Meet MOY: The Glasgow band making their mark on the grunge rock scene

Meet MOY – an emerging indie rock band from Glasgow who just wrapped up a UK and Ireland tour opening for Rainbow Kitten Surprise last month. SOS sat down with the band’s frontman Dominic Heneghan before their last gig in Dublin to talk about their recent single, “Thank God For Mental Illness,” songwriting processes, and life on the road. 

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SOS: You started the band in 2019, which was right before Covid. How did that impact your touring and growth as a band? 

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‍MOY: This is actually our first tour, which is a blessing in disguise. We were going in a completely different direction with music before Covid. It was more of an electronic, spacey direction but then we went towards the grunge rock sound. 

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‍SOS: With this being your first tour, how do you feel like you're learning the ropes? What are some of the challenges that you've been facing, if any?

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‍MOY: Challenges? Just not having my own space. But at the moment, I wouldn't have any complaints. Like, we are sleeping in a caravan and have two really small little sofa things, but it's been the time of our lives. Honestly, I wish it could go on. I think everyone's missing their beds and then I'm missing my cats and everything. But it's been a dream, and [RKS] has been so lovely to get to know, it's been nice slowly breaking the barrier down each night. For me, I wouldn't say I've had a challenge. It's just a bit worn out and a bit of trying to piece it all together. So much is happening every day. I think these two weeks kind of feel like a lifetime worth memories.

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‍SOS: From all the work that you’ve been doing over the last four years to now being on your first tour, how has the band’s growth become apparent? 

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‍MOY: We're lucky that RKS has such a great following and such an amazing fan base. The people that come up to us [after the show] are so sweet. I think it's taken me a long time to get that confidence of being onstage and being a bit of a front person. I kind of just stuck to the mic for the first few years and didn't really do much movement when we talked to the audience. But the band has been really helpful with that and giving me pointers. We would have loved to have toured before but it's been the perfect time for this. We're in the middle of a new music cycle as well and it just seems like everything's happening the way it's supposed to. I think I've been frustrated in the past that maybe something hasn't happened sooner, but we're still trying to find the audience and half the time we've just been winning people over during the shows. It's been really cool that people have gone from not having heard of us to being a fan.

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‍SOS: That is cool to play for a crowd that's not necessarily there for you, but still have them leave having liked your music and becoming new listeners. 

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‍MOY: And it seems like RKS fans are so hardcore into the band that they just dig music, which is really cool. I think maybe sometimes the struggle we've had in Glasgow is that sometimes people feel like they are too cool for school to enjoy going out, whereas this feels like people love music. They talk more in depth about it. I had a few people last night just being like, “Thanks for giving us some soul.” And with "Thank God for Mental Illness," this girl last night was telling me how it's not just a song and that it's really helped her through something. I couldn't ask for anything more than that. That's what music's done for me in my life. Like, connecting to these people like John Frusciante and Anton Newcombe, these kinds of messed up folk that have had troubles but give this gift to the world.

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‍SOS: Is that where that idea for "Thank God for Mental Illness" comes from, because it's given the opportunity to create art, or is it more supposed to be ironic?

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‍MOY: I don't want to give any sort of specific meaning because I like everything to be open to anyone. But for me, I was in a heavy Dandy Warhols and Brian Jonestown Massacre phase when I wrote the song. And Brian Jonestown Massacre has a record called Thank God for Mental Illness. To me, the song was more like an ode to them. But then the more we thought about it, it had all these meanings. It wasn't meant to be a shock value or anything, either. It's just about wearing feelings on your sleeve and being upfront about it. No beating around the bush. And I am thankful for my troubles. I don’t know where I’d be without music in my life. I feel like that's where I've been able to channel like my worst times into something that gets me through. Whether it's mourning or [going through something] mentally at that time it's like, 'Oh, I can put something there.' I feel like I'm a more emotional writer where I can’t just go write some tunes. It will come when it comes. It's funny with that tune as well. It was one of a few demos I was showing the guys and it wasn't my favorite at the time, but I love it now. It was actually Lew that I showed all the songs to and he liked that one. So that's where again, having other inputs is really cool where someone else has such a strong belief in something that you don't, that you're kind of like, I'm going to believe in their belief and go with them on this. And it seems to have resonated more than I thought it would. I think when press releasing we were trying to think of going into this kind of in depth discussion about mental illness and how to walk about that. But we decided not to really put a thing on it because, you know, even that girl, it did something for her and I wouldn't want to ruin it by anyone being like oh, it was just a tune out I got off a record. But the title still has a strong meaning to me.

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‍SOS: I don't think that just because the title came from a different album takes away from the meaning. I think it continues to speak to the fact that music is what helps you. So like, you turned to this other album and listened to it a lot. I don't think that takes away from anyone else's meaning of the song or what the actual writing process was. I think it actually adds another layer of how music can help people and how you can turn to music in different times of your life.

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‍MOY: Yeah, totally. And yeah, that means it was there for me and hopefully, we're doing something the same that passes on. I think someone like Anton from the Brian Jonestown Massacre is so just so openly himself. He doesn't give a fuck. I think you can't help but fall in love with it. I saw them recently in Glasgow and they were having tiffs on stage and I love that personality. He's a bit of a mad genius, but he's definitely a bit of a child sometimes in a good way. And I think I'm maybe the same.
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SOS: Do you have any bands or artists that were more of a recent discovery where you've been like, Oh my God, this music is everything?

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MOY: Just a bit of on the thought of going back to music that I didn't think was hitting me at the time [it was released]. I listened to Kendrick Lamar's latest album last year and I'm quite a big fan but was underwhelmed. And then I listened to it this year and it just spoke to me. I listened through the whole album and I keep listening to it. It just made me think about how music is strange like that as well. It could be 5-10 years until someone discovers us again and be like, where has this been? 

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SOS: That's really special about going back and rediscovering music. This happens to me a lot when I see music live, which might honestly happen to me tonight with RKS because I haven't seen them live yet. And even just after hearing just a little glimpse of soundcheck, I can tell this is gonna be a good show. But sometimes when maybe there's a song that never did it for me or like, never really hit me, and then when I see the artist perform it I come out seeing it in a whole new way. And even now with working in music and having a chance to talk to so many artists, sometimes I come away from an interview feeling like I understand the artist a little bit better and then go back to their music with a whole new appreciation for it.

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MOY: That's cool. I feel like that's happened with RKS over the tour. I've gone back and listened to their music now and definitely prefer hearing them live. There is something about it. I think that with us as well, to be fair, I think what Lew does with our production is amazing, but there is just something to a live performance. We had this woman come up to us at one of the shows saying, “It just seems like you guys are all in love with each other.” That was really cool. We totally do love each other. Like for the Amsterdam shows, we were all just on the same wavelength and ready to have a good time. We're still, you know, performing for an audience, but I think when we just forget about that for a moment and have fun between ourselves it's like it becomes much more of a... I don't know how to put it down. 

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SOS: I guess it's just something you just have to witness.

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MOY: Yeah, I think so. Each night's been different and some nights, especially this one, we have quite a small stage and have to work with what we got, which is really fun as well. 

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SOS: I love what the woman said about you guys being in love with each other. I think it elevates the show so much when you could see band members interact with each other. Everything about a live performance has so many added elements. Even the fans contribute to the feeling of the crowd. I always think that you can never have the same show twice, because it's gonna be different people, different feelings, everything coming to the show with you is different. I'm really excited for your set tonight, I feel like it's going to be a good show. 

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MOY: Yeah it's going to be the last show as well, so it's gonna be a good one. We'll bring some extra energy.

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SOS: What's next for the band? Do you have more music or shows coming?

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MOY: At the moment, we've got a new song that we're playing at the moment called "There's No One Else Like You." That'll be out in April sometime. But otherwise we'll just sort of let this [tour] have its time, we've still got film to develop and loads of photos that people are going to send us. We want to just have a bit of a memory of it. And I think we want to use all the stuff we've been recording the whole tour for a music video as a bit of a celebration of the whole thing. So yeah, new music, new song, and then there'll be two more after that. As far as shows go at the moment, nothing wasn't booked off for us. 
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‍SOS: It means it's open to possibilities then.

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MOY: I think we'd need a label to ever get to America at this point. But if we get it sorted, we'd love to get out there.

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SOS: I didn't realize that you guys were unsigned. So you're doing it all yourself then. That's awesome. 

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MOY: It's dope, like I spoke to someone after a show once who was like, ‘So what are you doing this for? Like, you're not really making money out of it, is it fun?’ It's definitely fun, but it's to get the message out there. I think this [tour] has been the best thing for us. Even for our first song "Start Me Up" to be getting heard in larger audiences, it's cool to be able to get that reaction from playing old songs that don't really have the spotlight on Spotify or anything. It's been a dream. It's been, I'd say, the best time of my life. I think no matter what, if we do it again or not, you know, I just think we've done this like, it's happened. Like, these are memories now that we'll always have and I couldn't be more thankful to them. 

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"I'm glad now to have gone through those hard things that you don't really understand as a teenager. You don't know what's going on, you don't know if you should go on antidepressants or go to see a therapist. It's like, what is going on in my head? But I feel like now with writing or music, I can navigate my life experiences."

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SOS: Going back to the way you approach creating music, I'm very similar in my writing process where the words have to come naturally. I feel like that's a common thing that I see with a lot of artists too, like, we're all kind of doing this because we almost feel like we have to stay sane.

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MOY: For sure. I think we all kind of felt hesitant to release "Thank God for Mental Illness" with the title as is. Some people really do struggle and they're not like thank God for this. But you can't speak to everyone in that sense. For me, I am thankful for being like, not all that amazing in the head. It's like, for some reason I've become this thing. I just wanted to be a guitarist in my bedroom, I didn't want to be a singer or songwriter. So I think in that way with how the band's developed, it's just meant to be. There's the struggles that we go through in life and I'm just thankful to be me for it. I feel like there's some people I have these discussions with where I'm going through a hard time and they don't understand that at all. But I'm glad now to have gone through those hard things that you don't really understand as a teenager. You don't know what's going on, you don't know if you should go on antidepressants or go to see a therapist. It's like, what is going on in my head? But I feel like now with writing or music, I can navigate my life experiences.

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SOS: Yeah, like makes sense of the noise a little bit. How old are you by the way? 

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MOY: 27.

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SOS: I was curious how far away some of the stuff you went through as a teenager was.

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MOY: It's been a while now. 
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‍SOS: Not that long! So you were about 23 when you all started the band? 
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‍MOY: Around that, yeah. Previous to that I kind of thought I was done with music. The reason I met the mutual friend (which is how Dom was connected to his bandmates) is I had just got on this solo journey and was feeling quite lost. My mum had passed and my friends were motivating me to get out of New Zealand because I had been talking about going to London and I wasn't doing anything in New Zealand. That was on New Year's Day. And then, I moved and didn't really do anything for a long, long time. I didn't know when to go back. I didn't know what I was doing in London or why I was even there. I felt like I needed to accomplish something before going back. I don't know what that is with going away. Even with the band, I've not been home in a long time because I just feel like I wanted to get to a point where we've achieved something and I can rest and go see my friends. Like we're gonna make sacrifices in life, but I think everyone at the moment their dedication is to the band. It's like, okay, no one fuck off at this point.

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SOS: Well do you feel like having done this tour, especially since you've been saying that it’s a dream come true, do you feel like that's not enough to say like, I can come home and visit? I've accomplished something?

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MOY: Oh for sure. I think I will at the end of this year. It's been too long. I don't want to just see all my friends when we're old. But no, I think this has definitely been the cherry on top. Our plan for this year was just to release new music and see where we went from there, but this has been everything more we could have hoped for. And hopefully, you know, it's gotten our name somewhere else. And the fact that we've done it with this kind of band, hopefully other venues and promoters see that and think we're worth something to bring on tour.

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SOS: I'm also wondering, you said that you got to a point where you weren't going to make music anymore before moving to London. What was it like for you when you first started making music again? 

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MOY: It was really great. By the end of that trip to London, I went up to a place called Oban. One of my family friends has this sort of Airbnb in this restored church that's also a music studio. I stayed there for about eight days recording a bit of an EP. And that was sort of the closure I needed with my mum's stuff. I feel like it was the release and relief I needed from that. I went back to New Zealand, then [the mutual] friend messaged me. And "Start Me Up," funnily enough, was the first song that we recorded all together. The fact that it was called "Start Me Up" felt like this was a new start. I'd never worked in a band like this before, so seeing everyone just chucking in ideas was so cool. It's a completely different dynamic to me doing everything myself. I think that's what I've really appreciated about this as well. Everyone has so much trust in each other and lets them do their thing. But no, it was amazing to come back to music. I still feel like I'm not really a singer-songwriter in a way. I know that's strange, but I still don't really feel like that person. I feel like if I sat down to write a song, it wouldn't come like that.

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SOS: You think you'll ever get to a place where you can be like, "Hi, my name is Dom. I'm a singer-songwriter. I have a band." Like, where you'll feel so confident in that identity?

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MOY: I don't know. Maybe that's just my personality. I wouldn't say I'm humble about it, but even like, I like taking photos and love photography. But my friends and the crew will ask if I'm a photographer and I'm like no, no, no. And the guys are like, yeah you're fucking photographer. It's sort of like, I know I am but I've not got that where it's like, yeah I'm that fucking guy. It's been really cool, though. Like I was walking past one of the venues and someone was like, "That's the fucking guy from MOY!" And that's pretty cool, but I still need more confidence. 

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SOS: It’s a work in progress. 

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MOY: Yeah, a work in progress. But this all is. And we all are. But we're real excited to see what's coming next and to do this again.

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Listen to "Thank God for Mental Illness":

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