Meet Steve Moore

Prepare yourself to be drenched in the warm hum of neon lights. Film score composer, band member, and all-around great guy Steve Moore is here to chat with The Family Reviews. Throughout all of their musical endeavors, Steve maintains a beautiful dark synth aesthetic. Check it out as we chat with Steve about Ice cream, movies, and their smashing band Zombi.

A Self-portrait by, Steve Moore

Would You Rather

only be able to buy things with coins or by trading random objects? Please explain.

Very tough choice. On one hand, I like the idea of paying with coins because we all know what they're worth. I'm not good at bargaining and haggling so I don't want to deal with trading. But on the other hand coins are heavy. I don't think I can realistically carry enough coins to go grocery shopping, so I guess I'll go with 'trading random objects.'

Some questions with Steve Moore

If you could create your own Ben and Jerry’s flavor, what would it be?

My dream flavor would just be a variation on an existing flavor, Half-Baked, which has fudge brownie and unbaked chocolate chip cookie dough. I'd just add some peanut butter into the equation.

What is the most dangerous thing to microwave? Why?

I mean, the obvious choice is probably anything metal but I'd say coffee. Coffee is the most dangerous thing. It's almost impossible to find that sweet spot where you can freshen up a cup of coffee but not have it boil over or come out scalding hot. At least for me, it is.

What has been your favorite film to score to date? Why?

I have to be diplomatic here, haha. I'm proud to have been a part of every film and short I've scored, and I've been fortunate to work with really great directors. But my favorite film I've scored is definitely Adam Wingard's The Guest, and I have two big reasons why. First, and most importantly, I actually got to spend time on set and see the film being made. It's the only time I've gotten to do that. I spent 3 days on set and actually make a brief appearance in the film! So that was really fun. The second reason is that I had a lot of time to work on this score, months really. Most scores I have to bang out in 3 or 4 weeks, but there were no immediate deadlines for that film and so I was able to take my time and have fun with it.

Who would be your dream director to collaborate with?

I mean, we're dreaming here, so I'd say, Werner Herzog. Imagine the stories he'd have! Or Hell, why not Lucas or Spielberg since we're dreaming. There are a lot of indie directors out there now though that I'd love to work with. Like Panos Cosmatos, Jason Eisener, and Roxanne Benjamin. The dream for me really is to just keep working steadily.

Do you have a piece of gear that you often find yourself returning to?

Definitely, a few. My early 80's Korg Polysix is one of my go-to synths for 20 years now, I use it on almost everything. Mostly I use vintage analog synths, but recently I've been using my Sequential Circuits Prophet 6, which is a newer synth, only a few years old. But it has the feel of a vintage synth, memory for storing lots of patches, and great midi/USB connectivity. I also use my Sequential Six-Trak quite a bit, I'm a huge Sequential Circuits fan.

As Zombi what is the collaborative process between the two of you?

When we started out, we both lived in Pittsburgh and would practice a few times a week. When we wrote we'd usually set up a tape recorder and just jam on whatever came into our heads. Then we'd listen back and pick the parts that we liked and tried to make songs out of them. It was a very improvisational way to do it. But now we live in different cities so we have to work via file sharing and email. One of us will come up with an idea, and we'll send it back and forth adding bits and pieces, shaping and rearranging the song until we have something that we dig.

What was the drive behind your most recent album ‘2020’?

Well, we were hoping to get back out and start touring more often, like we used to back in the mid-'00s, so we wrote a bunch of songs we thought would be really fun to play live. Back in February we actually had a tour almost totally booked for October. But alas, things didn't go as planned. So now we're just waiting around until we can tour again, which is looking like it won't be until probably 2022.

Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)

I don't even know what to say these days. Please wear a mask and be safe so we can try to get back to living our lives someday soon. If you're a live music fan, and you have the means, check in on your favorite local venue and see if they have any type of fundraiser going on. Post-pandemic won't be much fun if all your favorite venues have shut down.

Steve Moore