From the dark corners of Devon an idea was born… Two guys, a few riffs and an aptitude for showmanship. Moriaty are a two-piece band that occasionally flirt with other musicians, they’ve worked with a variety of rappers, singers, poets, bass players and intend to develop their relationships with other artists in the future.  They have always intended to stretch and skew the 2 piece phenomenon: they like working inside the box – they just like making a bit more room in there!

We were due to meet up with the guys a couple of hours before they took to the stage at The Great Hall in Exeter where they were opening the night for fellow Teignmouthians 'MUSE', sadly, I received a call from their PR Manager to say that owing to an 'unforeseen' surprise, this was sadly not going to happen. Undeterred, I went for a pint and waited for the evening to come.

I finally caught up with Jordan West, albeit a few weeks after the MUSE show, where we chatted about how the gig came about, how they felt before their appearance and how they celebrated into the night, here's how we got on....

 

 

So, we saw you rock the Exeter Great Hall on March 20th when you shared the stage with MUSE, how did you feel in the afternoon leading up to the gig and 2 minutes before you went on stage?

Erm, excited, sure. But generally it's all about planning and preparing. 2 minutes before we were good, same as any show, just wanna get on an do what we do. 

How did you actually get the gig, was it via Chris (Wolstenholme - MUSE bass player) after he worked on and performed on your ‘Bones’ track?

Yeah, Chris just texted me and asked it we would like to do it.

The show in Exeter may not have been the largest audience that you have ever played to (1800) but was it the largest as in the bands you were sharing the stage with?

There's no bigger band than Muse in the live scene, so yeah!

I hadn’t heard much material from Marmozets, did you know much about them before the show?

Nope.

Back in 1992, I helped to setup a Christmas gig in Teignmouth at The Meadow Centre, My mates band were ‘headlining’ the event and on the bill were Gothic Plague and Fixed Penalty, these bands contained the 3 members of MUSE before they were MUSE, to see them headlining festivals and filling stadiums night after night all over the world is amazing, what aspirations do YOU have as a band?

We've had a good innings so far, I personally would love to tour Japan, play Glastonbury. But kinda just wanna continue doing the things that make being in a band better than not being in one. Playing cool shows, meeting cool people and getting into festivals for free.

If you were to cover a MUSE track in one of your live performances, which would it be and why?

The Groove. Fucking sick riff! I know it's not Chris's favourite tune, but I'd love to cover Map of Your Head - that's one of their best for me.

Chris joined you on stage in Exeter for ‘Bones’, was this pre-planned?

Well yeah, they're an A list band, it's a big production, these things don't just happen off the cuff.  I hadn't thought about it until their tour manager posed the question... Glad he did, it was an unforgettable moment.

How did you celebrate when you came off the stage at Exeter?

No Comment...

Were your families in the audience at the show? Did you bring an army of Teignmouth fans with you?

Guest passes were extremely restricted. We had a very small team and a couple of the very closest with us. But we know a lot of the Muse friends and fans so there were plenty of our mates knocking about.

What do you think about the new material that MUSE have played from their new album ‘Drones’ (Psycho, Reapers, Dead Inside)? 

We both love Psycho. Mat described it as "the muse we want".  Big dirty riffs and not too much bullshit.  Reapers we also both love - it's like a 90's super hit in the making.  Dead inside... Err....

You’re appearing at the Lemonfest Festival at the Newton Abbot Racecourse on May 30th, have you got any other local festivals lined up?

Yeah man, Volksfest for one. We are planning a huge show at the place we filmed the vid for 'Bones' this summer, plus a few others we can't mention just yet... Keep your eyes glued to our website for details.

What is it about festivals that you enjoy the most?

I like showing off what we've got to an unsuspecting audience. Meeting the bands we all know and love but never get to hang out with. Festivals just bring us all together at the one time, which is great.

You recently played a 7 date UK tour taking in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bath & London, which show do you think was the best?

We loved Scotland, Bristol was banging as always, particularly as we did a really cool dual set with The Scribes. Newquay was always gonna kick the proverbial donkey. Cornish crowds are the best in the country bar none.

What can we expect from your new material? Is it chock full of filthy blues?

Our new stuff is very varied tbh. There's beef all over the shop though... We're doing some cool collabs very soon including an EP with The Scribes and potentially another really good bass player.

We had a chat back in February and when asked about a fascinating fact, Jordan said that he had a green ‘Blue Peter’ badge, being an email interview, I wasn’t able to probe further, so come on, tell me how you got the badge and whether it still gets you into museums for nothing!

Haha, I got it because I sent in a picture with something on it about saving the planet and that we need to stop global warming or some shit like that. It's a green badge because it's the ecological one. Never once used it... Nothing seemed to happen in Devon that you could use it for... Mr Smith hadn't dreamed up the Eden Project yet!

I heard that the MUSE support slot gig nearly never happened as one of you was expecting a baby? Has the baby now arrived? If so, name, sex and weight please! (Please also pass on our best wishes to Mrs West/Partridge)

Thanks very much. Fortunately, the show was long enough before the due date.  However, he's still not out at time of writing (5 days overdue!) but fingers crossed he'll be here soon. Myself and Mrs West are thinking of calling him Fred.

 

We'd like to thank Jordan for taking the time to run through our questions and we look forward to catching them live at the Lemonfest festival which is taking place at Newton Abbot Racecourse on May 30th (Saturday), we wish them every success for the future and look forward to new material in due course....

Be sure to check out their website and accompanying social media pages, they're all below for you, just point and click and the t'interweb will do the rest!

 

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Interview by Steve Muscutt