Following on the heels of last month’s announcement about Chuck Mosley‘s “Reintroduce Yourself Tour 2017”, I was recently offered the opportunity to speak with the man himself — to find out the answers to some questions you may have about the tour or any of the numerous other things the singer/guitarist has going on these days.

Those answers can be found below, so go check them out. The tour continues TONIGHT (25 July) in Brooklyn, hitting stops in Connecticut, Maryland, and New York before closing out the week in Pittsburgh (Howlers in Bloomfield) on Saturday. Then starting next month, Mosley will be reintroducing himself all over the country — see the updated post for the latest dates (now running through November); at least a dozen more shows have been added since it was first published!

VOS: First things first, how are you? I’d like to sincerely thank you for taking the time to answer me — and to point out it really is an honor to have the opportunity to speak with someone as iconic as yourself.

CM: Fine, and you? I haven’t received my “iconic” royalty check yet, but thanks just the same.

VOS: Sorry to hear that–! We’ll have to see if maybe we can make some calls…

You’ve been on the road on and off throughout June and July, with the current run of dates taking you through several northeastern states — which will include a stop in Pittsburgh in a few days. How has the tour been going so far?

CM: Good and getting better everyday. Playing a batch of new songs, getting the kinks out. A new solo album is coming down the pike.

VOS: Are you primarily doing solo performances, or do you have a band with you — or has it varied by city?

CM: I added an extra guitar and bass to cover up my faux pas and fill out the sound.

VOS: What kind of songs can fans expect to hear: mostly stuff from your solo records, some bits from other bands or projects you’ve been involved with, or maybe a random mix that depends on your mood on a particular day? Maybe any brand-new material — or would you rather people be surprised?

CM: Yes, there is new material and yes, they will be surprised. As you know I suffer from low self esteem along with other self confidence issues, but these new songs are pretty awesome. Maybe because they came from a more personal place. Wrote about eleven all at once. They all came pouring out at once. I had to literally turn off the creative faucet to be able to step back and learn a few to play them out. As far as older material we picked a few songs from VUA, Cement, Faith No More, and other projects, going back to the Haircuts That Kill days [Chuck‘s San Francisco-based early-80s pre-Faith No More post-punk band], and figured out what would work with our set up. We even play some Bad Brains live depending on how my much my A.D.D. gets in the way.

VOS: Speaking of other projects of yours, you’ve got quite a wide variety in your resume. While you’re probably best known for being involved with rap/alternative metal, hardcore punk, and funk metal bands — and your first solo album even included the phrase “Rap Over Hard Rock” in its title — you’ve always done some more heartfelt, emotional singing as well. That was true back in the early Faith No More days, even if it was just small sections of songs here and there, but it comes up through your newer material as well, and you’ve recently become part of the group Indoria (playing guitar and singing on their latest album), which seems to have more of an indie pop vibe to it… So I guess my question is, it would be interesting if you could discuss what kind of music inspires you — as a singer, as a guitarist, as a songwriter? What are some of your all-time favorites to listen to, is there anyone newer that you’ve been enjoying lately?

CM: Influenced by everything, really. A small sample would be futile, but my range goes from David Bowie to Stevie Wonder and Motown, to Nina Simone, to Black Sabbath, to Bjork. It’s all over the place. When I’m playing guitar I like Brian Eno, Jimi Hendrix, anything psychedelic. For newer bands I’m digging Mogwai, Spiritualized, Beautiful Sky, and we just played with an awesome band [Sunday] night in Portland, ME called El Malo.

VOS: Also I’ve heard that you’re going to be involved with Primitive Race soon, which so far has included some pretty big names in electronic and industrial music [such as Dave Ogilvie (Skinny Puppy), Raymond Watts (<PIG>, KMDFM), Tommy Victor (Prong), etc. — and also rumored to be adding contributions from Dale Crover (Melvins) as well.]. Can you shed any light on how that came about and what you’ll be doing with them?

CM: Been friends with [founding member] Chris Kniker for a bit. He asked me to be involved on two or three songs last summer, turned into four or five, and then the whole album. It’s pretty much in the bag. They are mixing and mastering it now and it looks like it’ll be out in November.

VOS: What else do you have on the horizon, after these next few months of touring are finished — any other projects or solo stuff planned for the near future?

CM: After these dates we are adding more overseas. Another European trip, maybe South America, maybe Australia. While we are in LA in August we will be recording with Matt Wallace for an upcoming solo album. In September EMP Records is re-releasing my old band Cement‘s second album, The Man with the Action Hair. It never really had a shelf life as I broke my back in a van accident while on tour. I’ll also appear in a short film written/directed by David Collupy called Like an Open Heart It Shines.

VOS: With all of these other commitments and activities, I understand you also have a family; what do you like to do that isn’t music-related? What other hobbies do you enjoy spending time doing?

CM: Cooking, long walks on the beach.

VOS: Is there anything else you’d like to say or that you think somebody reading this should know about?

CM: For anyone that saw [tour manager / conga player / Indoria bandmate / etc.] Douglas (Esper) and I last year as a two piece, don’t shy away from coming back thinking it’s the same as last year. The new mix of old and brand new songs and a fuller sound has really kicked it up. A lot of people come and say they had no idea what to expect, and neither do I, but they leave blown away.

VOS: Once again, thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to answer my questions!

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http://mosleyvua.com
http://www.facebook.com/officialchuckmosley
http://www.twitter.com/realchuckmosley
http://www.reverbnation.com/chuckmosley
http://chuckmosley.bandcamp.com
 
http://www.facebook.com/indoriamusic
http://twitter.com/indoriamusic
http://indoria.bandcamp.com
 
http://www.primitiverace.com
http://www.facebook.com/primitiveraceband
http://www.twitter.com/primitiverace
http://www.soundcloud.com/primitiverace
http://metropolisrecords.bandcamp.com/album/primitive-race
http://www.youtube.com/primitiverace