Moving City
Andrew Facciolo and Jules Shaw started Moving City nearly a decade ago writing songs as an acoustic duo in Toronto, Canada. Since reuniting in Vancouver after a brief hiatus, we have grown to 5 members, adding another guitar player (Chris Johnson), Bass (Jan Toren) and Drums (Madison Norton). Since the addition of the full band, the Moving City sound has changed from just two acoustic guitars to a very dynamic and diverse performing group, playing songs that were written originally on acoustic guitars and transposed into a contemporary pop rock/alt rock sound. With this transition we’ve still kept the wholesome roots of the raw acoustic vibe of our original writing. The simplicity and space of our songs make it possible for us to not only perform as a full band but also as a duo and trio with Chris Johnson on guitar.
For fans who have never heard your music, can you pick three words to describe it?! If three words just aren't enough..then tell us more!!
Nostalgic, relatable, genuine
What is your favorite part about being an artist? Is it songwriting, performing, recording, something else?) Tell us why:
Great question. We love every aspect of doing music, from creating, to recording and ultimately bringing our vision for each song to life during our live performances. In songwriting specifically, we believe that something truly special happens during the collaboration process. It's a chance for all of us to bring our unique vision to each song, almost like putting a moving puzzle together. There are so many possibilities and versions of each song that we create and that process of just building each other up and working on all of our parts together is so satisfying.
Moving City has really turned into a family of individuals willing to put their ego aside for the betterment of the song, creating an environment of friendship and trust. At the end of the day, music has given us a platform to do what we love together, as a group. Being able to make songs and then lay it all on the line during a raw performance is what it's all about. We don't care whether we are playing to 1000 people or playing to five in a dive bar. It's all an expressive outlet for us to share.
Can you tell us what being in the recording studio is like for you?
The studio has been an incredible experience for us thus far. We met Chris Johnson (now playing guitar for Moving City) when Co-Founder Andrew Facciolo first moved to Vancouver two years ago to reunite with Logan Shaw to reignite the Moving City project. One of our great friends and talented musicians here in Vancouver, Kevan Schell, aka "Tobacco Brown" introduced us to Chris after we expressed an interest in recording a live, off-the-floor acoustic set in our East Vancouver apartment. Our friendship blossomed from there and he graciously welcomed us into his DIY warehouse recording studio to work on our first full-length record "2308".
Recording with Chris has been a dream. We have been able to create a studio atmosphere of low stress and ultimate trust, things that are vital in putting together the best possible product for our listeners. The studio is a vulnerable place for a musician, and each time you hit record, there must be a high degree of focus, yet whoever is in the booth must stay completely relaxed and fluid in their parts. If not, that aspect of tension will come out in the end recording, no matter how skilled the engineer is. This is where the importance of trust comes into play and we have established that fully with our group, leaving our recording sessions as a place to express ourselves fully, get creative, and not hold on too concretely to our initial vision of how a recording should sound. We are all firm believers that our recordings should maintain the authenticity of what we sound like live. We come into the studio prepared and typically don't take any more than three takes on any single part. Not lingering on some of the small details allows for a sense of creative freedom and hey... sometimes mistakes come out SO COOL. Songs are moments in time and capturing that vibe is essential to our sound and what makes us Moving City.
Okay, this a fun question. When you are not doing music, what else do you enjoy doing?
As a group we all have our own and very different interests outside of music. Whether it be the work we do, intimate relationships, the things we read or want to learn about, it's all generally things that improve our lives and mind in some way. We are all different people in different stages of our lives, our ages vary from 30 years to 44 years and we are all friends and hang out outside of playing music. Music is always involved in some capacity for us though (Andrew and Logan) no matter what we are doing, it finds its way in various forms of inspiration.
Who do you admire most in the music scene today and why?
Dan Bejar of Destroyer and Kurt Vile are two artists that we (Andrew and Logan) very much admire and look up to in a lot of different ways, one being the freedom in which they write and express their music. There's no specific formula or reasoning to the way they produce and it comes out with such a unique and genuine sound that really resonates with the way we think about music and what it does for us. Not to mention the musicians they play with are incredible and dynamic in so many ways, inspiring us to try and experiment with different sounds and ways to create feeling that you might not get with just a lyric or basic instrument. The fact they genuinely just create because that's who they care as people and artists is something extremely important and we relate to it massively.
Can you tell us what song you've written that is the most emotional and describe the meaning behind it?
There's a lot of songs we would consider for this question but "Canadian Red" from our second album "Little dogs" is one that hits in a big way. The song is a short one lyrically but each line describes a struggle to deal with Logan's Dad's alcoholism and terminal illness directly caused by it. Years of hospital visits and doctors telling you that he is near death, to him pulling through and struggling even more for longer. Eventually the end comes and he passes away, with mixed feelings of sadness and relief, the line "we made it home this time around" applies to father and son as they both can finally let go. The title "Canadian Red" was named after a cigarette package that Logan found in his dads wheel chair pocket after he died, with 1 smoke left in it. His last cigarette. Logan still has the pack. You can check the song out on Spotify here:
Are you working on any new material right now or what's in the works for the upcoming year?
We have three additional singles from our unreleased record "Nightflash" that are ready to drop on future dates following our upcoming single, “Can I Go and See My Lady?”. To make it interesting for listeners and to promote pre-saves on these tracks, we will be randomly selecting two people who have pre-saved for each single to win a new Moving City T-shirt (off our first run of merch). We will announce winners after each release (via Instagram @movingcitymusic) followed by the full record drop on September 2nd, so follow along as we release more info. Additionally, we’ve finished writing a new, full-length record, along with an acoustic EP. We’ve started pre-production and plan to commit dates in the near future for studio sessions.
We will be playing Four Winds Brewery Cheers for Children Charity event in Delta, B.C. This is happening June 17th, the release day of “Can I Go and See My Lady?”. We are also set to perform a duo set at NXNE 2022 in Toronto, Canada. If you are interested in checking us out live, you can catch us at The Dakota Tavern on June 18th at 9pm EST. Lastly, 2022 will include a lot of new music releases, and some live/conceptual video content for the later part of 2022. We are planning on doing some traveling as well and hopefully (fingers crossed) we can work out a tour schedule. Along with all of that, we expect to continue to play shows in and around Vancouver as much as possible.
Tell us where fans can access your music.
Fans can access our music through several different platforms:
Website: www.movingcitymusic.com
IG: @movingcitymusic
#MovingCity #BEHINDTHESONG #Nightflash #CanIGoSeeMyLady