Wednesday, October 18, 2000
By MIKE BELL
Calgary Sun Shirley Temple, Gary Coleman, Archie Andrews, Robert
Downey Jr. -- there are, it appears, some people who the world
just won't let grow up.
Luckily, The Moffatts don't have that problem.
For the past decade, the four Canadian brothers (eldest Moffatt
Scott, 17, and the triplets Clint, Dave and Bob, 16) have been
recording and performing together as a musical act.
And from their golly-gosh country band beginning, when they
played county fairs and toured with the likes of The Osmonds, to
their recent facial-haired incarnation as pop rock heartthrobs,
their fans have followed.
"The great thing is on our last album (Chapter 1: A New
Beginning) our fans were the same age as the four of us. So you
can only expect them to grow," says Bob.
The Moffatts' latest CD, Submodalities, which features the
already massive hit single Bang Bang Boom, takes the new pop
sound they dallied with on 1998's Chapter 1 -- which subsequently
sold two million copies worldwide -- and adds an extra rock oomph
to it.
Or maybe that should be an extra Bob Rock oomph to it. Most of
Submodalities was recorded during a two-month session at the
Hawaiian studio of Rock, the producer who helmed the board for
everyone from Metallica to Bryan Adams.
And even though Rock co-wrote three of the songs on the album (the
brothers wrote or co-wrote the majority, excluding the first
single), The Moffatts are adamant the new direction they're
headed in is one of their own choosing.
That's not to say Rock's fingerprints aren't all over the new
Moffatt sound.
"Of course, sonically, he was a massive part of it. When
you're still young musicians who are constantly learning, you
need to take advice from someone who's been in the business for
20 years," Bob Moffatt says.
"We all would have definitely gotten to our sound -- we all
know where we want to go. But I think Bob Rock helped us get
there faster than we would have by ourselves."
Of course, the change in musical directions has not been without
its problems.
Just as they've had to update their wardrobes (oh, the trials and
tribulations of fame) so too have they had to dip into their back
catalogue of songs and rework them to fit in with what they're
now doing.
"You have success and you're proud of what helped you have
success. On the other hand, you know you have to change it in
order to succeed with the new material," Bob says.
"For us to get the point across that we've matured musically
and as songwriters, we have to do what it takes."
That also includes, one would assume, changing what they're
singing about.
True, for the most part, Submodalities features terrifically
vapid love songs that are vague enough to mean something to
anyone under the age of 18, but there is one track that hints at
a darker, and yes, more mature side to The Moffatts -- I Don't
Want You to Love Me, which talks about the world of one-night
stands.
"(It's) basically a good example of what we go through on
the road," says Bob, admitting that not much time is spent
in Calgary, which they currently call home.
"When you're four guys in a band, you don't get to have the
same relationships that guys going to high school or college get
to have.
"So you've got to find ways, and that's usually how
musicians deal with it on the road."
"We don't have any girlfriends or relationships with anyone
serious right now," says Dave. "But I guess we need
someone.
"We're not that bad. It's not like every night a new girl."
(Original text: http://www.canoe.ca/AllPop-Moffatts/001018_moffatts-sun.html )