INTRODUCING: MOOD BORED
We speak to emerging band, Mood Bored, about their sophomore EP, Too Much?, out now.
Interview by PORTIA BRAJKOVIC
Hey mood bored, how are you?
Hi! We’re Mood Bored, an indie rock trio from the Netherlands. We’re doing goooood! Our new EP has just come out and we’re super excited about it.
FIRST UP, Why music?
It’s not really a choice. Of course, we are privileged to be able to follow our dreams, but we really can’t see ourselves doing anything else. We’ve always made music and it’s just what we know best.
THE THREE OF YOU MET AT TILBURG’S ROCK ACADEMY. TELL US THE STORY!
We all went to study music there, and became friends very quickly. For years, we played here and there in each other’s projects. During COVID there wasn’t much to do and we were writing together a lot, and then we decided we should just really go for it with each other and create a band that’s equally ours. And so Mood Bored was formed!
"My lyrics are mostly inspired by my feelings, honestly. Thoughts about myself and the world or thoughts that bubble up that I just can’t let go. Often, something will just come into my head and I have to write it down, not always knowing what it means yet. But it’s very introspective and personal.
The writing process is always different! Sometimes it’s a feeling or a thought, sometimes it’s a certain chord or a melody. Sometimes it’s something you see and sometimes it’s because we just jam together and see what comes from it. It’s endless, the things that can inspire you, and most of the time it happens subconsciously.”
— MYRTE OF MOOD BORED, ON INSPIRATION
Can you describe the MOOD BORED universe and sound in three words?
Noisy, cheeky, bittersweet
tell us about your sophomore ep, too much?
As we were writing the music and choosing the songs for the EP, we realised that the songs all ask big questions that no one has answers to. So, we see the EP as a bundle of questions to everyone or anyone out there. The question “Too Much?” is the final question of the bunch. Are you feeling overwhelmed yet? Did we say too much?
We took a different approach with this EP. The last EP was mostly produced very DIY in our bedrooms, and was the first time that we really recorded anything entirely on our own. We learned a lot about how we want things to sound, and how to achieve those sounds. We used this knowledge to create more deliberate and specific sounds for our current EP. To facilitate this, we went to some proper cool studios (Toybox studio with Ali Chant in Bristol, and Robot Studios in Ghent) and worked with some amazing people (and gear) to bring our sound to the next level.
WHAT DOES YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS USUALLY LOOK LIKE?
It’s hard to say, it differs a lot. We write a lot together during rehearsals, just going off of a bassline or guitar melody and improvising together. Sometimes we build things at home on the computer and just put layer on top of layer until we have a song. Sometimes one of us writes something alone and brings it to the group. It really depends! But we always agree on the ideas that could become something, and shaping them into songs happens very naturally.
What would we find on your Spotify playlist?
We actually have a playlist on our spotify where we share our inspirations and what we’ve been listening to. We change it every now and then and it’s a bit all over the place but some of the stuff that we keep going back to is definitely Autolux’s “Future Perfect” and the latest Mannequin Pussy record. There’s also always some punk and post-punk in there.
What do you do for peace?
We’re all big foodies. We love to cook and eat together, and this is something that gives us peace. It’s what we love to spend our time and money on.
What’s next for you?
We’re playing our first headline tour in The Netherlands in March (3, 14 and 29 March). We’re also playing a headline show in London on March 10th and doing another tour with Elephant in April / May.
We’re always working on new music and can’t wait to see what’s going to happen with it!
We made vinyl for the first time and are so excited to see our first physical release and hold it and treasure it! We feel like it’s such a cool next step for us and are very happy. We also included an extra song that’ll only be released on vinyl!
