Jade Moede “Enjoy The Ride”
Wholesome. Genre-bending. “Enjoy the Ride” is an incredible track that makes you lose your words for a moment. Raw, beating, nostalgic. As if stepping right out of a time capsule. No matter how many years and decades have passed, the long forgotten sounds are not forgotten. Humorous, soulful, rebellious and freeing. Jade Moede has something special in his music, in his voice, his lyrics and guitar work. Everywhere you look, there’s that massive, thriving energy, growing, blasting, expanding. It makes you rethink things.
How is “Enjoy the Ride” not blues? The primal, expressive resonance from the soul is every bit as authentic as the early blues. Speaking of attitude, aesthetic and sonics, it’s chaotic, contrasting and minimalistic as punk rock. But the impression and rich storytelling draw from country and folk. Such dynamic track so simple in firm yet it’s got everything. It’s multi-faceted. It beats between the era of folk revival and the rise of punk rock, tracing even further to early folk. The energy and the vibe can’t be mistaken.
Moede is an eclectic artist. Through his work, sonic palettes from different eras are vivid and vibrant. Each of his song takes you somewhere mysterious and fantastic, like celebrations and carnivals set in different universes and time periods, the experience cant be found elsewhere. And the brilliantly crafted sonics never cease to surprise you. Below, we get to pick the master’s mind. Read on to learn more about the New England based artist.
Punk Head: I love the raw, authentic aesthetic of "Enjoy The Ride." What is your creative process like?
Jade Moede: It constantly changes song to song, on “Enjoy The Ride” I was doing what I call a musical sketch and letting the muse fly free. I was simultaneously playing the kick drum, guitar and just letting the vocal rip. I loved it so much, I tried to record the sketch from scratch, but couldn’t get the inflections of the heart of the vocal. So I went with the raw phone recording as the base of the song. I was trying to go for a ( Don’t laugh to hard ) a Tom Waits and a mix of ACDC style vocal... and that was my ultimate vision, to keep the vocal as the heart, the no denying solid stone of the song.
Everything else was an incidental feel under the vocal. My main instrument is drums, and on this song the vocal keeps the non sync timing of the human bounce. I added more background vocals as a kind of a question and answer theme, panned them out to the sides. I originally wanted to have my guitar playing friend to do a guitar solo, but he was moving to DuBai. So I looked around my room and saw a harmonica, I thought ok let’s go with it... I don’t play harmonica per say, but hey nothing tried nothing gained.
When I had the song to a point where the original sketch was still dominant and authentic, I thought it needed one more smile, something to make it epic. Hmm, what could make a person smile? Of course, it needed a horse! Yep, I cracked myself up adding the family friend's horses, there’s the whinnying, there’s the classic run by gallop and at the end of song, the horse laughing. From the beginning concept of this song, my heart was like, this raw feel is just killer.
PH: What was your favorite moment in making the music video?
Moede: My favorite video moment is the scene to the words. “I can’t dance, and I ain’t pretty.” it just cracks me up. Now that’s just funny. I also like the hand painted artwork I did of the wood car, which became the cover art of the single.
PH: What do you aim to accomplish in the near future?
Moede: My near future goal is to be happy, to create music and art that make people smile. Currently working on a new song, where I’m playing the drums with a cool infectious groove, that will have soloing drum parts, that I’m hoping, just brings big smiles to listeners heart.
PH: Who are your biggest inspirations?
Moede: Violent Femmes, Queen
PH: What would you like to say to your fans out there?
Moede: Sometimes little steps of kindness changes a persons day. Put time aside from just working your day and night jobs and try to create something new that makes you happy.
