YouthQuake, Friday, 22 December 2000


A date with the Moffatts

Much More MOFFATTS!

ON winning our "Best Questions For the Moffatts" contest, YQ readers Farah Fauzana Zainul Kamar, Ng Ching Lee, Nur Khadijah Ramlan, Elizah Adam, Kanchana Rajendra and Tan Hung Keith got to interview their idols together with our DIONNE BAIN. Things wen treally swell and our delighted fans got much , much more than they expected.

BEING buried under a pile of contest entries and having to pick out winners was not the most exciting thing to do on a hot Tuesday afternoon.
Nevertheless, YouthQuake managed to sort through the stack, unearthing colourful an dcreative entries, to choose th elucky six people who wouls get the chance of a lifetime to interview The Moffatts.
The Canadian siblings - Clint, Scott, Bob and Dave - were in Malaysia to promote their latest album, Submodalities. The contest gave Farah Fauzana Zainul Kamar, Ng Ching Lee, Nur Khadijah Ramlan, Elizah Adam, Kanchana Rajendra and Tan Hung Keith, the oppurtunity to meet, greet and interview the guys.
When we (the winners and this writer) got to the JW Marriott hotel in Kuala Lumpur to meet the brothers, we had to brave the hordes of fans waiting in the lobby, so as to get to the elevators.
The Malaysian Moffatts Fans (MMF) were out in full force armed with banners, MMF tags and their own Moffatts' t-shirts.
All our efforts paid of when we finally saw them and found out that fame has not gone to their heads. They were obliging and charming to the end.
Wanna know more about them? Read on.

Q: Do you spend time on the Internet viewing fan sites and anti-Moffatts sites? What do you think of them?
A: We do sometimes surf the Net and come across some Moffatts fan sites. We think they're really cool. But it's funny because the most interesting sites are usually the anti-Moffatts ones.
They put so much work into putting up special graphics and effects that if you actually think about it, they have to be fans beacuse they're willing to spend so much time on it.
We appreciate all web sites because any form of publicity is good. We don't sign message boards though, so you'd never know if we have actually been to your site.

Q: On your website, you keep an on-line diary. Why?
A: We thought that fans would like to know what we are up to. It's just a way of keeping the fans on track.

Q: How did it feel to be the opening act for Limp Bizkit and how was the crowd's response to your music?
A: It was bizarre and we played right before Beck and Moby. We took the Bloodhound Gangs' place because they cancelled at the last minute. The audience was wild and it was a great experience.
We gained confidence that night - that we could go on stage with all these other bands and still get the same response from the crowd.

Q: You may very well be gaining more fans, especially with your new image and a rockier edge to your music. However, you could also be losing fans because of this. Comment please?
A: Some fans are growing musically with us. And there are those who bought Chapter 1 (first album) that may or may not have changed their musical influences.
But we're always trying to build our fan base to include older fans, male and female. Thus the new album.
Submodalities is not a phenomenal record. It's more like a transitional record where sales don't sky-rocket but start at the bottom. We hope it'll help us build a hardcore fan base who will stay with us for may years and respect our music.

Q: What's the story behind the song, Spy, in your new album?
A: Spy was written in England and at that time, we weren't feeling too happy. When I'm (Scott) feeling like that, lyrics just flow out of me. That song was written in 30 to 45 minutes.
It's basically about you looking back at yourself and not being too happy with what you see. We want the fans to know that we feel the same sometimes but you may not like what you see one day and when you look at the next day, you might love what you see.

Q: Do any of you carry good luck charms?
A: Well, we all have these little charms (Clint lifts out the pendant on the end of his chain) which we wear all the time. But we don't really think that luck is everything.
We believe that if you want to get anything in life, you have to work hard at it. In producing an album, there is luck involved if you consider the timing when it's released but you've got to believe in what you do and work hard to get there.

Q: Which one of you is most likely to survive the outdoors?
A: Scott! He's an outdoorsy kind of guy and loves challenges but he can't stand the heat. He's fine with snow and cold weather but it's too much for him when it's hot.
Clint loves the sun so he likes places where he can get a tan. Dave is the 'wussiest' guy... he wouldn't survive anywhere for even a day!

Q: Do you have anything special on your Christmas wish list this year?
A: We haven't really thought about what we want for Christmas.We'd like to get a pool table as a family present. We haven't been home for six months so it's great that we're taking a three-week break to be home this year. And it's really nice to know that people are still listening to our records and enjoying our music.

Q: What's the weirdest banner anyone has ever brought to one of your shows?
A: We've had some very crazy banners like 'Ride Me Bob' and there were a lot worse. You know the Blink 182 video with the Backstreet Boys? Well some one had the exact banner as tee one in the video, it said 'Travis, I'm Pregnant'. But Bob always get the crazy ones. Crazy girls just loves drummers!

Tell us about your stand on the mp3.com and Napster issue.
A: Napster has obviously ruined a lot of people's careers. Giving out free music might be good for some people but you have to stop and think of the people who depend on that music fro a living.
We don't have a side job when we get back home. So if our music is given away for free, we won't be able to pay our bills. I (Scott) hope they shut down or pay a monthly fee. This way, we'll make money.
We're big supporters of mp3.com because they charge 60 cents per download. Musicians, songwriters and the label make money, which is important in this business.

Q: Are you aware that there are fan sites with your songs in the background? And people can actually download the music?
A: Our recommendation for the fans if tehy want what's best for us and the band is that they buy our music. Musicians can go out and have shows or whatever to make money but it isn't the same thing with songwriters. The profits of our sales are partially for the songwriters and they have no other source of income unless they write for other bands.

Q: Do you actually read the fan mail which you get?
A: We try to read as many letters as we can and we're grateful for all the supportwe've been getting. Most of our mail is sent to our fan clubs which we have in each country and they pass the messages to us. Our fans are great. They would go around town promoting our music as if it were their own band!

Q: What about gifts?
A: We get tonnes of gifts and when we can, we take them back with us. We appreciate everything that our fans give us. In Indonesia, we got more than 2,000 gifts and had to charter a plane to take it all back with us!
We usually give away our teddy bears to charities, hospitals or people in need. We always tell our fans that instead of spending all their money on gifts for us, spend it on someone who needs it.

Q: You've all had changes in your image and appearance. What can fans expect next?
A: (Sott starts grinning) I think I'm going to grow a beard! We can't predict what's ging to happen in future. You try telling us what you're going to look like in three years? We can't really answer that question because we're musicians, not psychics!

Q: What would you rather have, brains, looks or ultimate power?
A: Looks! With looks, you're more likely to get jobs and make money. Then you can study and get brains, and that would lead to ultimate power.

Q: What are the most wacky, unconventional jobs you've always wanted to do but could never see yourselves doing it?
A: (Dave) I don't think I've ever dreamt of doing anything apart from music. So no matter what I did, it would still somehow be connected to music.
(Bob) My first real dream was to be a hockey player but I figured that I was definitely too small to play hockey. I think I'd settle for being a TV show host, something like Letterman.
(Scott) I'd probably be a producer. I actually had thoughts about being a photographer too.
(Clint) I really enjoy acting and diecting. We got to help in the filming of the 'Bang Bnag Boom' video and I was just fascinated with the whole process.

Q: If you were offered the chance to do a recording with rapper, Eminem, would you?
A: We love Eminem and we think his music is great. We'd probably want him to co-write lyrics with us because they're hilarious and not too harsh. But if we do work together, it would have to be at one of the two extremes, either rock or rap, beacuse The Moffatts would not want to change for Eminem and vice versa. You've got to be who you are.

Q: Have you ever come across a live band playing covers of your songs?
A: Yes. We heard a German band called 'Klar' and a Taiwanese band redid Bang Bang Boom. Lounge hotels do covers to our songs and that's cool.
A young country singer, Billy Gilman, did a cover of our old country tune, I Think She Likes Me. It's nice to know that so many people listen to our music.

Q: You guys play your own instruments but are you good dancers?
A: We aren't really good dancers. We just go out there and wing it.

Q: Are you going to start smashing guitars and screaming a lot on stage now that you've decided to become a serious rock band?
A: That's not really what makes a rock band. As for what we would do on stage, it all depends on what was going through our minds then and whether we feel like doing it.