Eddie Moore has been called "one of the most important young musicians" in Kansas City. His music is all over the map, encompassing everything from jazz to prog rock to funk, especially as showcased on such internationally acclaimed albums as Kings and Queens (with The Outer Circle) and his new band We the People on 2018's Bando. Moore has been recognized for his music highly collaborative, genre-pushing music as well as the many different music classes he teaches on a regular basis in and around Kansas City. It is an honor to share an exclusive interview with Eddie Moore.
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Please introduce yourself. Describe your music for new listeners.
Hi, My name is Eddie Moore. I am a pianist, composer, and teacher. My music is mostly instrumental and incorporates several different genres like hip-hop, funk, prog rock, and improvised music such as jazz all in into one.
Tell us about your latest project, We the People. What differentiates this band from The Outer Circle?
My new group is We The People. It is quite different from my other group Eddie Moore & the Outer Circle in many ways.
A. We the People comes out of a piano trio element absent of guitar. Piano, or keyboard are all the way out front.
B. We play completely different music, all though I still write 95% of all the music for both groups. The music in We The People pulls more from my hip-hop, classical, rock background, instead of a more traditional “jazz” element
C. In this group I also use electronic elements like looping, and sampling that the Outer Circle doesn’t. We even perform with a DJ half the time.
You describe your song “Bando” as being inspired by the loss of your cousin, Bobby, to suicide in 2018. What would you like people to know about Bobby?
My song “Bando” is about my cousin Bobby. The song shares a message to uplift Black males in America. To not give up, and see their worth, to keep fighting because they to can create change. I would like people to know Bobby was a caring, funny, and creative man that loved his family.
How closely did you and Duncan Burnett collaborate on “Bando” during the stages of the writing process?
Duncan and I collaborated very closely in the writing process. Actually sitting down in the same room to create and cultivate the right message.
Take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work. What part of the day are you the most creative?
Everyday is different for me, all depends on the day of the week. I am a full time musician so I wake up pretty late for most probably around 9:30 or 10AM. I usually start working immediately checking emails and handling, social media things. After that I get up and stretch, and take the dog out. I’m usually out the door and straight to the gym. When I get home I usually cook breakfast or lunch because by then it’s 1PM or so. If it’s Monday or Tuesday I handle all my business things. Which can be anything from scheduling rehearsal for upcoming gigs, social media, editing videos, booking tours, street teaming, etc. By about 4PM I start my teaching schedule as I teach several students at the Culture House in Olathe. When I get home at night I relax for a bit and cook dinner. I am always up late creating from that point. I am usually creating music/ practicing till about 2AM. As the week progresses business time is substituted for practice time. I usually have gigs Thursday - Sunday so things also move around bit. I live an improvisatory lifestyle, as long I practice, create, eat, and exercise my day is complete and I can get the growth I desire.
How do you work through creative blocks? What other music inspires you?
I constantly listen to all different types of music. A lot of jazz, hip-hop, r&b, rock, punk, classical, blues. It all inspires me. I don’t really have creative blocks. If do I just put the idea aside and come back to it. I never throw things away.
Eddie Moore's recommendations from the Johnson County Library catalog:
The Narrative of The Life of Fredrick Douglass
The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
Notes and Tones: Musician to Musician Interviews by Arthur Taylor
Some of My Best Friends Are Black by Tanner Colby