The Music Forum: Russell, please tell us briefly about your new album: do you expect to use it to relaunch yourself into the alternative music scene, or are you just trying to produce a record to please yourself and your loyal fans?
RUSSELL YATES: WE FEEL WE HAVE NOTHING TO PROVE. IN THE UK MUSIC IS OFTEN TREATED AS A 'UNIT' TO SHIFT OR A BANDWAGON ON WHICH TO BE SEEN TO BE PART OF (LARGE PARTS OF THE MUSIC MEDIA & UNIMAGINATIVE MUSIC INDUSTRY TYPES). WE HAVE NO WISH TO BE PART OF THAT ... THERE ARE HUGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE WORKING AT AN UNDERGROUND LEVEL WHO HAVE A HAND IN RELEASING EXCELLENT MUSIC THAT IS AVAILABLE FOR PEOPLE TO DELVE INTO.

TMF: Your last album " Live a little, love a lot "came out in 1995. Since then , Moose seems to cease to exist for faraway listeners like us. Only now, before the century closes, we have confirmation of a new Moose album. What caused the long gap in between and what really happened in between?
RY: WE TOOK A BREAK ... AFTER OUR EXPERIENCE WITH 'PLAY IT AGAIN SAM' - WHO WERE VERY DIFFICULT TO WORK WITH - WE JUST FELT A MIGHT DISILLUSIONED. PIAS CONTINUALLY HELD UP THE MUSIC & MADE RELEASING ANY MUSIC FROUGHT WITH OBSTACLES THAT WORE US DOWN. ALSO A VERY GOOD FRIEND DIED ....
ALL-IN-ALL WE FELT LESS INCLINED TO PURSUE THE MUSIC WITH ANY ENTHUSIASM ... WE DISTANCED OURSELVES FROM MOOSE TO A CERTAIN DEGREE FOR A PERIOD OF TIME ........WE RE-ADDRESSED OUR SITUATION & HOW WE WANTED TO PROGRESS. NOW WE ARE VERY OPTIMISTIC & ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT MAKING & PLAYING MUSIC

TMF: How would you compare the new album with the old Moose output? What's your opinion of the British music scene now?
RY: SAME BAND, DIFFERENT LP. THE BRITISH MUSIC SCENE IS A MIXED BAG. ON A POSITIVE SIDE, WE ARE EXPERIENCING MORE & MORE THAT THERE IS A REFUSAL FROM THE PUBLIC TO BE HERDED INTO DIFFERENT CATEGORIES & THERE ARE LABELS WE WORK WITH THAT REFLECT THIS, SUCH AS 'SOUNDCLASH', LIQUID, BELLA UNION, SWIM~. ON A TEDIOUS LEVEL, THERE STILL EXISTS A TABLOID MENTALITY & MUSIC PRESS TRAIT TO TRY & MANIPULATE IN A RETARDED WAY THAT SAYS "WE CAN MAKE YOU & RUIN YOU AT WILL"

TMF: You were once described as a music junkie by an interviewer. In your opinion, do your listening experiences affect your music style and writting format, and what sort of music occupies your album collection the most?
RY: WE ARE JUST MUSIC FANS. NOT JUST MUSIC INFLUENCED THE STYLE & FORMAT - ALTHOUGH IT DID ALONG WITH OTHER ELEMENTS. RIGHT KNOW WE LISTEN TO KAREN DALTON QUITE A LOT, AS WELL AS MOJO OUTPUT, SHACK & OTHER STUFF

TMF: What is your opinion on the development of British and American Alternative music in the 90s? Is it different from the Rough Trade and Factory era?
RY: IT WOULD SEEM THAT WESTERN ALTERNATIVE MUSIC IS IN A HEALTHY STATE. 'ALTERNATIVE' MUSIC NOW HAS AN ALTOGETHER DIFFERENT MEANING TO THE EARLY 80'S ERA OF A LARGELY WHITE, MALE GTR/BASS/DRUMS CONCERN. THE EFFECT OF DANCE MUSIC, ECSTASY & THE GROWTH IN OTHER MEDIA & LIFESTYLES FOR PEOPLE TO SPEND THEIR MONEY HAVE BROKEN A LOT OF BARRIERS, & DISRUPTED THE ABILITITY TO CATEGORIZE, WITH 'ALTERNATIVE' MUSIC ENCOMPASSING A HUGE AMOUNT OF DIFFERENT STYLES OF MUSIC. ALSO, AS RECORD SALES HAVE SHRUNK, MAJOR LABELS HAVE BEEN FOCUSSING MORE ON ACTS THAT THEY FEEL HAVE MORE CHANCE OF GREATER PROFITS - BOY/GIRL BANDS - THAT APPEAL TO MASSES OF A YOUNGER AUDIENCE. AN EFFECT OF DIMINISHING RECORD SALES HAS SEEN A GROWTH IN PURELY INDEPENDENT LABELS THAT WASTE LITTLE MONEY & FOCUS ON GETTING MUSIC TO AREAS SHOPS THAT SPECIALISE IN MUSIC OUTSIDE OF THE MAINSTREAM.

TMF: How did you end your relationship with Play it again sam? Looking back, do you think that they had done enough to assist to promote your last two albums and how would you compare them with Hut?
RY: THE MAN THAT RUNS PIAS IS KENNY GATES......HE IS A SPOILT RICH KID THAT TOYS WITH PEOPLES LIVES IN AN INDIFFERENT & DEMORALISING/DESTRUCTIVE FASHION. THE LABEL HAS GOOD PEOPLE IN THE UK, FRANCE & BELGIUM THAT WOULD LIKE TO WORK YOUR MUSIC PROPERLY BUT GATES REFUSES TO ALLOW ANY DISISION MAKING. EVERYTHING HAS TO BE SANCTIONED BY HIM. & WE HAVE EXPERIENCED THE ABSOLUTE HEIGHT OF DISRESPECT & RUDENESS FROM THAT PERSON. HE TREATS PEOPLE WITH CONTEMPT. HUT AT LEAST ANSWERED YOUR CALLS

TMF: For the 3 Moose albums that you had brought to the public before, they all received positive reviews from the media, yet it didn't seem to bring much impact to the sales figures at all. In your mind, how important do you think the music media are, and nowadays, with internet and global communication flourishing, do you think traditional music media forces like NME, Melody Maker......are facing their toughest ever challenges or not? Can they still affect the younger generations like before or not?
RY: EVERYTHING IS CHANGING FOR THE BETTER

TMF: Do you think that Moose is a band that tries to find a way to combine dreamy, heart feeling sounds with updated traditional music sounds? We can say that in "XYZ", even though certain songs are country tinged, the final outcome is actually "Moose dreamy country feel". No other country or dreamy pop bands can ever produce something as refreshing as yours. Do you regard that as a kind of achievement or not? Are you still trying to do something so majestic and adventrous nowadays?
RY: WE FEEL YOUR COMMENTS ARE A BIG COMPLEMENT..... WE ARE VERY PROUD OF THE MUSIC WE HAVE DONE.....

TMF: I recently had the experience of trying to introduce your previous albums to some music fans in China through e-mail, finding out that in their perceptions, Moose is just a " My Bloody Valentine" style noisy guitar band, which gave me the excuse to broadcast your old albums in my music programme again. After that, they all felt astonished and realised how much they had misjudged Moose before. In your mind, do you have any regret about being labeled as 'Shoegazing' in the beginning, and would that be the reason that "XYZ", " Honey Bee " and " Live A Little, Love A Lot " couldn't reach the right listeners in the first place?
RY: THESE EARLY JUDGEMENTS HAVE BEEN OUT OF OUR CONTROL & ARE AN EXAMPLE OF THE DISTORTED POWER USED BY CERTAIN AREAS IN THE MUSIC PRESS AT THAT TIME THAT FELT JUSTIFIED IN MANIPULATING. THE IDEA THAT A BAND SHOULD BE JUDGED/LABELED & DISMISSED AFTER 2 SINGLES IS MAD.

TMF: Cranberries are very big in HK, Taiwan, and Japan in the recent years. Since you had experience working with Delores O'Riordan on "XYZ", what is your opinion of her music then & now? Would you ever work with her again in any of your project?
RY: SHE WOULDN'T WORK WITH US I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT ...SHE HAS A BEAUTIFUL VOICE & THE MUSIC APPEALS TO MILLIONS, BUT NOT US.

TMF: Last question, What do you expect the future of Moose and British Alternative Music will be?
RY: BRYTER LAYTER

Thanks to Brian Law for transcript and permission to reprint.