In the 25 years that moe. has existed, the band continues to build a loyal following. Combining creative songwriting with top-notch musicianship, moe.’s live concerts are truly something to behold. Their 2014 release, No Guts, No Glory, proved what fans already knew: there’s really no limit to what these five guys named moe. can accomplish. 

Our very own Rex Thomson, aka the mayor of moe.down 2014, sat down with the band’s bassist Rob Derhak for an exclusive interview. Discussing everything from the band’s history, the songwriting process, Star Wars, their upcoming St. Patrick’s Day run in NYC (tickets are available here), and more… read on for all things moe.! 

L4LM: What does moe. mean to you?

Robert Derhak: Ha. That one isn’t easy. What does moe. mean for me… I dunno. It’s a tough thing, because it means more than one thing to me. Y’know…it means stability…friendship…expression. Those three things.  (Chuckles)
 
L4LM:  Did you ever envision doing this for 25 years?

RD:  I did, but I didn’t envision it being like this.  Twenty five years…I never thought of things in terms like that when I was young. I knew that this was what I wanted to do, and I felt confident that this would be, that the band would be my life. But I didn’t really understand what that meant.

I didn’t know what it meant, like as far as commitment. I knew that this is…this is what I wanted, this is what I wanted to do. I like writing music, and I wanna have a band. But I didn’t know what that meant at the time. I couldn’t envision what that actually meant. (Chuckles) What it means to be in moe. To have these relationships.     

L4LM:  What does the art of creating music mean to you?

RD: For me it’s like therapy.  It’s dealing with…even if a song doesn’t have anything to do with venting, or dealing with something.  Just to have something, to be able to create something, is very therapeutic for me. That works for me in music, and it a lot of other forms in my life…but music is the number one thing that helps.

L4LM: How often do you get a sense of the impact you’ve had on people over these 25 years?

RD: I don’t know how often it happens, it’s tough to say. But it when it does happen, it happens at times of need and when it has meaning. I realize it at times when I really need it. I get it.  

The fact that what we’ve been doing for this long has created a sense of community among a lot of people, and it’s changed their lives. Sometimes you forget that when you’re removed from it. When I’m away from playing for awhile, when I’m not on the road.  Sometimes, though, you wanna do something more meaningful.

I remember after the 9/11 attacks, I started to question what…what I was doing. Like…”What the hell does this have to do with anything?” Y’Know? This is not making any great impact in any kind of way. It’s fruitless. This is just a hobby that turned into a career. I wanna go and do something that helps people. The I found…after we did our first show after..it happened…which was right after. I saw how much people really needed it. It was actually…it meant something to people.   

I think of that, whenever I question myself. It actually does impact people in a positive way. Even when people are giving us shit on the Internet about whatever. I just blow that stuff off and think about how it helps people who need it.

L4LM: Are you still having fun up there? I only ask because, if your facial expressions are to be believed, you go through an emotional journey at each show.  From pure joy to wanting to grumpy cat.

RD:  It’s funny. I think people mistake when I’m…my dad used to have that face too.  I think it’s my resting groove face.  When I am just being a part of the groove it’s my resting face.  And I have these jowls that hang down and I get shit from people. They’re like “SMILE!” I’m just playing, I’m not thinking about what my face looks like.

I can’t really help it…it’s just the way I look. I can’t help it. But it’s stupid. It’s superficial. It doesn’t matter.

L4LM:  I know you’ve played a lot of sports, and your style is very percussive. Do you feel a similarity in your percussive playing style and the rhythms of the playing field?

RD: I do.  I treat it like a game. I’m not sure if the aggressive way I play is like I played when I played football, or lacrosse or anything.  But my mindset is definitely that way. I call set break half time all the time. Subconsciously that comes out all the time. I mentally divide the show into four quarters. I think about not giving up…(Chuckles)…not giving up til the end. Dumb stuff like that I guess.  

L4LM:  It sometimes seems like you are urging the band on with your playing.

RD: I could be. Sometimes I’ll get made fun of by those guys. They’ll call me coach. Coach Derhak. Whatever you wanna think it is, it is.  (Chuckles)

L4LM: That’s not how interviews work. If it was I would’ve just wrote all your answers for you and just slept in.

RD: I woulda been okay with that. (Chuckles) People will just read what you write, interpret it in their own way, and have something in mind that’s 180 degrees away from what I said. It doesn’t matter. I’ll say one thing, you’ll write your interpretation and they’ll make their interpretation of your interpretation of what I said…

L4LM: That’s why we record and transcribe these conversations. There’s no real interpretation, I’m just gonna write what you say. But you’re right…it’s frustrating to see people miss the point.

RD: That’s what it’s like being a parent. (Laughs) You tell your kids to do something, very specifically, and they do something not like what you described at all, and tell you they didn’t understand what you said. Or they just don’t do it, and act like I’m losing my mind and never said anything.  

L4LM:  That’s the karma boomerang hittin’ you. You were a pain in the butt to your parents, now your kids are a pain in your butt.  

RD: Exactly. All’s I can hope for is their kids do they same to them.

L4LM:  Anyway, congratulations on your amazing Halloween show! That was inspired. Whose idea was it to rewrite all the song lyrics for “Star Wars” based ones?

RD: I think it was mine. I came up with the idea of doing Star Wars. But the question was, what were we gonna do, besides dress up up like the characters. Steve was gonna make these great models, and he did. We were in the middle of a phone meeting and I was thinking we could Weird Al them.  We could make Weird Al versions of all our own songs…basically change some of our own lyrics and make them into Star Wars ones.

That’s how it happened. We came up with the idea and we started talking about songs. There’s only a few John Williams themes we could do and keep it interesting. So we got the idea of doing some space songs. And we came up with a bunch. Too many actually. We could do a couple of those, but it doesn’t really relate to Star Wars.    

So we were thinking and I was like “Well, there’s “Yoda,” that song by Weird Al.” I don’t really remember if it was me or somebody else who said we could just rewrite our own lyrics. But it was after the “Yoda” suggestion that we thought of that. I can’t give you an accurate answer on that one. But it was mutual.        

L4LM: In your mind, how does this rate compared to some of your past Halloween productions?

RD: That was the best one we’ve ever done.  By Far.  It was one of those things was a perfect storm. Everyone in the band loves Star Wars.  All of the crew loves Star Wars. There was no lagging behind on this one. Everyone in the band, the crew was 100% behind this idea. All of our fans love Star Wars as well, go figure. Everyone showed up in costume. And the fact that the movie is coming out, all of the media is out there. It’s gonna be hard to top that one.

Check out our coverage of moe.’s Hallowen Star Wars spectacular HERE.

And see some of the best costumes of the night HERE.

L4LM: In the 25 years you’ve done everything from play charity shows to taking part in the Ice Bucket Challenge.  Do you see it as part of the job for being a public figure to lead the way like that?

RD:  It’s a duty for everyone.  It’s something everyone needs to do.  It’s just the right thing to do.  It’s part of your responsibility for being a human being.  The fact that we have a little added voice because of our public persona makes it even more important.  I’m behind doing your civic duty whenever possible.  

 
L4LM:  You’ve said in the past that you feel the strongest songs come out of bringing your ideas to the guys to finish as a group.  How far along do you let a song idea get before you bring it to the band?

RD: It’s never exactly the same.  I don’t have a great method, personally.  I don’t have a scientific method…to the point of frustration, maybe? Sometimes I’ll have my whole thought together.  The song will be done.  It’ll be obvious.  I remember…I think it was “McBain,” the song “McBain.”

I recorded all the riffs and bass lines, and nobody understood what the hell it was.  It was just me and my bass, loosely miced, and on the recording it’s in a weird time signature, with no beat, and the band wasn’t really into it.  But then when we played together it came out like I thought it would.

And then Al (Schnier) went back and listened to it and he was like “Oh. I totally get it now. I see what you were doing.” Like, he didn’t understand it til we were all together, playing our parts. I just couldn’t see what we were doing because it was all so stripped down. And then there’s other of times where I wrote all of “New York City” on my acoustic guitar and did all the finger picking and all that. And I was like “Here’s the song.” But it’s still missing something, and Al wrote what ends up being the key line, and also a bridge in the middle of a song that we all play.  

I don’t really know how it’s gonna go. I remember doing “32 Things” together as a band. I kept playing the same bass line over and over, and Al just started singing something over it. And then it became “32 Things.” There’s all these different ways it happens, so I don’t know if there is any method to our madness. Ever, really. The only thing we’ve noticed that makes a song stay is if we test it out and tweak it in front of a crowd before we settle on anything.  Basically using our fans as guinea pigs for our music. I think that’s the only thing that’s consistent with how we do it.

L4LM: So you’re making them pay to be beta testers, essentially?

RD: Exactly. That’s exactly what we’re doing.

L4LM: You just announced a three night New York City run.  That’s basically a hometown show right?  Are you excited to be playing NYC on St.Patrick’s Day?

RD: It’s one of my favorites.  We’ve been doing it for years, and this is fun.  I don’t think we’ve ever done the St.Patty’s day show before.  It’s gonna be a zoo!  I love New York.

L4LM:  You’ve got you Tropical throe.down Island getaway coming up.  How excited are you to have Little Feat joining you?

RD: Me, I’m thrilled.  For me, it’s one of my top all time favorite bands!  I’m excited about just watching them, so I’m gonna enjoy it.

L4LM: Have you reached out to Chris Wood about the possibility of a “Bass Off?”

RD: A “Bass Off?”  I don’t think I would stand a chance, so I’m not even gonna approach that subject. You don’t get in a fight if you know you can’t win.

L4LM: A lot of folks think you have some skill in that area.

RD:  I have a few tricks up my sleeve, but they’re old man tricks.  

L4LM: A lot of people may not know this, but your wife left the moe. organization to become a nurse. How proud of her are you?

RD: I couldn’t be prouder. It’s just amazing, what she did. She’s the most amazing people I know.  She got through all of nursing school, while being a mom, and working a full time job. Now she’s changed her life, middle aged, changed her direction.  I couldn’t be any more proud.  And she’s making a difference, she really is.

L4LM: You’re breeding the next generation of the band right now. How many kids do you have?

RD: Three.

L4LM: And how many of them are interested in music?

RD: My daughter is the most interested. She loves singing and she loves acting too. She loves all those things. They all play. My oldest played trombone, and he was quite good at it, but he doesn’t play anymore. He switched schools and his new school doesn’t have a music program. None of them are trying to follow in my footsteps.

But the thing is, I never got really serious about playing til I was 19 or 20 years old. So I don’t any reason to push them into it. I pushed them into learning to read music, and learning about music. I figure after a certain age, that’s up to them to decide. For me, I knew it.  It was undeniable to me, that was my passion. I want them to feel that. It’s like rehab. You can’t push someone into that, they have to be ready for something like that. You have to feel that passion, or it won’t help.   
 
L4LM: I like anytime parenting gets compared to rehab. That’s it for my questions…do you have time for a couple fan questions?

RD: Sure.

L4LM: I can’t believe I’m asking this but “How big would you say your deck is?”

RD: My deck? I would say it’s..it’s about sixteen by thirty feet. It’s pretty big.

L4LM: “Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck?”

RD: A hundred duck sized horses. I would just keep kicking them. I could use a stick or something.  Could you imagine the terror of a horse sized duck coming at you?  I’ve actually owned a duck. Those things are not nice animals. I had a bunch of chickens and one duck that thought it was a chicken.,  It was just nasty.

L4LM: Are you pleased when you see fans making signs urging you to “Slap Your Bass!?”

RD: (Sighs) I don’t know. I like the fact that they are encouraging.  I dislike the feeling as it’s like a directive, telling me how to play. I know when it’s best to do what I’m supposed to do. (Laughs)

L4LM: In other words, you’re not looking for notes.

RD: Exactly. That’s what I wish I said. “Thank you for you input, you can leave your comments…” Wait. Maybe we should have a box with comments and notes, and we’ll read them later privately.

L4LM: “Who’s your favorite mayor?”

RD: I gotta say Jimi Boone. I’m sorry.  He invented the “mayor of moe.down” thing.  But you’ve carried the spirit on quite well.

L4LM: Thanks.  And since you brought it up, can you give the readers a chance to hear what we’re talking about and how it really began, the mayor thing?

RD: I can’t. I can’t really. That was Jimi Boone. At the first moe.down he decided he was gonna campaign for mayor. It was easier then, because there was less people. Oh, and he ran unopposed, because no one knew what he was talking about. It was kinda nuts.  And he was funny, a great guy.  He came back stage and said “I’m the mayor of moe.ville.”  And we said “What do you mean?” (Laughs) And he told us and we were like “Great.”

And, as a joke we announced he was mayor of moe.ville. And that’s how that all started. And then people bit. People just started biting into that one.  And every year it just grew into something more. Then it turned into sorta a stand up routine for me.

L4LM: One of the more asked fan questions has been: How much does Rob like doing the ‘election’ every year?

RD: I love it. I think it’s funny.  The only stress it writing a set list. It’s hard to figure out how much time to leave for the “mayor of moe.down” sketch. (Laughs) I like it because it’s nonsensical. It’s fun to do. It breaks things up.

It’s funny, because you can always tell that there’s a pretty substantial amount of people that have no idea what’s going on, out in the crowd. It’s funny because they are like “Why is he still talking? Why are there kids out on the stage? Why is there a big inflatable penis there?”

L4LM:  Thanks for celebrating your twenty fifth anniversary with us in these interviews.  Here’s to twenty five more!

RD: Thanks.