Moodie Black Photo
Moodie Black
Ten days ago Kris Martinez of the Minneapolis-based Moodie Black — an artist on the New Haven-based record label Fake Four — was talking about noise rap and her next show in New Haven at The State House, which would precede an overseas tour that included a release show for the new album Fuzz. Since then, New Haven has gone virtually silent with cancelled shows and closed venues, and the future has gotten quite fuzzy for all performing artists. For Martinez, however, one thing is clear: The music lives on.
“There is still an album coming out,” Martinez said on Tuesday. “It’s too late to stop everything. We don’t need to be together or do it in person for it to happen. The record release is not changing.”
That record release, slated for Friday, March 27, was to be celebrated with a release show in Paris. That has been cancelled along with other shows in France and Belgium. The first single, “Jesus Bound,” premiered on March 5, along with a video directed by Martinez on Dead End Hip Hop. Another single, “No Mames,” was released this past Wednesday. Martinez — also known as K‑Death — directs and edits all the videos, but has friends, like Cool Z, help with videos. Other friends help in other ways.
“I’m really bad with choosing singles,” Martinez said with a laugh. “My favorites are not what others like. I go to Ceschi,” she said, referring to friend and local musician Ceschi Ramos, whose Fake Four, Inc. label Moodie Black has been a part of since 2013. Ceschi was also set to perform in New Haven and other towns with Moodie Black in the U.S. before they headed over to Europe.
“We do really well in France in particular,” said Martinez. “We always get a good response there, and we enjoy it over there. We’ve been to Germany, Austria, Switzerland as well.” Now with this tour cancelled, she is hoping they can reschedule those previously planned shows to the fall.
But the music remains — an album that has been in the works for a year and a half now. When asked if the record had a theme, Martinez answered, “yes and no.”
“I’m not huge on concept records,” said Martinez. “For me it’s where I am at, an extension of the personal … what America is going through: identity, race, culture clashing with politics.”
“I got dragged into this conversation,” she continued. “I’m forced to be a part of it and the record illustrates that. I try not to make everything about a cause, but it just happens. Times are so intense, and that makes the album sound more urgent.”
Martinez noted that she has been “on a journey” the past three or four years dedicated to studying other bands and their representation, often through her Moodhouse Podcast, “shining light on how this works in 2020.” The podcast, which Martinez said was “heavily interview based,” had been on a break. “Initially I asked ‘what is the secret’” to success, she said. “I’m so driven, I just want to see if it’s possible. I want to prove that you can do what you want. I don’t care if it’s one song, I wanna show you can really do it.”
And with that, according to Martinez, comes a responsibility and commitment to others. “When you get up to these levels a lot is done wrong,” she said. Too often, those who find success “don’t reach down and help. I won’t be successful if it’s just me.”
Martinez looks to Ceschi for guidance in this area as well. “Ceschi is one of the people I’m learning from the most,” she said. “The way to pay him back is to do what he does for others, to work hard. I take that seriously. At the end of the day we have that. I’m indebted to him. What a difference he’s made. Who else would do that? These are the kind of people we need to get together and keep building with.”
Moodie Black has played New Haven twice before, most recently at an after party at Cafe Nine following Ceschi’s record release show for Sad, Fat Luck at The State House in April 2019. “It’s a place where every Fake Four artist should play, since it’s their home base” said Martinez. “We touch base there. It’s a great hub for Fake Four artists.”
Martinez has taken a liking to New Haven, also. “The city is interesting. It has such a dark dreary energy to it,” she said. “It’s a weird spot and I get off on the weirdness of it. There’s a gloom to the city I can’t explain,” she said with a laugh, but continued.
“These are the kind of things I’m in tune with, the energy I put into our music,” she said. “I’m a lightning rod of what happens behind the scenes.
That is how I approach the music. I don’t care about tech issues. It’s about emitting emotion, making people feel things. I create off of energy. That can’t be compromised. I don’t know how to do anything else.”
Live shows are a vital part of what Moodie Black does. Thought Martinez handles music, lyrics and production, guitarist Sean Lindhal is by her side at all her live shows and is involved with production as well. “Without Sean it wouldn’t be Moodie Black,” said Martinez. Moodie Black also held Moodhouse Fest last year in Minneapolis an event that Martinez said “did well.”
“It was an event to give back,” she added. “Even with limited resources we give back. I try to help any band I can because people didn’t do it for us.”
And Moodie Black always has an eye on what is next. Plans for the future, according to Martinez, include “highlighting more rap, highlighting trans people and people of color. We’re all about inclusion. We play a lot of spaces. We want to normalize everyone playing together, everybody, but with emphasis on trans and people of color, highlighting voices that are marginalized. We try to find inclusive places and want to have safe spaces.” This, Martinez said, can be “incredibly hard to gauge.”
“I like to mix it up and try to navigate it through scary places, though I do try to be safe. There’s always an element of danger, and I try to balance that.
Touring can be detrimental to your health as a trans person. You have to be aware of that.”
And in the end, “all you can do is the best,” said Martinez. “Be honest and authentic. Keep working really hard with hope and faith the content will match up with timing…. I’ve gotten this far. We already start off with a disadvantage because the music is challenging, so we have to fight hard and be creative.”
For the immediate future Moodie Black is now presented with a vastly changed scenario for performing artists. “It’s weird” said Martinez. “Everything is weird. Everything is closed in Minneapolis. Everything is at a complete standstill. Every day is something new.” The New Haven show has been rescheduled to April 24, but with the news changing daily, even that is up in the air.
“This puts us out for a while,” said Martinez. “There’s time to work on other things. Perhaps just be and be better. We have to.”
Ramos himself is eager for the Moodie Black album release, even amid cancelled shows and the current status of the world.
“It’s all up in the air,” said Ramos. “I don’t know how I feel about it. The reason I do so many shows is to promote other people as well, and it seems like it’s all going to be cancelled. I’m not sure how I’m going to spend my time right now.”
He shared his excitement for Moodie Black’s new music citing, “No Mames” as “one of my favorite songs on the record.”
“It’s more punk and lyrically direct and personal, if you listen carefully,” added Ramos. “It has a style I really dig. It has a sass to it. It’s a banger. It’s a good one.”
Ramos has been in constant contact with Martinez about how to promote the record under the current circumstances. “We don’t want it to undermine what has already been done. It’s been a year and a half working on this record.”
And as far as Ramos and his own music?
“I’m gonna sit back,” he said, adding that he has thought about releasing some songs digitally that have been recorded but never streamed. On Monday he shared “Love Song for the Apocalypse,” originally recorded in 2013, but his main concern right now are his Fake Four label mates and friends.
“I’ll step back and let others do their stuff,” he said. “Moodie Black’s album next week, and Factor [Chandelier, frequent collaborator with Ceschi] has a new album coming out soon too. We have to make sure people don’t overlook that stuff due to what’s going on. Use the platform for that.”
“We’re all music lovers and nerds and want to share,” Ramos noted. “I’d rather get some attention to other artists I care about. My life is driven by shows, but I’m hopeful. Maybe all of this will make us more excited and appreciative in the future.”
Moodie Black’s Fuzz is currently available for preorder at the band’s website and on Bandcamp and will be released on all platforms on Friday, March 27. Information about the rescheduled show at The State House can be found at the club’s website. As this story went to print, Moodie Black posted information on social media about a livestream release show for Fuzz on Friday March 27th at 9 PM Central Time that will be available to view on the band’s website as well as their YouTube channel and both Facebook and Instagram Live. More info about that show can be found on the band’s website and Facebook page.
