An Interview with Michael Moore, July 2025

 How would you describe your sound?  

I have been releasing music as Michael Moore since the mid 90's. Most of the earlier material was generally more rock oriented, although I did experiment with electronic music early on. For the last ten years or so it's been primarily ambient/drone/electronic with a few tracks that have veered from that.

More Milk was started five years ago after I was finally able to afford an MPC. I would consider it lofi hip hop even though that has become a pretty broad term these days.

Who/what inspires your music?  

I am inspired by all kinds of music/musicians/producers, as well as all of the visual arts including film. Nature can also be very inspiring. It can really vary from track to track what has inspired me to create.

What does making music mean to you? What got you into it/keeps you continuing?  

I just have always enjoyed creating and playing music ever since I was a kid. I don't think I could ever picture myself not doing it in some capacity. 

What interests you about your genres specifically?

Having grown up in the 80's I was very attracted to hip hop music at an early age. It was the first type of music that I was really passionate about. In the early days it was very influenced by electronic music and that is where I was first exposed to artists such as Kraftwerk. Both hip hop and electronic music have continued to evolve and grow that sill keep me interested.

How do you keep yourself motivated and inspired/how do you work through creative blocks?  

For the last five years I have been releasing at least one or more tracks per month. Staying on that cycle kept me somewhat productive as I always felt I needed something to release. I have since pulled back on releasing as much. I've usually got ideas that will come to me but sometimes I will let them sit for a while while other times I might get the urge to start working on it immediately. I try to always be working on something but there will be times where I just want to sit and read, watch a movie or just relax outside.

 

 Making ambient/drone pieces is very different than making traditional music - What was your creative process like when creating The Circadian? Was it more organized & session based or more sporadic and fleeting? How do your ideas come into fruition?

All of the songs were recorded at separate times. The first song I recorded for it was the last track Invisible Feedback. I had been performing it live and wanted to get it recorded. After recording it I decided I wanted to have it on some type of physical format instead of just releasing it digitally. I like ep's and decided to make a few more songs to go with it. On the first song Rhythm Impact I recorded the drums first. I wanted it to be a mellow track and that was all I had in mind to begin with and just layered instruments after that. For the second song Flim Flam, I built upon a beat I had programmed. The saxophone part was actually from a different song I had been working on that I wasn't happy with. I decided to adjust it to match the tempo of the beat and it worked out. Arpeggio Landscape which is probably my favorite song on the album was started on the bass guitar followed by the drums and then keys and samples. Guitar for all of the tracks was recorded last and played by my good friend Jason DeMars.

 You run two different projects! What was the inspiration behind the split? Why do you feel that the separation is important? (does it give you more leeway as an artist? Is it more for organization purposes?)

A lot of it is for organizational purposes. As I was saying earlier I had been recording and releasing music as Michal Moore for quite some time, but when I started the More Milk project I knew I wanted it to be under a different name. 

 What are some of your rituals/inspirations when writing music? (do you listen/pull inspo from other artists? Do you have a specific place you like to create at? etc.)  

I have a basic home studio set up where I do most recording at. There is so much that inspires me to create but if I had to narrow it down, Aphex Twin and Madlib are probably the two most influential.

Which piece of yours do you consider to be your favorite? Why?  

I'm really proud of The Circadian album, I worked very hard on it. There's also a beat tape I released as More Milk recently called Another Dimension that I'm excited about as well.  

 What is your current big goal? What does the future hold/what are you working towards right now?  

For the time being I'm focused on performing as much as possible to promote The Circadian. The big plan is to continue making music for as long as I can. Besides these two projects I also play drums in a few other bands. One of them is just about ready to record an album and that will keep me busy.

linktr.ee/moremilk