Photo by Seher Sikandar
Record Label / Press / Radio:
Ubiquity Recordings
meza@ubiquityrecords.com
"If you’ve ever fantasized about Jamie Lidell jamming with Shuggie Otis, here’s where your dreams are realized."
- Eye Weekly
"With his sophomore LP, Moschella has mastered the art of time travel, concocting a stirring ode to soul’s past. A-"
- San Francisco Magazine
"Retains his debut's cool, laid-back funk while adding sonic dynamism and the kind of buoyancy that comes from musical collaboration."
- San Francisco Chronicle
"One to watch.Essential."
- CMJ New Music Monthly
"Propulsive debut.thumps with hard-hitting drums, bluesy guitars and funky ass bass lines."
- Vibe Magazine
"An astonishing work due to Moschella's nuclear-powered life force and phenomenal vocal, melodic and rhythmic abilities."
- The Stranger (Seattle Weekly)
BOOMSHADOW
What is Boomshadow? The made-up word is a fictional character Nino Moschella and some friends concocted nearly a decade ago. “He was a super hero. He didn’t really have a specific power, he would just come onto the scene and save everybody,” he explains.
The album launches with a super hero-like frenetic flying kick to the eardrums, on an intro that reflects Moschellas' East Bay funk-inflicted home-base. It doesn’t let off the gas with the raw angular funk rock of “Sleep.” Fans of The Fix, his first album with Ubiquity, will recognize the progression from tracks like “Are You For Real” to the new, even more soulful sounds of “We Fight” (featuring Fanny Franklin), and on the disjointed head bumping “Around the World” and “Stella,” the tribute to his daughter. On the stripped down “What U Do 2 Me” he sings a twisted anti-ballad over horns and acoustic guitar, while the music on “Time of Day” and “I Love Myself” moves with a cosmic bounce that nods to all the funk elders and ancestors.
Boomshadow came back to Moschella, with a different meaning, as an idea for the title of his sophomore album for Ubiquity. It is a warm cloak of sound emanating from your stereo. It envelopes and protects all who listen. Moschella likens it to listening from inside the womb. The feeling of being safe and being able to trust was key to the development of this album.
He began three tracks at the Roundhouse in rural O’Neals, California, where his debut was recorded, but had to carry on over the course of 2 studio-hops before finally settling in at a home studio in West Oakland. The drawn-out moving process allowed for Moschella to play a massive amount of live shows between recording sessions, and to forge the new musical friendships with San Francisco band The Park and funk-legend Darondo. With the practice and feedback from these gigs under his belt, a new live band to back him, and a close-knit crew of collaborators to work with, Moschella has a deepened trust in his own musical ability. As a result Boomshadow reflects the continued refinement of Nino Moschella’s sound. His songs are more personal, and his production definitely has more boom - Moschella’s unique homemade beats and unexpected embellishments are now backed with a fuller orchestration, and his arrangements are more dynamic.
With Darondo, Moschella has played at the Bumbershoot festival, was picked by NPR as one of three acts to see at SXSW in 2008, and opened for Morris Day and The Time in San Francisco. Moschella has opened for James Brown and played several festivals including the Toronto Harbourfront Festival, the San Francisco Funk Festival, and Bonnaroo. Since the release of his debut he has appeared on records by Galactic, Peder, DJ Greyboy, and Keeley & Zaire. He also co-wrote and sings on “Kiss the Sky,” a collaboration with Shawn Lee which has appeared in the FX show Damages, and will be in the new Muhammad Ali documentary, Facing Ali. He was selected as a guest at the 2008 Red Bull Music Academy.
