Wadawurrung man Moss burst into the public eye this year with win in the triple j Unearthed DIY Supergroup competition. The producer wowed listeners with “SABRE TEETH”, a heavy track which included vocals from Genesis Owusu and elements from San Cisco, Alison Wonderland, Vallis Alps and Touch Sensitive, alongside his own unique instrumentals. But Moss isn’t as new to all of this as you may think, having made a name for himself in the Brisbane electronic scene over the past few years. He’s played support slots for huge acts like Skrillex, Bauuer, Flosstradamus and RL Grime, and is showing no signs of slowing down. 

The Sydney-based producer recently linked up with Brisbane’s BRIA for ‘SPEED DIAL’, a song born out of frustrations with online dating. “When BRIA and I were initially writing the track, we’d both gone through a lot of individual experiences of online dating during Brisbane’s lockdown in 2020,” says Moss. The duo wanted to create a story that details the highs and lows of online dating. 

“BRIA took the reins and honed in on a story that she wanted to tell, and we really went at the process to create and build ‘SPEED DIAL’ from the ground up,” Moss continues. “It was getting vocals and implementing them into the track and creating this sonic atmosphere with phones and cars, and fast-paced heavy beats to try and tell that story as best we could in the way that we wanted.” The result is a deeply layered, bass-driven track. 

The process of building ‘SPEED DIAL’ was very visually influenced. “Every track that I write, I like to have a picture or a scene in mind. I love movies and scoring,” explains Moss. “I had these images of cars speeding down the road, tires squealing, and phones dialling and trying to get someone to pick up. It’s really dark and ominous, but there’s this conversation between two people who are drawn to each other, but also playing this walls-up game.” Colour also influenced the track, which was ultimately reflected in the song’s cover art: “There are pinks and blacks, and some blues in the colour palette that we went with. I thought that really drove home the story.” 

This visual way of working sets Moss apart from other artists. Rather than creating images to support a track once it’s completed, he draws inspiration from visuals before he sets out to create music. “Pinterest is my second home,” he laughs. “I’m always on Pinterest, scrolling, and adding to mood boards. Often I have a private inspiration or concepts folder of just different things that could be an amazing song to write or I really like the aesthetic of.” 

One of Moss’ key inspirations is nature, and thinking of how certain natural events would sound. “Lava falling off a cliff into an ocean — how’s that gonna sound? It’s going to be hisses of the lava hitting the water and waves, as well as this sort of molten gravelly sound. There are all these sonic elements,” he muses. He includes a lot of natural and Foley sounds in his work, trying to find sounds that suit the message of the song. “It’s very much embedded in nature for me, because I find nature very grounding. It translates musically.” 

He’s looking at moving into more visual-based art too, like music videos and film. “I’ve scored some short films already; film scoring is what I want to move into in my career,” he explains. He takes inspiration from the epic sounds of artists like Porter Robinson, RL Grime, and Hans Zimmer. “They all have these amazing and huge sounds that put you in a space and an atmosphere that’s filled with emotion. That is what I strive to do. Movies and visuals are such a huge thing for me. You can sit down and watch a movie for two hours, but I really want to give someone a taste of that in three minutes.” 

Moss explains that he’s also fascinated by the process of being creative in itself, no matter the medium. “I feel nourished and have some purpose. During lockdown, diving into creativity in general really fuelled my passion and fire in terms of living. Being as creative as you possibly can allows you to be the most creative in your selected field, because you can draw from those creative experiences and channel them back into your main creative outlet.” 

Ableton is his tool of choice for making music, in part due to its visual layout. “I first dabbled in a bunch of the other DAWs (digital audio workstations), and also taught at a university level DAWs as well like ProTools and a bit of Logic,” explains Moss. “Ableton is the most user-friendly, the easiest to get my head around. It’s the most visual in terms of how things are structured and laid out. For me, it’s the quickest workflow which is really important. The ability to perform both live performances, as well as create music, just stands out compared to all the rest.” 

Sometimes too many options can make it hard to get tracks finished. Moss says he has struggled with this question for a long time, as many artists do. “Imposing deadlines is really important. The best way of honing in on that is just finishing a bunch of tracks, or forcing yourself to sit down and finish a track. Even if it doesn’t release, you finish it and you move on,” he says. “The more you do it, the easier it is to recognise the point where it’s done.” 

Of course, sometimes time is not a luxury. Moss explains that he often hears things that could be different when he plays tracks live. “You listen back when you’re playing it on a speaker system and go, ah, that kick drum could have changed, but it’s out there. Once you release a song you can never release that exact thing again. Accepting that you’re going on to bigger and better things is the key; looking forward.”

Having an efficient workflow came in handy with Moss’ most recent release, a remix of Luude’s “Wanna Stay”, which he says was “the quickest record I’ve produced and put out.” When the Perth-based producer approached Moss to remix the track, he knew it was the perfect opportunity prove he can’t be pigeonholed into one sub-genre. “I don’t want to restrict myself to genres and boundaries. I’ve loved drum & bass for so long. I play it in sets and in my triple j mix. I’m making a d&b track now because this is the perfect opportunity, especially with everything that Luude’s been doing. When they sent me the track it was like yeah, perfect. I’ve been waiting for this.”

There’s more to come from Moss in 2022. “I don’t want to give away too much, but I’ve got a bunch of music there, and I’ve got this bit of a bigger project that I’m working on. I’ve prepped a lot for live shows as well, and really refined and reflected on that over this whole COVID journey,” he says. As with all of his releases, there’s one main goal. “I just want people to listen to it. That’s my goal, for people to enjoy it. As long as that’s happening, I’m happy.”