Keeping Up with MOZA

Sydney-based electronic duo MOZA may be best known on the Australian music scene for their collaborations with the likes of Running Touch, Paces and even Tina Arena. Now, MOZA are set to step into the spotlight for real with their latest single, Keep Up.

Given that their previous single, Empty Streets (featuring Kota Banks), has just clocked 12 million streams on Spotify, you would be forgiven for thinking that Cam Nacson and Toby Chew Lee would be a little nervous when it came to releasing new music. Rather than shying away from the challenge of matching the previous hit’s statistics, however, they chose to see it as an opportunity to grow and really push themselves as musicians.

“With the success of Empty Streets, there were some shoes to fill … but we’re always trying to better ourselves in some way, shape or form. So it was just a motivator to really push,” says Nacson. “We didn’t know whether or not we would see the same online streaming success as Empty Streets – because that was just ridiculous – but we always knew that we wanted a step up in some way and I feel we achieved that.”

After a few successful singles, now is usually the time that most bands really hunker down and focus on developing a bulk of material for listeners to enjoy in an EP or album format, but the guys from MOZA are in no hurry to release a longer record. “We’re pretty big on singles at the moment. We like the idea of really earning the right to release an EP or album. We really want to build that fanbase and get ourselves to a point where there are a bunch of people wanting a body of work.”

And their music lends itself to being played in a live setting. Nacson and Chew Lee have had lots of experience in live bands, with guitars, piano and other instruments, so the ability to make a song work both in the studio and on stage is incredibly important to them when creating new music. “We’ve always thought of this project from a live perspective. Obviously, we love being in the studio producing or recording, but we’ve always thought ‘How would this work in a live show? Is this really going to engage audiences?’” Nacson says. “That’s a big part of it.”

Their recent tour with labelmate Just A Gent – which saw them perform sold out shows to listeners who had never previously heard of them – seemingly proves MOZA’s theory. “You can’t beat playing the instruments, singing and doing everything live. When the audience starts singing along to tracks you wrote, it’s the biggest pay-off ever.”

MOZA, it would seem, are ready to take flight, hinting at another new single and Australia-wide tour in the not-too distant-future. “We’re ready to go … We’re going to say yes to these opportunities and we’re not going to let anything pass us up.”