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Moffatts Act Their Age
October 11, 2000
Toronto Sun


"People don't realize ..."

Those three words seemed to preface much of what Clint Moffatt said during an exclusive interview yesterday, as he and his musical brothers The Moffatts prepared for last night's MuchMusic Intimate & Interactive performance to promote their new album, Submodalities.

"People don't realize we're not a boy-band," the singer-bassist would say, flanked by his keyboardist triplet, Dave.

Or: "People don't realize the changes that can happen to a band in three years."

Submodalities, which came out last week, might change all that.

At 16, Clint and Dave -- along with Moffatts drummer Bob, also 16, and singer-guitarist Scott, 17 -- are in the interesting position of growing up on disc.

Having made their start as a pre-teen country outfit, the Victoria, B.C., brother act established themselves as homegrown pop giants with 1998's Chapter 1: In The Beginning, which went double-platinum in Canada and sold over 2 million copies worldwide.

Now, with Submodalities, The Moffatts are eager to distance themselves from the sugary tunes and teen heartthrob image of just a few years ago. Even the name itself refers to a change in image.

At the same time, the unblinkingly sincere and outspoken Clint and Dave wisely downplayed the notion that Submodalities is a drastic departure. To them, it's as natural as learning to drive.
"Chapter One was a snapshot of where the band was three years ago," said Clint. "Three years is a long time to change. You have different influences, your attitudes change, and the way you write songs matures."

While Submodalities is hardly a sharp left-turn from The Moffatts' tested pop sound, it does feature a leap forward in terms of songwriting. The band wear newfound Radiohead/Oasis influences proudly on their collective sleeves on opening tune Just Another Phase and closer Spy. There is darker subject matter, including one anti-drug tune, Antifreeze & Aeroplanes, that was written after the band saw a man O.D. and die outside a nightclub in Prague.

Still, radio-ready songs like single Bang Bang Boom and Always In My Heart -- not to mention Bob Rock's slick production -- will make the transition easy for fans.

Said Clint: "People can bridge the last album with this one." The Moffatts know that in order to fully shake the teen-pop tag, they'll have to win over a new crowd, too.

"We're the first to admit that we don't have a guy audience," Clint said. "We're young teenage guys and obviously we're going to attract teen girls. We're going to be very open about it: Pretty much no guys like the band, which is kind of upsetting. Music is about putting it in your CD player and listening -- it's not about the image. Unfortunately, everything about today's music is about how the band looks."

"So," said Dave, "we're challenging all those guys out there: If your girlfriend gets the CD, you have to give it a try."

Added Clint: "Chapter One was good in that it sold records and made the record company happy. But as far as the band went, I don't think we were totally happy (with our image)."

According to Clint, The Moffatts' record company, EMI, didn't totally share the band's enthusiasm for growth at first.

There was even a kerfuffle over last night's Much appearance when the label insisted, to The Moffatts' chagrin, that the band concentrate on hits rather than new stuff. (A compromise was worked out in the form of a hits medley.)

"We're also very aware that if we jump too far ahead we could be making a big mistake," Clint said.

He said producer Rock had the best advice:
"He said, 'You're here to make the best record you can. You can't make people buy it.' Every band has their formula, and so do producers. You can put out singles that you know will work again and again. But soon it's going to die out.

I don't know if people want to accept it, but we're just going to be ourselves. We're going to write songs about personal experiences and what we're feeling at the time."