Album Capsules
by Mark E. Waterbury
Lana Lane - Winter Sessions
Click here for the review
Moossa - Get Away
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Steve Grimm - On The Outside Looking In
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The Vacant Halls - 3 song EP
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Kathy Fleischmann - Unresolved
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Waxburn - Hey Hey
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Split Sense - Somber
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Chandler Marks - Feeling Van Gogh
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Robert Farrell Band - Sun House Fury
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Earthshine - 4 song EP
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Crossroads: Lana Lane
by Mark E. Waterbury
Click here
Industry Profile - Ryan Smith - Nashville Regional Manager Artists Relations for Shure Inc.
by Mark E. Waterbury
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Indie Band Spotlight - John Moossa
by Mark E. Waterbury
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Scott Turner's Song Publisher's Perspective
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Music Biz Opportunities
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Music Industry Marketing Showcase
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Copyright 2004 by Music Morsels, a Serge Entertainment Publication.
Editor: Sandy Serge
Contributing Columnists/Writers:
Mark E. Waterbury, Scott Turner
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 TM© May 2004
Indie Band SpotlightBy Mark E. Waterbury
 ARTIST NAME: John Moossa
MUSICAL GENRE:Folk rock with jam and reggae influences
BIRTHPLACE: Worchester, Massachusetts
CURRENT RESIDENCE:Richmond, Virginia
YEARS INMUSIC BIZ:5years
WEB SITE: http://www.moossa.com
CDS SOLD:3,000
FAN BASE SIZE: approx. 1500 on mailing list
MM:What really pushed you in the direction of becoming a professional musician?
JM: When I was in high school, I played my first gig when I was sixteen opening for the Del Fuegos. It was on a professional stage with monitors and big stacks of speakers and that was a big teaser for me. Then, in college, I played in an excellent band and I can honestly say that I was one of the weaker musicians in the band. I hadn't developed my voice and I wasn't writing anything near what I am writing now. That was really my first taste of how you could play places and people would come out to see you and you can be part of that ball of energy that develops between you and the audience. I was sure of what I wanted to do after that. It just took me awhile to get to the point where I could do it. I moved to Richmond and became a father and everything was on a shelf for awhile, but there came a time that I knew I couldn't put it off anymore. So I put some money together and started recording my first album.
MM: Your first CD "Last Night" was a DIY album. What did you do just to get your name out there?
JM: I did some playing out but it was mostly in Richmond. Actually in 2002, I quit my job the day after my second son was born. Then I spent the next six months trying to book the band. I got on the internet and made about a hundred calls a day to any possible place that was playing this type of music. It was crazy and it took a long time, but after that I had a full schedule for the rest of the year. We started with about fifteen shows in Massachusetts, but it just took a lot of persistence on the telephone and internet.
MM: Once you were out there performing, were people locking on the music, and did your fan base start to grow right away?
JM: Yeah, especially with this line up now that is Moossa, and we've been together for about five years now. Our shows are the type that as we go through the show people get more and more into it and by the end of the night they are just captivated.
MM: When you released your second and latest CD "Get Away", how did your plans to market that release differ from "Last Night"?
JM: One difference is this time I actually had a strategy for marketing the CD, where with "Last Night" we just sold it at shows, even though it sold well because of all the shows we did. With "Get Away", as soon as we got the first pressing, we sent about a hundred copies out to publications, and we continue to send it out. We've got a lot of reviews in publications and e-zines, and then we also had a radio campaign. One place that reviewed it that really helped was Performing Songwriter. We heard from promoters and our publicity firm from that review. With our publicity firm we have been able to increase our national attention, and even had a little interest from stations in Europe. Another thing I have found out and try to keep up with is e-mailing the mailing list, that is the best way to keep up with the fans.It's kind of fun to be at this level where we see it continuing to grow.
MM: Tell us a bit about how your songwriting process goes.
JM: Some of the songs are a collaboration, and most of those are written by Ryan Davis (bass) and Jim Fabricatore (guitar). They've had some good collaborations. Personally I write most of my songs by myself without much collaborating. Usually when I'm down, I write my best music and I have trouble writing lyrics to other people's music because for me, it's all coming from my experiences. When I write a song it is about eighty percent finished when I bring it to the band and then they add arrangements or sections to it.
MM: So your lyric writing comes from life experiences, and subjects that are important to you or inspire you?
JM: Yes, for example "New War" was written right after 9/11. I was looking at this whole propaganda of this new war against terrorism that was so deceiving. People were getting carried away, and I don't like the way America's international policy is going right now. It tears me up a little bit and it's the kind of thing that gets me to write a political song like that. I write songs about love, relationships and my family as well.
MM: What is the feedback you get from your fans as to what they like best about your music?
JM: They like the variety and they all like different songs. I enjoy the fact that we are versatile and can appeal to the different tastes and feelings that people have. Even with our covers we really hit home. When you go to a new market sometimes, you have to win the crowd over by playing a familiar song and kicking it pretty hard.
MM:Do you find that when you go back to those markets people want to hear your originals rather than your covers?
JM: Oh yeah. We were down at the University of North Carolina last Friday and we had a couple that comes to see us almost everywhere we play in North Carolina. They are a bit older than the students there, and they were up dancing and singing along to all of our originals. They knew the words to all the songs. That was really cool.
MM: Do you feel that you have achieved some level of success with your music, and what type of further levels of success would you like to see?
JM: I do believe that I have seen a certain level of success. We have put out two albums that have received critical acclaim and have personally touched people. The responses that I get when people come up to me and tell me that a song really hit home, that is success. Success is also that I have wanted to do this since I was a young kid and I am doing it. We are starting to travel more through several states and we have an ever growing market. We are constantly improving our live act by the sheer number of concerts we play. We would like to see ourselves make a comfortable living through music and to get where we wouldn't have to work other jobs, and then maybe perform throughout the world. We also would like to be able to use music to raise money for charities or go in and play concerts in hospitals...if I can achieve monetary comfort for me and my family and then be able to give out to others through the music, that would be success.
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