RUN DATA
WHAT MAKES YOU SHAKE YOUR BOOTY?
JEFF: Ben Folds Five
KEVIN: An Australian cattle dog howling on my front porch at 4 a.m.
MARK: Ben Harper
PAUL: A bumpy ride
DAVID: Stevie Wonder
THE BOOK TO CHANGE SOMEONE'S LIFE:
JEFF: Circles Of Confusion by hollis Frampton
KEVIN: The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce
or A Choice of Catastrophes by Isaac Asimov
MARK: Pretty much anything except Circles Of Confusion by Hollis Farmpton
PAUL: Roget's Thesaurus
DAVID: The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
FAVORITE NON-MUSICAL PASTIME:
JEFF: Anwsering questionnaires
KEVIN: Making hybrid ballon/lawn chair animals
and free range lint farming
MARK: Firearms maintenance and repair
PAUL: Chu fen do
DAVID: UFC
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M
oist fans are extremely dedicated.
They bought more than 400,000 copies of the Silver album in Canada; maintain more than 70 websites (by no means a full count); chase the band through malls after in-store appearances; and leave gift packages on singer David Usher's doorstep.
It started simply enough: Four musicians, all transplanted from Kingston to Vancouver, met up one evening in 1992. Usher, keyboard player Kevin Young, guitarist Mark Makowy and bassist Jeff Pearce decided to make music together, later adding drummer Paul Wilcox.
They released the Moist cassette in 1993 and sold 1,500 copies. They recorded Silver independently, for $4,500, releasing a video for "Push". It caught on and Moist signed to EMI, who re-released the album-which broke out big-time with the "Silver" single and video. By September 1995, Silver had even gone Top 20 in Thailand, and Moist played Tuktoyaktuk, NWT with Hole, Metallica and Veruca Salt.
Moist cemented their relationship with the fans by touring for more than a year-and-a-half, eventually relocating to Montreal to settle down. They released Creature in 1996, spawning two more huge hit singles and videos, "Leave It Alone" and "Gasoline."
In 1997, David Usher decided to make a smaller, home-recorded solo album, Little Songs. The album has gone gold (50,000 copies in Canada) and the first video, for "forestfire," earned so much rotation at MuchMusic that the follow-up, "jesus was my girl," had to be delayed.
"I love the band and love the guys," says Usher, who ensured that all of his Moistmates played on Little Songs. "Things have gone really well for Moist, and the idea is to do things with that freedom, to take advantage of it and try different things."
No doubt the fans among you will keep the faith. | |
