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Photo by Luke Rogers

Nothing is average about this band, and their latest release, surprisingly titled Average Joe, confirms that. Moody Joody is one of the tightest bands releasing currently; a wondrous, beautiful blend of raw emotions and pop delivery that is truly exceptional. Their new 6 song EP proves their range, showcasing diverging influences that tie everything together into a beautiful cohesion of socially aware lyrics, sweet melodies, a little rapture of unique instrumentation (xylophones accent notes are always welcome) and just enough harmonization to encourage you to sing along. Keen as ever to learn more about one of our favorite bands, we found the group in the late summer ahead of their big fall tour:

OnesToWatch: Why do you do what you do? Why are you artists? 


Kayla: There's just never, I feel like we all align over the fact that there's never really been a plan B ever for any of us. We serendipitously met each other and aligned on musical interests, but everything for us has just been organic and there's been hard times, but the universe forced this band to be together. We hit a flow state very early on and are very lucky to have met each other and gotten to do this journey together. 


Katie: I was thinking about it yesterday too. Even if I wasn't trying to make a career out of this, I think us as the band would still be creating, even just as a hobby, because we can't help but keep making music together. Even if it was just literally for fun, we’d still be doing it. 

Kayla:: I just don't even know what else any of us would do. Like, this is it. 


Well, I'm glad you guys burnt the bridges to any other success and you've celebrated this. How did the band come together? 

Kayla: Katie and I moved to Nashville on the same day and didn't know each other in 2016. So that was one of those things where we put the pieces together later. And then Andrew and I met at a Pale Waves concert and then wrote once and ghosted each other for a year. During Covid, Katie and I were like, we love girl bands, we should finish “The Heat” and give Andrew a criminally small deadline, the song's not even officially mastered. And our 1st song just got randomly playlisted that we threw out with our 3 Instagram followers and no industry connections. Andrew wasn't even officially in the band yet. 

Andrew: It was a random thing. That was the only song that we had and it was just for fun. Then, people started reaching out being like, where's the rest of the music? And we had nothing. So in the beginning, we would just literally write the next song, release it, write the next one, release it, there was no overthinking, there was no catalog of songs. We were just having fun putting music out and it seemed to connect for some reason. 

Kayla: Now here we are 6 years later. 


Well, what a happy accident. I always love group dynamics, but I’m curious, when you guys write together, do you have roles, responsibilities? 

Katie: Well Andrew is our producer, which is amazing. Makes it very convenient.

So Andrew has a role. 

Katie: Yes. I would say most of the time, it's Kayla or I coming in with a title or concept, and then just talking about the vibe of the song, and Andrew starts building out something that feels in alignment emotionally, and Kayla and I are on the couch scheming up some lyrics, and and then we suddenly have a song. 

Kayla: We're really big concept people and album people. We want to have an album with deep cuts that all fit into the world. We had a whole year to make our album that we're putting out this fall and put puzzle pieces together, and we thought about everything. We’d change song titles that had been the same for years just to make them fit the world of the album. 

Tell me about your singles from the album thus far. 

Kayla: We started the release process with “Oops,” and then we did “Loretta's Last Call,” “Little Blue House,” and then “Suburbia.” It’s crazy because we've been putting out singles for so long, but we like to put out a moody song and a joody song, and flip-flop. So we started with the joody song, which is like a party, shake-your-ass, but then we also want to give you the moody, emotional, breakup songs, the life songs. So, songs like “Suburbia” fit into moody – we all grew up in the suburbs, and that song is about shedding former versions of yourself. We like there to be a diversity when it comes to the topic of the song and also sonically, not just too many party songs in a row. 

As you’ve created this upcoming album, how has your sound evolved? 

Andrew: When we started the band, we bonded over 80s influences, new wave, synthy music with guitars. That’s always somewhat of a core element in everything that we do, but we love all sorts of different music. We’ve naturally explored a lot of different sides of our tastes. Once we started playing live, it influenced a lot of how the records sound too. Because in the beginning, we were just a studio project, we had no plans to play any shows, we were just making songs. And then hearing those old songs on stage, with a live drummer and the energy of the room, it subconsciously inspired a little bit more of that to show up on the records. So now there is a bit more of an organic element and a less perfect element that tends to come out in the studio. 

Katie: It’s always been organic. We just let things happen and go off of our first instinct and whatever comes out, comes out. 

So you guys aren't going into a 90s phase, followed by a 2000 phase…

Andrew: Not intentionally. It's funny though, because when we started the band, we used to get compared to 80s vibes and now we get more comments about early 2000s vibes or 90s even. But to us, nothing's changed. It just happens naturally. 


Kayla: Some of our visual world too, though, we did a Coyote Ugly themed music video and “Little Blue House” was y2k coded. But we don't think about that when we're writing the songs. 

Katie: I think that has happened too, because a large theme of the album is growing up in the suburbs and reflecting on that time, and we're 90s kids. So when we think of those times, those influences probably subconsciously do come up for us. 

I'm just here for the Coyote Ugly revival. You guys are celebrated for being a great live band – how have you achieved that? 

Kayla: I feel like that's organically how we connect. Opening for people is how we meet new fans, and that’s how our social media has grown, and it’s how we make music too. When we're on stage, we're just having a good time and we want the crowd to have fun. As we've played so much together, even our chemistry has just gotten stronger. If you’ve never heard of us, and you came to the show to have a dance party with your best friend, we want to give you a little bit of that. Or maybe you're going through a breakup, and we're going to give you a little bit of that. We just want to make people feel seen. It's a very reflective experience of mirroring energies. I think that's what's really good and fun about live shows. 

Amazing. I'm going to pivot to some more fun questions. Within the group, who has the wildest ideas that turn out well? 

Kayla: We all have different things. We’re all wind up toys and pop at different things. We all have that creative burst at moments, and then we spiral and it’s a snowball effect. 

Katie: We all have different brands of weird. 

Who's the mediator? Who settles the arguments? 


Kayla: It's probably been all of us at different times because we're a group of three. So, naturally, there's 2 that align or one that doesn't, so it rotates. 


At your most peaceful, where are you and what are you doing? 

Andrew: For me, it’s listening to a record that I love, just fully immersed in it and not thinking about music like a musician does, just feeling the things. Either in my car, driving at night with nowhere to go, or just in bed. 

Love it. 

Katie: Mine is on vacation away from home because my brain when I’m home is, “I need to do this, this and this.” So yeah, mine's definitely away from home in nature, either the mountains, or by the ocean. And it's sunset and I go with my best friends and we're drinking wine and we're listening to music and we're chatting and we're laughing. 

Kayla: Literally. I’m at my friend's birthday at a cabin right now in Tennessee and last night we drank Vino Verde and made up a dance – we’re in our 30s – to Beautiful Soul by Jesse McCartney. Just turn off your phone and be really present. We're all also working several jobs, so anytime I can be intentional with my friends, no matter where I am, those moments where I get to be really present are when I’m most at peace. Honestly, usually when I’m dancing. I just feel very myself when I can not worry. So maybe anywhere, maybe my sister's apartment, maybe in Portugal, on the beach. 

If you are to celebrate something, what do you do? 

Katie: As a band, we used to go Sonic every time we put a song out and get mozzarella sticks, cherry limeade, and listen to the song at the drive-through. 

That's the answer I wanted. That's perfect. I would love for you guys to create a festival with your favorite artists that you want to perform with. Dead or alive.

Katie: As a band, we have to say Bleachers. That was the band we bonded over. 

Kayla: Prince. Abba. 

Andrew: Fleetwood Mac. 

Kayla: Holly Humberstone, Suki Waterhouse. Katie loves Love Spells. 

Katie: I literally am addicted to his new album. I can't stop. 


I'd love a non-music recommendation, and then obviously a music recommendation. 

Katie: I'm currently watching season 2 of Beef on Netflix. And it's really great. It's scored by Finneas, so the music is great.
Acting is great, storyline, 10 out of 10. 

Kayla: I went to Portugal last year, and it was just unbelievable. It was beautiful, everyone was so nice. The food and everything, it was a very peaceful place, so. So, that would be a recommendation. Musical rec, Night Traveler. I feel like I bring them up in every interview, but I'm just obsessed with them and I think they're amazing and they're working on new music, so that would be my rec.

Andrew: My mind went straight to hand rolls. If you're into sushi and you can find a dedicated hand roll bar in your area, that's worth checking out because when we're on tour, I'm always trying to find one. Music… I've been listening to the album Hats by a band called The Blue Nile. It's a deeper cut 80s album, but if you're into synthy music that's really cinematic and just beautiful, it's a really great record. 


Katie: Every summer I’m just on a combo of Third Eye Blind and Sugar Ray. I love every album Third Eye Blind has put out. My favorite is their debut album. They've evolved with the times in a way that every album just works. 

I read this amazing article on sequential thinking and how if we reorder art in the way that we think it progresses, everyone likes it more. Sometimes you're condemned by releasing your best work early, whereas if you release it late, you'll be appreciated more because it'll show this linear sequential evolution. Anyways, that's our fractured human brain and how we understand time and space, right? Lastly, just want to end on anything you want to share. 

Moody Joody: Well, our first album is now available for pre-order on vinyl. We have an awesome final packaging and insert situation and we're really excited about it. 

Thank you so much!

Listen to Average Joe below: