The Indiependent caught up with Marisa and the Moths frontwoman, Marisa Rodriguez, ahead of their headline tour, which kicks off this March.
We discuss what sits at the heart of the band’s work, the importance of raising awareness of mental health through their music, the pressure that comes with defying labels and sexist stereotypes, as well as tease out details about the release of their Abbey Road studio sessions and their plans to break Europe.
THE INDIEPENDENT: Hey, first of all thank you for agreeing to a chat with us today, I’m sure it must be quite a busy time with the headline tour coming up?
Marisa: Yes, we’ve gone full speed into 2025, we toured nearly 100 shows last year, I took a few weeks off at Christmas but then we kind of hit the ground running again in January. There were a lot of loose ends to tie up with new releases and finishing up with the tour from last year, so it’s been really crazy.
THE INDIEPENDENT: You are described on your website as being a “pretty filthy, filthy pretty, grunge-influenced, alternative rock band”. With this in mind, could you explain to our readers a little bit about who you are as a band and what sits at the very heart of your work?
Marisa: For sure, that description was actually something that an ex-girlfriend of our bass player, Liam, suggested because we have those sort of soft and intimate moments in our music as well as them sort of raging, explosive moments. It’s been quite a journey. Overall, a lot of what our work is really about for me has a lot to do with mental health, because I wanted to use our music as a way of helping others who may have experienced similar things to me but that’s not always obvious I don’t think.
THE INDIEPENDENT: I’ve also read before that you have cited bands such as Nirvana and The Smashing Pumpkins as direct influences. How do you take influence from these artists without directly imitating them, is that a challenge?
Marisa: Well, I always say when people ask “how do you write your songs?” I don’t really know; I don’t know how to read music, I did study vocal performance at uni but I failed almost all the modules to do with theory! It was always just the songwriting and performance that I excelled in, it just comes from somewhere inside me, where I feel things. I listen to a lot of different music, and I will always love that nineties grunge era because of its rawness and emotive side.
THE INDIEPENDENT: Since you formed as a band in 2017 you have released two albums. With your latest album reaching No.1 in the official UK Rock Charts you must have plenty of pinch me moments to choose from, are there any that stand out?
Marisa: Yes, there are a bunch but immediately the first thing that springs to mind is gigs. For me, it’s like a couple of the festivals that we played. We did the prim Primordial General Mayhem a couple of years ago and it was our first big indoor gig. We were all absolutely bricking it! We met so many people after it and so many of our fans. Maybe that’s not what other people would pick as a standout but it really felt like a milestone kind of thing.
THE INDIEPENDENT: Let’s talk about one of those,more recent pinch me moments, the No.1 album.
Marisa: Obviously, getting No.1 – ridiculous! I’ve only really accepted it now because it meant everything, we just could not believe that our fans had believed in us that much to achieve something that massive. It was huge for us as an independent band.
THE INDIEPENDENT: You spoke there about how much your fans mean to you and we also spoke briefly about the impact your music has on your fans – it being that “sing along, deep therapy session” as described also by your website, was that the intention?
Marisa: I always write songs structurally. Even if they are not pop, they structurally usually are. We always try to find a hook that will make it memorable for fans, in a similar way a pop song is put together.
THE INDIEPENDENT: You mention pop music there as being a structural influence to your music, is having people try to categorise your music and yourself as an artist something you have struggled with throughout your career?
Marisa: Absolutely! I think everyone wants to pigeonhole a band or an artist. We’ve realised in the last year that it was that “grunge” label that was probably holding us back a bit. It’s really hard to get people to take a chance on something new, so you end up labelling yourself with something they are familiar with to draw someone in.
THE INDIEPENDENT: I suppose that makes dealing with comparisons much more difficult at times?
Marisa: Yes, and I mean this with love when I say it but I think it’s quite common for people to compare female rock singers to the likes of Hayley Williams or Amy Lee because unfortunately, until now, we did not have many other people to compare them to. Not that I will ever be offended with such comparisons but it can be difficult.
THE INDIEPENDENT: I can imagine as well at times there is a pressure to have a certain fan demographic, a sort of ‘cult’ following if you like that is associated with this specific genre?
Marisa: Yes, I say there that it’s difficult and yet at the same time I think we’ve had a lot of crossover with fans because we are not an obvious straight down the middle rock band. We get a lot of people saying “we don’t really like this sort of rock but we love you guys” and so it’s just about getting the exposure.
THE INDIEPENDENT: There’s also been a lot of cultural changes to the way that we discover new music and new artists as well as the way we promote them. How do you feel about that as an independent artist?
Marisa: I was discussing this with my partner, Peter, who produced our album and helps me with bits of management when I’m overloaded and he said you need lots of ‘touch points’ to break an artist. You still need platforms beyond streaming services, such as the media in terms of music magazines, legitimate radio stations and you have to remain consistent with branding. They say it takes ten years to create an overnight success!
THE INDIEPENDENT: Nothings ever as easy as it looks, is it?
Marisa: No it never is, but we make it look easy with the glitter and the shiny lights and the big smiles.
THE INDIEPENDENT: You’ve spoken about what a lot of your songs mean to you and hinted at the catharsis involved in your songwriting but is sharing your music with the fans another part of that healing process?
Marisa: Absolutely! It does scare me though, I was just finishing up writing the song ‘Meanings’, but I was kind of putting it off because it’s really hard to talk about some of these things and it’s very exposing for me because those words aren’t made up, they are really thoughts and feelings. It feels like you are standing naked with the lights on saying to people “judge me”.
THE INDIEPENDENT: I can’t imagine that feeling you get when people connect with music that’s so personal, it must be electrifying, right?
Marisa: When our fans connect and it gives them something that they need I feel like I’ve done my job. I’ve actually started to push myself to talk a little bit about what a few of the songs are about on tour recently. The feedback from that has been really good.
THE INDIEPENDENT: Let’s talk a little bit more about live performing, what can people expect from the upcoming tour?
Marisa: So, if you’ve been to any of our shows before you will know we always want to make our shows better and better. You can expect lots of fun heavy rock as well as some quieter, more intimate numbers. Myself and Liam always have a bit of banter on stage with everyone. Hang about after the show we always like to meet our fans and take pictures and have a chat, that’s always really nice.
THE INDIEPENDENT: It sounds like it will be a great night!
Marisa: Absolutely! Oh and of course Liam does a song too, as he’s a fantastic singer-songwriter in his own right. He does a song so that I can have a break.
THE INDIEPENDENT: You have achieved so much as a band already, but I would like to finish the interview by discussing what you have planned going forward beyond the tour?
Marisa: Obviously we want to grow. Our goal, like most bands, is to play bigger venues and grow our fanbase. Another thing coming up is the Abbey Road sessions that we recorded a few years ago, we never released the audio from that, so I re-recorded the vocals on that. Once we’ve done that, another thing we want to do is break out of the UK and play some venues in Europe. It will be an investment but we will do whatever it takes.
Interview conducted by Cory Gourley
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