10 Questions

Back with another entry in this long-running fav'. I'm always excited when someone acquiesces to the idea of letting us pick their brain for the "shape of the elphant" on their side of the room.

Hailing from Providence, Rhode Island, their own local pundits have described them thusly:

" Fans of darling indie folk like Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver or our own Death Vessel should get themselves down the 201 tonight for Moga, whose deftly layered and beautifully played songs cover lots of bases from the above mentioned to the more esoteric stuff of Brian Eno and the Flaming Lips." (Providence Daily Dose)

Today's guest is Greg Mallozzi of MOGA!



I came to find out about them via "happy accident" as is sometimes the case; friend & fellow DJ Baron Saturday of Plastic Tales From The Marshmallow Dimension played a track by them a few weeks ago due, as I recall, to their being in NYC for a show. Did some digging, found 'em, wrote 'em, and here we are!

So, let's on with this, shall we?

1. In ten words-or less, define "psychedelic music."
Type of music that makes your mind wander.

2. What is the most psychedelic instrument, why?
The guitar. There is alot you can do with it, with or without effects. Synth's and other keyboards, etc have different effects built in where you can just hit a key or button and play something really psychadelic, but certain players can make the guitar produce psychadelic sounds without pedals or anything else.

3. Favorite psychedelic album of all time?
A standard- Dark Side Of The Moon- Pink Floyd. Many other greats, but this always surpasses all in my eyes.




4. What song or album that wouldn't fall into the classic "psych" definition is, nevertheless, psychedelic to you?

I think The Beach Boys fall into this. Even though some of their albums around the Smiley Smiley time were really experimental, I still always felt a lot of it was really psychadelic. The weaving of backing vocals and the organ always struck me to be psychadelic......even Pet Sounds to some extent.




5. What was the first song or album you remember listening to in an 'altered' state? (*"altered" does not imply illegal.)

I think it was the Allman Brothers "Ramblin' Man". I remember finding a cassette tape in the road one time with this song on it. Had no idea who the band even was. I remember listening to it and being really weirded out because I had never heard anything like that before, ever. I remember I listened to it over & over again just trying to piece together why I thought it was such a great sounding song. There are a bunch of others, but I always remember this one for some reason, and I think I was maybe 8 or 9 years old.

6. Who are some of your favorite bands working within the "psychedelic" genre right now?

Dead Meadow is a big one for me. They seem to be bringing back that old Cream sound more so than a lot of other bands. I've always loved the Flaming Lips, but I can't really think of any else. I'm sure there is a lot more.




7. Is there anything you've been listening to that makes you want to let everyone else know about it?

The Great Vibration. A band out of Philly. Good friends of Moga and just a great band. They incorporate everything that good music should be.

8. What are the qualities, as self-defined, which makes Moga's music "psychedelic"?

I think we used to experiment & jam a lot with synth's and other stuff which always seemed really psychadelic. We couldn't really define the music we played back in the day, it always just naturally seemed experimental and psyhadelic, partly because we didn't know what we were doing. Now, I think we incorporate that into actual structured songs without even knowing it. Were so immuned to playing that kind of stuff it just comes through, even if were trying to write a country song.

9. Top Ten Psychedelic Songs?

1. Pink Floyd- Dark Side Of The Moon
2. The Beatles- Sgt. Pepper
3. Pink Floyd- A Saucerful Of Secrets
4. Troyka- Troyka
5. Yes- Yes
6. Camel- Music Inspired by the Snow Goose
7. Grateful Dead- Aoxomoxoa
8. Moon- Without Earth & The Moon
9. Paul McCartney- RAM
10. Cream- Disreali Gears



10. Turn the tables, if you'd like, and ask me a question:
Greg: What are your top 10 albums?
-valis: Albums..? OK, off the top of my head & in no order whatsoever as this list will change in approximately thirty minutes (or less.)

The Pretty Things - SF Sorrow
The December Sound - Self-titled
Asteroid #4 - These Flowers Of Ours...
The Purrs - The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of
The Motion Pictures - All We Have Is Everyone
The Soundtrack of Our Lives - Extended Revelation For The Psychic Weaklings Of Western Civilization
The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Zerfas - Self-titled
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Give It Back!

There you go Greg! Thanks for participating and best to MOGA on the road to SXSW!
(Check out their Bandcamp page here.)