In the realm of jam bands, moe. has earned its place as one of the most legendary acts. The band was founded in Buffalo, New York and became of the biggest acts to popularize the genre beyond the Grateful Dead alongside acts like Phish and Widespread Panic. Some of those acts may have become bigger, but moe. has carved out a loyal following of fans who appreciate their rock-leaning sound that contains some of the best guitar shredding in the scene. The two guitar-attack of Al Schnier and Chuck Garvey has always been the cornerstone of the moe. sound, allowing them to drop from surf rock to prog to even Americana on the drop of a dime. This is part of the reason that, when news of Garvey’s unexpected stroke surfaced in November 2021, the band and their fans were devastated and left wondering if moe. as we know them could continue on. Not ones to hang it up, the band invited longtime pals Suke Cerulo (Schleigho) and Nate Wilson (Assembly of Dust, Percy Hill) to join them for the interim. This has kept the moe. train moving while also adding a new dynamic to the band’s sound with the addition of Wilson’s keyboard playing.
Though the band doesn’t have any set plans for a full-fledged tour at the moment, they have been doing short runs and one-offs mostly around their home region of the Northeast. This month, they head to California for two nights in Napa. The band will also play a run of anniversary shows in Colorado this November and just announced a New Year’s Eve show at The Fillmore in Philadelphia among a handful of other shows.
With a little downtime between gigs, bassist and singer Rob Derhak recently took some time to share some thoughts on the current lineup, share an update of Chuck Garvey’s health, reflect on the legacy of moe. after thirty years and more.
How is it working out with the new guys?
It’s great so far. Personality-wise, we get along really well. They fit right in. It just took a few practices to get them up to speed and have them figure out where they fit in the mix. There were already five people with Chuck playing, and we had to temporarily replace Chuck with Suke on guitar and then we also added Nate on keys, which just takes up more space sonically, so we had to figure out how that all was gonna work. Those guys are pros and they knew when not to play and when to play, so it was good.
Would you ever consider bringing in Nate or someone else as a full-time keyboard player?
Maybe, because it seems to be working out really well. I like the sound of it. I haven’t checked out what the fans are saying – that would factor into it for me as well. But ultimately, it’s about what the band wants to do and what we feel comfortable with. Nate gets it. We’ve been friends with him long enough that he fits right in and he’s an amazing player.
Do you see this current format as an evolution or a temporary change-up?
Get back to me in about five months on that. I don’t want to speak too soon. I’ll just say it’s been a lot of fun and I like the way it sounds.
Has it been weird for you and the other guys to not be touring all summer?
Yeah, we were out for about a week in a bus and then we did some one-offs. It’s like we’re not working, but at the same time we did so many rehearsals together with the new guys we’ve been behind the scenes doing stuff. It was fun to get back out and do shows, it felt great, but I ended up wanting more.
Can we expect a full-fledged tour with this lineup?
No, we’re not going to do a full tour probably until winter or spring. We’re going to do our dates in the fall and keep to what we’re doing now and work on stuff behind the scenes. We’re playing out in California. We’re trying to decide what we’re doing for New Year’s [Editor’s Note: following this interview, the band confirmed a New Year’s Eve show in Philadelphia]. We’re keeping it light, for sure.
It seems like a lot of bands in your realm stick to one-stop, multi-night runs instead of a big tour these days. What makes that more appealing?
Well, look at the price of gas. When you’re paying $5 a gallon and putting it in a semi and a tour bus, all the sudden the money you make doing a tour is just paying for itself. I think the model of setting up a weekend somewhere seems to be more appealing to bands because you can still play to good crowds and you don’t lose money doing it. Unless you have a big enough draw where you can bring in enough people, it doesn’t make financial sense to spend all the money it takes to tour. There’s a lot of money with hotels, transportation, and paying the people who need to work. I think it’s a function of necessity for a lot of bands at this point.
I guess it also gives your fans the chance to take a little vacation instead of going on the road.
That’s the hope. If you play somewhere you have a good amount of fans in the first place and it’s a cool place, it has more of a party atmosphere. If you end up playing somewhere really remote that nobody gives a shit about on a Wednesday, it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense vibe-wise. Unless you’re playing New Orleans on a Wednesday and everybody wants to be there, that’s a different story. It’s a lot more fun when you’re playing what feels like a party.
I think the best moe. show I ever saw was a late-night Jazz Fest show.
I was just thinking about that. I really wouldn’t mind going back to Tipitina’s. New Orleans is a blast.
Have you spoken with Chuck recently? It sounded like he is making progress on the podcast but I don’t recall hearing about his initial condition.
I just talked to him yesterday, we speak on a weekly basis. Initially his condition was that they put him in a coma. That was the first part and then it’s just been rebuilding. That was back in November last year, so it’s been constantly rebuilding his memory and his ability to remember how to play and do regular things. His speech is still a little bit choppy but I think his motor skills are coming back really well.
Is he playing guitar at this point?
Yes. I haven’t heard him yet but Al played with him yesterday and they did a little jamming and he said it was promising and Chuck was doing really well. That is great news and we’re just going to start doing stuff like that where we go to him and play until we can get together for official practices. The future’s looking bright in that regard. He’s been doing all of the woodshedding and putting in the effort and the time, basically relearning how to play. He couldn’t do the things he’s spent the last thirty years doing with his hands, so he had to relearn things he knows in his head how to do but his hand won’t do it. Al said he’s doing really well – they were playing moe. songs and it sounded good and he was actually able to improvise.
So, the goal from the beginning was to keep Chuck on board?
Oh yeah, that was always the goal. We just didn’t know if that was realistic.
Are there any songs in your repertoire that you won’t play without Chuck?
Right now, we’re not playing anything that he recorded [where] he sings. We’re not playing one of the relativity new songs that I wrote and have him sing – “Who You Calling Scared?” Part of the problem is that he’s still not 100% confident singing, so we’ll see where that leads us. The main goal is just to get him back in the band. The other thing is that we haven’t been able to go through every song that moe. knows with the other guys, so we just have to pick and choose. It’s not a matter of we’re not going to do that tune, it’s just that we haven’t gotten to it yet. But we definitely made a decision that we’re not going to do Chuck songs without Chuck.
Are you writing or recording any new material?
I’m waiting on doing any new writing with moe. until Chuck’s back, but I have been doing other things on my own. Vinnie and I have been playing with Blue Star Radiation and we do have some new material in the queue to learn. I’ve written a bunch of stuff that we haven’t had the time to rehearse. Once Chuck is all better, we’ll probably take some time for writing.
You guys recently started a podcast. What made you want to do this?
Honestly, we just weren’t playing and we wanted to do something as a band to let people know we’re here. It was also something that we felt Chuck could manage with us and it was a good outlet for us as a band. It’s been a lot of fun, and honestly, it’s one of the ways we keep in touch.
Do fans submit topics to cover?
No, but I’m willing to [let them]. We’re talking about reminiscing about different recordings we did, bringing on different guests, and it’s just a mishmash. But I would be open to taking suggestions from fans.
It’d be fun to hear stories from the road and your festivals over the years.
Yeah, we have to bust out the archive book.
There’s a physical book?
I don’t know if there is, but Jim used to keep a record of stupid shit we would say.
It’s been over 30 years of moe. Do you ever reflect on the legacy of the band?
Sometimes. I don’t think about it too often because I just kind of cruise along my day doing normal things. Every once in a while, I think this is a really long time for a band to be together. It’s definitely influenced people to do things in their life. It’s kind of crazy to think about the amount of reach we’ve had with people and how something that we’ve done has changed people’s direction in their lives.
It’s funny because there are different eras of fans. When we were younger and these fans were about our age, now we see a lot of those people coming with their kids to the shows. You see certain people in the crowd, and you’re like, that’s what I was like during that time in my life. Or I’ll see a group of people in the crowd and think, oh yeah, they were really into the band like fifteen years ago and I’ll start reminiscing about those days.
Most bands don’t make it a fraction of the time you have. Is there a secret to that?
There were definitely points along the way where I questioned whether or not we were going to be together and I’m sure everyone in the band has questioned at one point or another how far they’re going to be a member. I think at one point we got over that hump and we became family essentially. We went from being friends to becoming completely inseparable. We get pissed at each other but it’s like a family thing – nothing will end this fucking relationship. Now there’s no doubt in my mind that this is like till death do us part.
You’ve had a few challenges along the way both with yourself and now with Chuck. It seems like there is a resilience there.
Yeah after going through all of that, it’s like throw it at me.
Is there anything else moe. wants to accomplish as a band or have you checked all the boxes at this point?
We’re constantly striving to improve our situation. I would love to get back to doing the shows that we used to be able to do before covid and to be able to go out on a real tour again on a bus. Honestly, the things that I am really looking forward is just being able to effortlessly play with my friends in the band when I’m old. If we’re 80 years old, I want to be able to show up at a festival and play with these guys.
Would you ever bring back moe.down?
My daughter was pushing me on that a couple of days ago. She was like, what if you do the 30th anniversary or 25th of moe.down? I was like, that was a pretty good idea. [My kids] all want it back. Moe.down was like a family reunion; we’d bring all of our kids and behind the scenes it was a like an insane party for the kids. We had a trailer and they would go batshit crazy.
