Interview with Jancy from MØAA
Chat with Jancy Buffington from the solo project MØAA
MØAA, the solo-project of Jancy Buffington, moves between ethereal wave and post-punk, and is a small musical portrait of the United States outside the metropolis. In an area outside of Seattle in which she recorded the demos that gave birth to the debut album is a town called Issaquah, Washington, that resides right next to where Twin Peaks was filmed in the middle of the forest. With very personal lyrics devoid of explicit sociological connotations, it is impossible to imagine a soundtrack more appropriate to the forested atmosphere of Issaquah.
Radio Punk: Classic question to start: when and how was the project born? How did you meet the other members who you play live with and above all, what brought you to Venice, Italy, a city with which you seem to have a special connection?
Jancy: I started writing Euphoric Recall alone in my home studio in 2018 while living in Issaquah, Washington with an audio interface, guitar, bass, and MS2000. That same year I finished recording most of the home demos and played them for Andrea Volpato a few weeks after we met in Seattle while he was on tour.
At that point Andrea and I decided to work together so I flew to Venice, Italy where he recorded, mixed and produced the record in his studio, Fox Studio Venice. We also collaborated with the writing on two songs, X Marks and Flashlight. After we finished recording the album, he asked his long time friend Gianluca to play bass with us for the live band.
Radio Punk: I had the pleasure to be at your first live concert, it was part of the “Indie Sound” festival in Mestre, Italy on June 17th, 2021. In my opinion you were the best band that played in those days and one of the most interesting groups that I have discovered in the last few years. I thought you were a group with several years of experience under your belt and I never thought it was your first concert, but as I discovered later I was wrong. Did you already have some musical experiences in the past?
Jancy: I had never performed live with a band until that evening in Mestre. My only experience performing prior to that was when I did piano or violin recitals when I was young between ages 8 and 16. However, Andrea Volpato (lead guitar) and Gianluca (bass) had experience performing live in bands since when they were young. In fact they had played together in a band for many years before, so this might have brought some immediate cohesiveness to the live performance of MØAA.
Radio Punk: What about the name? Where did the inspiration for such an unusual name come from? As far as I know, it’s connected with the “MAO-A” gene?
Jancy: The MAO-A gene is also known as “The Warrior Gene” because scientists discovered that long ago certain mutations in the gene most likely developed to enable warriors to become more aggressive, and therefore persevere in war better than those without these particular mutations. Today these genetic traits are no longer being used for fighting wars, but are now associated with some mental health disorders. Some research on the mutation links it to serial killers or tendencies towards violent crime and it goes a lot into to the nature versus nurture topic. All of it is fascinating to me, I got my degree in cellular and molecular biology with an emphasis in genetics and I also struggle with PTSD so my music plays around with these subjects quite a bit.
Radio Punk: Shoegaze, darkwave, post-punk, coldwave, synthwave, new wave, dream pop, indie rock, goth rock, ethereal wave. Do you think your project can be considered part of some specific genres or a musical and subcultural scene?
Jancy: While I was writing I wasn’t thinking of any genre at all, it was really a coincidence that it ended up fitting any of these categories.
What is strange is that I had actually never heard of some these genres until after releasing Euphoric Recall and people were tagging the album with dark wave, ethereal wave etc. Now I have a better understanding and appreciation, but it definitely was a new area that I ended up exploring as a listener.
Radio Punk: Could you tell me something about your songs? In particular, about the lyrics and the creative process behind them. What are your main influences, not only musical?
Jancy: I always write a song first with a drum machine, then guitar and bass or sometimes synth. After the general structure is there I start adding vocals that have no words yet usually, just sounds/melody. When I listen back to the vocal sounds I recorded, I start hearing or imagining different words and then start to try different options for the lyrics. This process is very fun for me, especially with this new record we are recording now. The lyrics are much more clear and cohesive than the first record, but they still came to me in this very improvised and sudden way…and somehow ended up conceptually congruent.
As far as my main influences, they are constantly changing. While writing Euphoric Recall I was listening to Dead Skeletons, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Broncho, Dead Can Dance and Emancipator.
Regarding lyrical inspirations…my lyrics seem to most often be dialogues that I am having with someone who was in my life, or stories I create that were influenced by events or people from my past. For me writing, whether it be lyrics or music, has always been a way to work through conflict or issues within myself or feelings that I have towards someone else.
Radio Punk: During the last decade there has been some sort of a revival of post-punk, darkwave and old school electronic with bands like Molchat Doma, She Past Away, Lebanon Hanover, Boy Harsher and Minuit Machine which have become very popular also with people outside of the classic range of the alternative and independent music listeners. What do you think about this? And how is it nowadays the alternative music scene in the United States? Do you like some bands in particular? And do you think the alternative scene is growing or the success of these bands is just an exception to the rule?
Jancy: There seems to be a bit of a revival in 80’s related music now, just like how there is always a bit of a revival of the music from previous decades.
I think the alternative/underground scene in the US is great, there are lots of current projects that I am listening right now like Provoker, Gvllow, Drab Majesty, Mareux, Cristoforo Donadi, and Bones.
Radio Punk: Some bands connected to the darkwave and alternative scene are strongly linked to politics, in particular in the sphere of the non-parliamentary far left, the animal rights movement, feminism and the anarchists although the approach is generally more reflective and less sloganeering than the hardcore punk bands or the militant rap. For example, Rosa Apatrida from New York is the first band of this kind that comes into my mind. Even mainstream bands who draw plenty of inspiration from the strands of the alternative music of the 80’s sometimes use their songs as a tool for social and political criticism. For example, MGMT had one of their biggest hits, Little Dark Age, interpreted as a critique of the “Trumpian era”. What do you think about the influence of alternative music on politics and the influence of politics on alternative music?
Jancy: Whether I am a listener or a writer, my experience with music is very introspective and personal by default, so politics aren’t often something that comes to mind for me. However, I enjoy listening at times to System of Down and Immortal Technique which are blatantly political in their music. But I assume most of the fans who listen to alternative music already share a similar perspective to the artist, so I would imagine there’s not much impact when it comes to changing the perspectives of listeners directly. Mainstream music maybe has a bigger impact on politics though.
Radio Punk: What is your approach towards the record industry and the “do it yourself” principle? As far as I know, the United States is the largest music and record market in the world, and I imagine that it wouldn’t be so easy for an emerging group not launched by a large record company to bring it’s musical proposal to the fans, even if the web has multiplied the possibilities in this field.
Jancy: When it comes to the DIY music life, I embrace it because I like to have control over most parts of my project. Of course the finances are always the most difficult part of this. Usually I am not really paying much attention to what is missing in the music industry as much as trying to utilize what is there since I can’t change it, and I really only care about being able to write my music. Obviously there is a lot missing in the US, and Europe is more friendly to touring etc.. But there really doesn’t seem to be a perfect place with regards to launching a new music project.
Radio Punk: Do you also dedicate yourself to other forms of arts?
Jancy: Sometimes I will randomly start painting with acrylics. Aside from that I also design most of the MØAA t-shirts, posters, and visuals.
Radio Punk: Finally, I will ask you with anticipation about the next album and any other future projects, or if you have any other comments. Thank you very much, Jancy.
Jancy: We are almost done recording vocals for the second album as I write this. Pretty excited to share it!
Interview by Alessio Ecoretti
Credit photo: Lucy Faery
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