done. I just felt like it was time for a new project! Other than that, I stay making music pretty much constantly, but most of it is for process rather than product. for the purpose of getting better at stuff rather than orienting towards a release.
VM: What is the writing/music making process usually like?
Marshall: For this project, I spent a lot of time making a whole lot of instrumentals. When I made one that I really liked, I’d move on to writing the lyrics for a new song.
VM: Who are your biggest musical influences?
Marshall: This is a tough question because I feel like many of the artists I look to the most don’t tend to show themselves very much in my music. Loose Ends are huge for me, Sylvia Robinson, and Smokey Robinson as well. I look heavily to The Beach Boys, especially Smiley Smile and definitely a lot of Europe [music] – O-Zone, Vengaboys, Scatman John, things in that field.
VM: Tell us about your EP “steam zone”
Marshall: steam zone is my debut EP. For my first project I wanted to release something where I do everything from start to finish. So on steam zone, I made all the instrumentals, recorded all vocals, mixed everything, etc. I plan on collaborating more on future projects, but I wanted to come out the gate w/ something that was fully me. It features some fast-paced slow-jams and some friend anthems.
VM: If you could go on tour with any artist who would it be and why?
Marshall: I’d go with Soulja Boy because I’ve never gotten the chance to see him live and if I went on tour with him I’d get to see him like 20 times.
VM: Last album you bought?
Marshall: I think it was Bad Girls by Donna Summer.
[tps_header]Listen to the EP HERE[/tps_header]
[tps_header]UPCOMING SHOWS:[/tps_header]
December 1st @ Caledonia Lounge in Athens, Georgia
[tps_title]FOLLOW HIM ON SOCIAL MEDIA:[/tps_title]
[tps_header]Check out what Marshall is currently listening to!![/tps_header]
- Pop Weirdos – Alcudia
- VHS Collectors Club – Stay
- Warehouse – Audrey Horne
- Young Thug – Kanye West (ft. Wyclef Jean)
- Crazy Frog – Crazy Frog Sounds
- Rae Sremmurd – Swang
- Brian Eno – St. Elmo’s Fire
- Stacey Q – Two of Hearts