We caught up with Greek-born, LA-based artist and composer Kid Moxie and producer LUXXURY about their latest release with West One Music Group ‘Love + Unity. The 6 track EP was released earlier this year and can be listened to on all major streaming services now, click here to listen.
You have worked together quite a lot over the last few years, so where did the concept for Love & Unity come from?
KM: We started playing live shows together about 4 years ago and got to travel to some beautiful (mostly tropical) places, participating in festivals and doing double DJ sets. The places we visited and our experiences from all the shows and parties led to the kind of music we wanted to create for this album. Something that is unifying, upbeat, summery, tropical and very much disco!
L: I will defer to Elena as she came up with the title (and all the lyrics and melodies)!
The EP explores and crosses many different genres, where you inspired by anything or anyone in particular?
KM: We each bring our own musical background to the table, Blake being the nu-disco wiz that he is, and me coming from a more Euro-disco and cinematic background. I definitely carry a lot of 80ies Italo disco influences like Cerrone and Savage while I m also forever in love with the synth sounds of Vangelis. I think those influences coupled with the LUXXURY signature sound makes for a pretty special melange of genres and sounds.
L: Musically I’ve been in a Sylvester/Patrick Cowley mood (again) recently, and of course Giorgio Moroder. Hence the bubbly 16th note synths which figure in both of those artists productions. Genre wise I love disco because it is a melting pot of funk, rock, pop and African/Latin rhythms, I am drawn to its open-mindedness: anything works as long as the groove is there. Last but not least I’m really into dancey music that has grit, and that isn’t Pro Tool’d and Autotuned within an inch of its life. I like the little wobbly, human imperfections of LCD Soundsystem, Toro Y Moi and Tame Impala, all of those are major influences on my production.
Is there anything special in the way the tracks were recorded – what was your creative process for this EP and was it different from how you have worked together before?
KM: We would start the writing process in Blake’s studio and then we each would take some homework with us and meet again a few days later to rework on those ideas together. This EP has felt like the most mutual collaboration I ve ever had as we both got to write and produce pretty equally. It went by so fast, almost too fast!
L: We started all the tracks in my studio then we’d go our separate ways, Elena would work on the lyrics and melodies and sing her parts and we’d trade off adding layers til each song was done. It really helped that we were both able to work on mixing in our own studios so that after coming up with the initial ideas we worked really fast completing each song.
Which are your favourite tracks on the album?
KM: “Love & Unity” and “Saturn Returns To Disco”.
L: The title track and “Saturn Returns”
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself – when did you get into music and who was your mentor or inspiration?
KM: I used to play bass in other peoples’ bands for a few years and then I figured I wanted to create my own sound and identity and that is when I started Kid Moxie.
I had some friends in the TV world that started licensing my tracks for shows and that is when I thought that I could make a living out this and see it as a career. I was lucky enough to cross paths with some of my heroes like David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti who trusted me with reworking some music from Blue Velvet and that gave me some extra confidence to reach out and go for my dreams. The road has not been easy, but it definitely has been rewarding.
L: Mike Viola (Candy Butchers), Ian Svenonius (The Make-Up) and Theresa Duncan were musicians and artists who I knew personally, and who were actually “doing it”, having creative lives and not just working dead-end day jobs.
They showed me that there was a way to live a life doing what I wanted to do – making music – and I gradually transitioned from a career in Digital Marketing to be a full-time producer/DJ/artist. Not that it was easy to make the move, and of course the live aspect (and income) disappeared overnight with the pandemic. But even with all the extra hustling required to keep things going, I love what I do and feel very fortunate to make music full time.
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