Although still relatively early in her career, neo soul/ alt-pop artist MOZË has already accrued an impressive list of supports while releasing a string of singles.
After her debut song 'Afraid' last year, MOZE followed with another emotive ballad 'Ruse' showcasing a powerful voice backed by a sound rich in depth and complexity.MOZË's first release of 2022 is 'Saving', a track she recorded with producer Michael Belsar (Hayden James, G Flip). "I wanted to allude to my ability to dream and wonder, a core part of my soul," MOZË says of 'Saving'.
"The danger of this is its power to take you away from the present moment, to build expectations that are not balanced with certainty.
"When I perform 'Saving', my dream manifests itself at the moment and becomes real."
Who is MOZË... Is Zoe Marshall, all mixed up! I migrated from England to Australia at the age of seven with mum, dad and my two sisters (I'm the middle child). We grew up on a farm near Wangaratta making videos and getting the school bus into town until we moved off to boarding school.
Singing is innate to me, and as the starry-eyed dreamer that I am, I was fixated on this from an early age. It is something that always made sense and felt natural, so I continued vibing with that.
I spent a lot of my time in the music school writing and practicing, everyone knew me as the muso – I performed at any chance I got and had no shame in it either. I continued my studies at the Victorian College of The Arts specialising in production and I guess that's really where I started to progress and design my sound.
At this time, my friends and I started a band called Zoe and The Milkmen, which was insanely fun, and got our first taste of Melbourne's music scene.
Now my obsession is MOZË. It is my prized possession, and encapsulates my happy, emotional, optimistic, and wondrous self. My friends and family often say things like 'only Zoe' or 'Zoe land', because I am off in my own world a lot of the time – and always have been.
I guess MOZË is my attempt to make that place a reality. Mosey along with me into another world.
I sound like... In terms of my voice, Florence + The Machine and London Grammar come up every now and then, which is very cool!
In terms of my music, I struggle with this question! Some people tell me Lianne La Havis, which is super cool as she is a major idol of mine. I'm not sure though, I take a lot of inspiration from Carole King, but when you listen to my electronic production that doesn't shine through so much.
Maybe even Jorja Smith, but I probably lack in the R&B side of things; who knows honestly – you tell me! I might stick with Lianne La Havis.
My first gig was... Amazing, though I had no idea what I was doing at the time. My mentor in university was WOODES, and she asked me to open her Howler show alongside Yergurl.
Elle (WOODES) has given me so many opportunities, she truly is the kindest and most inspiring human, and I know many people would back me up when I say that. This was the very beginning of the MOZË concept in 2019, I hadn't even really begun the planning and I was given this crazy opportunity.
When did you settle on your artistic name, and was it a unanimous decision... It took me about a year to think of a name, and nothing seemed to stick. So, I was tossing up whether using my actual name, Zoë Marshall, however I didn't like its connection to my actual life – I wanted separation.
I am dyslexic and so I thought why not jumble the letters in my name up! This kind of felt true to my jumbled mind too; knew I wanted something dreamy and that captured my nature, and MOZË is also pronounced mosey – which sums me up in a word. It's joyful and relaxed, and I for sure mosey along with the flow of life.
In the studio I usually... Start off by setting the mood. I like to burn incense and dim the lights, get my journal out, turn on the piano and mic – always adding reverb because what is a vibe without it?
I'll put on some music that is inspiring me at the time and analyse anything that pops out at me – maybe I'll try something new that day. Once I get a song idea down, which doesn't take a long time – it can be from ten minutes to an hour, and anything beyond that I find I'm not in the mood for writing that day – or I'll try not to overthink it and string anything together for the sake of practice or go back to something unfinished.
Once the structure is down, I spend hours in a trance looking at Ableton, playing around, doodling on the piano, and honestly just jamming out. This part I never remember, I'll come to and look at the clock and sometimes hours have passed – or my housemate will come in with a cup of tea/ politely ask when I'll be done.
The main thing to make sure my process is successful is honestly how I am going in life; if I am in a good routine, have the time to write, feel at home, have a good set up, am financially sustainable – creativity ebbs and flows, as does your routine and I find I have to roll with the punches.
If I could tour with anyone... Lianne La Havis, Arlo Parks, Jorja Smith, Aurora, Meg Mac, Sia, Erykah Badu, Carole King, Maribou State, Rhye, Solange, Dua Lipa and I have to say Coldplay as they inspired me so much in the beginning when I first saw them live in 2012 for their Myloxyloto tour. So much respect for these artists.
Social media is... A whole entire job. I spend way too much time on my phone because of MOZË admin, promoting and hounding people.
As unfortunate as the job is for artists, it is so necessary and it allows us to gage our audience, what people are enjoying, it's accessible and inclusive to everyone. I guess it provides artists with the opportunity to have a sustainable career.
I have grown up with it, so I can't imagine other sources of distribution and promotion. My favourite part about social media is meeting people and collaborating; most of my opportunities working and performing with other artists have come from social media. So, it's a job I really don't enjoy, but I am grateful for everything it has given me.
My favourite app at the moment is... Instagram always. It's the app I spend most of my time on, I have built a network and portfolio that I am proud of and in turn, I have received feedback and opportunities on it.
I should probably focus on using TikTok and YouTube, but I cannot be bothered thinking about learning a whole new app – I sometimes need to ground myself and remember that my job is making music, performing, and sharing it – not spending hours on making a reel for the sake of traction (no matter how effective this is).
To date, my most embarrassing moment was the time... My school was celebrating their 150th anniversary and I was in the choir, so we had spent the year practicing songs for it. This was a major event at the school, we had Client Liaison play and fireworks too, so it was a big deal.
I had to come late to soundcheck for choir because I was playing a game of soccer, and because of this I didn't wear tights under my quilt – the choir also had to wear these red robes over our uniform, which had a split down the middle.
As an alto, I sat front and centre stage, lights blaring into our eyes, plus I was so exhausted because of the game and with the lights I couldn't keep my eyes open.
Anyway, two hours into the ceremony in front of the whole entire school for the 150th anniversary I fell asleep for five minutes and my legs fell open! I got so much backlash from my friends after, to which they assured me that it was a good thing I wore black underwear.
And that is the story of my whole entire school seeing my underwear. Honestly so funny looking back now, it's like a scene from a coming-of-age movie where I'm the funny choir and soccer nerd – always my favourite character.
Life on the road can be... Fun, boring, tiring, inspiring – I haven't done touring longer than three days, so not sure if I've truly experienced 'life on the road'.
If you'll have me on your bill, all I ask is that the rider contains... 10x bottles of mineral water; tea/coffee and honey; espresso martini ingredients; a yum, sophisticated platter; Polaroid film; sparklers; ylang ylang and orange flavoured hand-cream; 5x hand towels; dark chocolate (sea salted Lindt); cardboard cut-out of Robbie Williams; a signed A4 poster of the team that works at the venue we're at.
The most scary scenario I've found myself in, was... I don't think there's anything worthy/ music related that I could note. Aside from forgetting chords at venues, that's just stressful though.
What celebrity/ famous person would you love to be your spokesperson... For sure Dolly Parton, purely because she's hilarious, so interesting and have earned the respect to say whatever they like. I wouldn't even bother playing my set, it probably wouldn't be as interesting.
If you had to live in a city abroad, where would you choose and why? I hate to say that I don't know. This is an important question and sadly I just haven't done enough travelling to have any idea at all. I want to try the London music scene because most of the female artists I listen to are from there.
Three people you'd like to invite around for a dinner party... Patti Smith, Carole King, and Lianne La Havis. I owe them dinner (at the very least) because they have inspired me so much.
I think we would get into in-depth emotional conversations, which I love, and obviously I am obsessed with music, so I want to hear their music-related experiences. I would probably do a big, soppy speech about how grateful I am, but I also wouldn't want to coddle them too much. I would love to learn from and have a laugh with these legends.
If we were coming over to your place, what would you cook us? I'm going to roll with the idea that it's summer and have a Mexican fiesta – also make it vegan and gluten free for reasons of inclusivity.
For starters we'd have guac, corn chips, and salsa – obviously spicy margaritas included throughout the night too. For the main dish we'd have a tomato/ coconut-based chickpea curry with rice, coriander, and coconut yogurt on the side.
Oh, I'll also have some cheese for anyone that does want it. I assume by this time we will be full, so we will stay on the margs as dessert, or I can batch you up a coffee to close off the palate.
When it comes to pets are you a lover or hater of our furry friends? I am a pet lover; I grew up on a farm. However, I don't think I could own a city pet myself – I love all my friends' dogs and cats, but I don't have the time to be responsible for an animal. If I had one, I would hope they had the freedom to run around wherever they damn well please.
No matter the expense, send me a case of... MOËT, 'cause it's kinda like MOZË. (-:
The last time I saw the inside of a gym was... Prolly a week agooo, my stress-relief centre. Pump all the chaos away.
What's the one chore you dislike the most? I love the concept of bins don't get me wrong, but I hate putting them out on the road. Especially in winter – because I always forget until it's the night before and frizzn outside.
Do you have any phobias... No current phobias, but when I was younger I was terrified of the process of catching trains and aeroplanes.
I think growing up in the UK where the subway would go so quickly and sometimes never stop; Dad would always stand beyond the yellow line too which stressed me out. Once I was on the train/ plane I was fine but I would get stressed about missing them too.
Would you ever partake in a reality show? Oohhh 'Survivor' could be fun; or those random physical activity ones where you go through the obstacles – so funny. 'Wipeout' I think it's called. I would like to think I'd do okay, but probably not hey.
If you could prank any of your friends, who's your target, and how are you bringing them down? Hahaha hmmm I think I would target my oldest mate EJ! We grew up playing soccer together and our friendship blossomed from there.
We are so so silly and hold a mutual understanding of our weird humour. I think I would pretend to win a meet and greet with a famous person at a concert and invite her along and go backstage to another room where I say we're about to meet them and have my dad and her dad walk out dressed as the artist and dance to one of the songs. I think that would just entertain me too.
Best local takeaway joint for a midnight feed that will leave you with a food coma? My go-to is ALWAYS Thai – I'm loving Greenfield in Brunswick. Pad Thai is such a bomb after party food. Call me crazy, but at past house parties I buy a pad Thai, put it in their fridge and eat and share it at kick-ons hehe – it's always such a boss move.
Which fictional character best describes your personality? Luna Lovegood. I think she has quite a positive and optimistic outlook on life, which is similar to me. A lot of people say I'm out of it, which is somewhat true, but honestly there's some things I don't waste energy on and ignore because it doesn't bother me. I'm happy to mosey along and ride the ebbs and flows.
Last show you binge-watched? 'Stranger Things' for sureee.
MOZE plays a free show (supporting Joshua Moriarty) at Brunswick Ballroom (Melbourne) 31 August.
