Caleb Moore
musician Caleb Moore, really more of a true artist, shared his vibrant, positive approach to making music and living life. we first discovered his unique sound on his mother Julianne Moore’s instagram. she enhances many of her posts with one of his songs….as a rad mom would. combined with his cool style and sense of self, we expect to see great musical and creative things (he’s also a film composer) from this artist on the rise. check out our Brooklyn photo diary and his is latest videos and album, Matter of Time, on Spotify. for some summer fun in Montauk check him live this friday at 7pm at Hero Beach Club and July 20th at The Surf Lodge.
the bare magazine: can you share what you experienced and learned from the release of your first album?
Caleb Moore: I learned that no matter the results nothing is more fulfilling and exciting than the immediacy of making music and sharing it with people close to you. I get such a warm feeling when I think about sending one of my initial demos in a group chat with my fiancée and best friend, and their insane responses coming through hours later because of the time difference. There’s been small wins and losses throughout the whole release process, but the things that have stuck with me have to do with my connection to the music or the people around me. Sharing music with the people closest to me has become casual and intimate all at once, and this experience made me realize how meaningful it is for me to be able to do that.
bare: how much time went into it? describe the journey / process producing and creating it?
CM: I got the opportunity to make this album after being selected for the Villa Lena artist residency in Tuscany, Italy last summer. Because I’m an independent artist, it’s pretty rare that I’m able to have a significant period of time carved out to be dedicated just to working on my artist project, so I had begun looking for artist residencies to help foster an opportunity like this for myself. I found Villa Lena completely by chance and applied on a whim. I’ve always handled every bit of the music process myself (writing, recording/engineering, producing, mixing) so I knew that I could really take advantage of a residency in a unique way.
My pitch was to make an entire album from scratch in the six weeks there that would capture where I was at in my life exactly at that time. A lot of people warned me to not be overambitious with what I wanted to complete, but once I arrived I practically exploded from all this creative build up I had. The residency was multi-disciplinary, so I was surrounded by artists outside of my medium (painters, ceramic artists, knitters even) – in addition to becoming genuine friends of mine I was really inspired by viewing myself through their lenses; I wasn’t just a musician, I was an artist, and something about the reframing opened me up creatively in a way I hadn’t experienced before. I was freer, and much less judgmental. I wrote and produced eleven songs in the first twelve days of being there, and ended the residency with a nearly finished 13-track full length album.
bare: you gave such a unique voice and sound. do you enjoy working with that, and exploring what sets your music apart... in a very flooded market?
CM: Once I started making this album I did something really deliberate to change my mentality. My best work tends to happen almost accidentally (like a lot of artists), when I’m trying the least to make something “good.” So I “pretended,” as I like to say, that maybe this time my first idea was the best idea. Obviously, this was not a fail safe practice, but it did have a serious impact on the type of music I was making.
I’m a person who loves a lot of different types of music, and I also work in very different genres of music when I work as a film composer. In quieting the voice in my head that asks too many questions before I really get started, I was really able to channel that piece of me that is more concerned about how things sound than how they fit in. As a result, this project spans so many different styles. But I do still feel like it has a clear throughline - a voice if you will – and the throughline is me. I’m still working on defining it, but for now I feel good knowing that you can feel it when you hear it.
bare: how inspired were you growing up in such creative artistic family? do you think it helped push you on your musical journey? did you seek formal musical training?
CM: I started playing music when I was six or seven years old – I know that I valued art really highly from an early age. Being an artist was as normal of a job to me (if not even more normal) than working in finance, or being a teacher. And I think there’s multiple pieces to that; on a basic level it was ingrained in me that the career you choose should be synonymous with something you love doing. What a privilege.
On a deeper level, now that I’m older, I’m able to see that my dreams were uninhibited. I had an example of artists who had achieved at the highest level, which meant they didn’t have to choose between doing the things they love and supporting their family. So I’m very lucky that I was able to identify my dreams without barriers, and think about life from the perspective of personal fulfillment – something I deeply appreciate and has shaped me significantly as a person.
bare: your mom posts a majority of her insta posts with one of your songs. that support must be special to you. did she encourage you starting at a young age?
CM: Definitely, my parents put me into music lessons early on and I was aware even as a kid that they thought it was important to learn an instrument. I also owe that to my early music teacher, Jeff Peretz (who now works at the Clive Davis Institute), who I studied with at Third Street Music School. I arrived for guitar lessons but pretty quickly we began incorporating songwriting, which is where I think I really fell in love with music. My connection to music is through creating much more than just playing, and I know that beginning to write so early had a big impact on that. But I was always sharing my songs with my family and they were so encouraging. There’s a few songs I wrote as a kid that my mom still loves and will reference from time to time.
bare: how about your fiancée is she up for being married to a rock star?! is she a creator as well?
CM: My fiancée, Kibriyaá, is like the definition of someone who is creative but not interested in making that their career. She works for Morning Brew, a business news media company, helping run the multi-media department, but she’s kind of the full package creatively. She can sing way too well for someone who “doesn’t sing,” and is a ridiculously good dancer. But to make it about ME, she is a huge reason why I felt like I could dive back into being an independent artist. She’s one of those people who can’t help but have impeccable taste; I hate to say it but no matter the topic, she’s almost always right.
Her instincts are truly unique, which is part of what I love so much about her. So I say all this to say – I remember specifically when I started to show her music that would turn her head a bit. I know she would never lie to me, so when she started to really respond to my work I knew I was genuinely on to something. Having a sounding board I can trust has allowed me to actually be confident in a healthy way and quiet some of the inevitable self-doubt that comes with being an artist.
bare: for our shoot you brought a few of your staple wardrobe pieces. describe your personal style? you seem to know what suits you best. any favorite brands or designers?
CM: I felt like my personal style transformed when I was in college and realized that my choice of pants dictates everything. I very much grew up in the skinny jeans era (eeee-yuck!) and it was as if I was handcuffed by it until I turned 20. Now I’m really focused on my pants selection, whether it be baggy dress pants, a little bell-bottom here or there, or a good simple straight leg jean. I’ve also finally embraced my slim figure and reaped the benefits of sharing pants with my fiancée. It’s amazing how much you can add to your wardrobe once you just focus on how something fits. I’m excited to get deeper into fancier clothes; I was trying on tuxes for my wedding and I can see a suit era coming for me – but that’s not currently in the budget.
bare: list your current top 5 Bare essentials
CM:
Clementines – they’re out of season right now and my mornings are struggling
Our cat Ben - if you know us you know Ben, and therefore you know the most handsome boy on the planet. He turned me into a shameless cat dad eight years ago.
My Op-1 by Teenage Engineering. I use it more as a MIDI controller for my music than anything, but the combo of chic and portable is unmatched. It was my travel companion all through playing basketball in college and allowed me to make music on road trips.
Nobody Told Me in Dumbo - we just moved to the neighborhood last September and live super close to this bar. I might be biased because I’ve never really had a “neighborhood bar” in my life before, but we love it there so much. The margs are so good and the staff are our homies. Also they do this crazy sour cream and onion dip for the fries
My AirPods - basic but true. I’m lost without them.
