THEM MOOSE RUSH
Frontman Nikola Runjavec welcomes us to the wacky world of the Croatian trio who are doing things their way.
“When we started playing, we were trying to make music which doesn’t sound like anything else,” says Them Moose Rush guitarist and vocalist Nikola Runjavec. “If there was some riff or any part of the song which sounded familiar, we would simply give up on that idea. This is our premise in making music – we try to make it very creative and unique, because it’s also interesting for us.”
It’s fair to say that Croatian trio Them Moose Rush have done a pretty good job at keeping their sound distinctively individual. Recently released second album Don’t Pick Your Noise is an exhilarating roller coaster of wacky riffs, unhinged vocals and pulsating rhythms allied with bluesy jam-outs, and it may already be a contender for modern-day proggers’ end of year lists.
“We describe it as prog-noisespace-rock, or something like that,” Runjavec says, adding that the trio used to listen to acts like Soundgarden and Rage Against The Machine before branching out into more exploratory hues.
Don’t Pick Your Noise was recorded over a two to three month period at a studio in Zagreb, but the band’s roots and spiritual home can be found in the smaller Bjelovar, an hour or so away from the capital city.
“There are only a few prog bands here and they’re pretty underground,” Runjavec says, noting the likes of Seven That Spells. “We’re considered freaks over here for creating such music. Croatia has [a population of] four million, and proportional to that you have a certain percentage of people who listen to rock, and an even smaller percentage who are listening to special kinds of rock.
“I think the people who listen to prog are already now 40 or 50 years old, and they’re not part of the [active] scene. They don’t discover modern prog. Most of the fans we get in Croatia are really into The Mars Volta, for example.”
It’s clear the engrossing, madcap nature of Them Moose Rush has an appeal far beyond Croatia. The threesome are planning to bring their live show around Europe in the coming months, and with new songs already written, you get the feeling that the story of Them Moose Rush is only just beginning. CC
“We’re considered freaks here for creating such music.”