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10/7/14 - Moxy and The Influence is featured on The Hype Magazine's website with a great article and interview.  Check it out online for the full article with photos and video, or read the text below.

 

 

My friends over at MusicPage.com sent me an email saying “Highly qualified candidate for your magazine” and dropped Moxy and The Influence on me with that heavy recommendation. I read the bio and amongst ALL of the groups in the world, they claimed to be similar to the iconic band Evanescence. RED ALERT TIME!!! Nobody makes that claim lightly, or at least they shouldn’t, so being the inquisitive mind that makes me a journalist and a music fan with very few boundaries LOL…I decided to give these young dynamos Moxy and The Influence a listen.

If I were the emotional type or just kinda excitable, you would see me rocking out like crazy to these youngsters…they NAIL the essence of rock. I don’t care about their look, which is fantastic, I care about the way they celebrate the genre with a genuine love which comes across in every note or vocal. So much cookie cutter music bombards us everyday that its like a fantasy vacation when I get to take a ride on a joint that gives me full service. Musicality, suspense, intensity and energy make this group one to watch. #OfficialHype

Getting a chance to meet Moxy via this interview was enlightening about how the Universe moves to bring things into alignment at the perfect time. The story of how the group came together kinda made me smile...I think you will enjoy meeting Moxy and The Influence.


 

As you see yourself, who is Moxy the artist...the person?

Moxy is a whirlwind of different emotions, feelings, passions (as every teen girl pretty much is), but she's also very strong in what she knows she wants. She never feels at home, she always feels alone - unless she's onstage. Stage is literally the only place where she feels she belongs. Moxy is confusing and very, very loud!

 


How did you discover your musical talent?

My parents discovered my voice, actually. I don't even remember this, but I always hear the story....when I was around 5 years old, I loved to sing. I had a bunch of little kid’s discs that I liked to put in my CD player and sing and dance to. One day, they called a voice teacher and asked her to come evaluate me. She came and tested my voice out, and after a few minutes came out to my parents and said "She's really good." They said, "We know." She shook her head and said "No, I mean she's REALLY good!"

Music has been a part of my life ever since.

 


Who has been your greatest inspiration musically and why?

Anyone reading this will laugh and probably "pigeon-hole" me a little, but I honestly have to say Evanescence. When I first started getting into rock music, Evanescence was my favorite and I learned a lot by looking at their music specifically. I don't try to imitate them at all; in fact I don’t want people to see me as an Amy Lee clone. But I learned the most from them, because I discovered them first and studied them the most.

 


What drew you to the rock scene and aren't you too young to know about Evanescence?!

Haha! I could also be considered too young to know about Joan Jett, Led Zeppelin, and Motley Crue then, couldn't I?

I got into rock music by accident. I was at a Christian radio music festival in Southern California with my aunt when I was around 12 years old, and we were walking around. We accidentally walked past the one hardcore stage of the festival and there was this band up there called RED. The guitar was heavy and loud, they were screaming and jumping all over the place. I was automatically hooked – it took all of two minutes (which was also how long it took for my aunt to say "ok, let's move on because this music is giving me a headache."). I didn't get to go back and see them again that day, but I did look up their music. From there, I got into Flyleaf, Evanescence, Pillar, Avril Lavigne, and a variety of different styles. My music taste continues to bounce all over the place. I'm listening to Japanese rock right now!

 


What do you feel you offer the music industry that we don't already have in other performers?

Myself. That's a cop-out answer, but it really is true. People may say I sound a little like Amy Lee, but no one has my voice. People may think my writing style sounds like one star or another, but that's not who I am. I'm me. I'm the only person who sounds like this, I'm the only person who can write this way. I know I can bring something different, simply because I've never seen me in the music industry before. I give my entire heart and soul to music and to the fans. Who else does that exactly the way I do?

 


Have you encountered any problems in getting to this point in your career?

It's funny, actually... up until now, I haven't come across that many big issues worth talking about. Now, though, a whole new one has sprung up – people hating me and the band because they're jealous of how much success we're having, because they think they should have it instead. It hurts. It cuts me right to the core and stabs me like a knife to hear their words. But I've learned how to be stronger and move on. Without people like that, I wouldn't grow, so I thank God that there are haters.

 


What brought Moxy and the Influence together?

A series of coincidences and accidents brought us all together. I never went into this saying "Ok, I'm gonna form a band because I want to play onstage." In fact, it was just the opposite. I had recently been signed to an artist development company and had collaborated with their studio to write a bunch of different songs. My pastor booked me a gig without telling me, then came to me and said "Ok, you need to find a band now!" Needless to say, I was a little pissed.

I had been working with Sydney for over a year by then, so I naturally asked her for help on guitar. We played our first two gigs with a drummer friend of hers and a bassist friend of mine.  From there, we started a search for our own bassist and drummer. Ignacio came to us on Facebook randomly. I desperately needed a drummer, fast, so I talked to him and he ended up learning 6 songs in two weeks and playing a show after only one short practice!

Carly came last, and she actually found us by accident on Craigslist. She hit the app button by mistake on her phone and just decided to look around a little. She saw our ad and called me.

The reason I have so much faith in this band is because of how easily we came together. I didn't have to fight to make it happen. We were blessed with all the ingredients for success – the fighting to make it happen comes now.  I’ll always fight for my music.

 


What do you want people get from your music?

Inspiration. The same way I was inspired by music at the very beginning, I want people to be inspired by our music in any way they need to be. I want to write lyrics that help them with something going on in their lives, melodies that help fuel them throughout their days.  I want them to know there’s someone who cares about them. I want to be a voice for people who can't be heard.

 


When can we expect some new music from you?

This month, actually! We took a two-month break after the release of our music video for the song ME4ME in August, and we're coming back to play more live shows with new material on October 18th. We just finished with our studio sessions and we have 3 new songs done and ready to play live and release. Make sure you go check out our Facebook page for that – it’ll all be coming soon.

 


What has been your greatest achievement so far?

Last year, we discovered we had won a contest on this website called BigAndFamous.com. Our manager had found the contest online and entered one of our lyric videos into it, not expecting to hear anything from it and certainly not expecting to win. Surprise surprise... we got an email a few months later and came back to the website to find that our little lyric video had gained thousands upon thousands of views! Imagine how shocked we were. From that point, we started pushing people to vote wherever we could. We really wanted to win, because the prize was: a fully produced $100,000 music video, shot in Miami, Florida. On New Year's Eve, we were getting ready to play a gig, and my mom went up to the stage to announce that she had just gotten an email telling us that we had won. Three teenage girls in a band - you can't imagine the screaming.

Our greatest achievement was winning, and shooting that music video. It was one of the best experiences of my life, of all of our lives. So much growth and so many stories came out of that; I will forever consider that one of the greatest growing points and achievements of my life.

 


If you could collaborate with one artist, living or dead, who would it be and why?

Janis Joplin. She's like a female Robert Plant with all the best backstories of the 60's. I'm in love with her voice, and I could learn so much from her.

 


One track of yours that you think defines you and why?

One of the most recent tracks that hasn't even been released yet, actually. It talks about how people will try to turn you into something you really aren't, something they want you to be. They'll try to change you and project their image of you onto you. The song breaks out from that and tells them that "strength isn't something you manufacture." Look for it to be released soon.

 


What has been your craziest “Where The Do That At” moment…?!

One thing that made me flip out was seeing Tommy Lee’s drum rollercoaster at the Motley Crue show I went to in July.  His entire drum kit is mounted on a platform and the platform goes straight onto rollercoaster tracks and up into the air above the audience.  It’s insane!

Jerry Doby says...
"I really enjoyed learning about this amazing group. It's always great to talk to such aware and driven young people...and their music is great! #OfficialHype" (12/3/14)