Moody Joody opens up about their vulnerable new single “Loretta’s Last Call” and excitement for what’s to come — Interview
by amber bintliff
Moody Joody is uncovering the most vulnerable parts of the human experience while putting their own spin on modern pop music. Consisting of co-lead vocalist/guitarist Kaitie Forbes, co-lead vocalist/synth player Kayla Hall and multi-instrumentalist/producer Andrew Pacheco, the Nashville trio is currently gearing up to release their highly-anticipated debut full-length album later this year.
Their latest single “Loretta’s Last Call” is a dreamy synth-pop effort that sees the group tap into their hopeless romantic side. If you’ve ever been the one to break down in the back of the bar during a night out, this track’s for you. With soft, melancholic verses and a cinematic chorus, Moody Joody crafts a beautifully relatable tale of the yearning, heartbreak and longing that comes with trying to save a relationship.
The trio sat down with Televised Magazine to share insight on “Loretta’s Last Call,” the concepts they’ve been building for their upcoming debut, what the future holds and more.
Congratulations on the release of your latest single “Loretta's Last Call”! This song paints a pretty vivid picture of a ‘last chance romance’ type trope. Can you walk me through the meaning behind the song and the inspiration behind it?
KAYLA: We had some lyrics that we had been sitting on for a while about this New York City love story that we hadn't done anything with for years. So when we were in New York writing for the album, we brought these lyrics in and we were building a story around it. I feel like this song has all these different worlds that it's lived in, but specifically the title is the name of a bar in Boston.
We were on tour and our tour manager at the time was my ex's sister. We had a show in Philly the day before and their family came to the Philly show. I had this big crash out–like crying at the merch table to my ex's mom type crash out. Then the next day we were playing in Boston and I was debriefing the crash out with our tour manager. I looked over and saw this bar called Loretta's Last Call and I'm like wow what a great song title. I'm such a Shania Twain girl so I was like “Maybe someday this will be a great country write.” I didn't really put much thought into it, but when we were building the album and the concept during this session I was like, “Wait, what about this title?” It’s really capturing a time in my life that felt very “crashing out over my ex crying in the bar bathroom.”
KAITIE: We wanted to write a yearning, longing, heartbreak rom-com-esque song and it all fell together perfectly when that title got brought in.
It's something everybody can relate to at least at some point in their lives. What was your favorite part of recording “Loretta's Last Call”? Were there any moments that stood out to you while you were in the studio that were more challenging or more rewarding?
KAITIE: It was a fun day. We wrote it at Mission Sound in Brooklyn with our collaborator Scott Harris. There were a lot of gang vocals going on in the studio that day and experimenting with different things.
ANDREW: Yeah it was fun. I remember the song started with just Scott and I jamming, he was on guitar and I was on synth. I had started recording both of us at the same time and it was probably 10 minutes of just jamming. I grabbed these certain sections which became the main guitar riff. From there it became this cool contrast between the darker. moodier verses and then the chorus opening up with these acoustic guitars, almost setting the stage as if it's being played in this country bar, Loretta's Last Call. That was really cool and fun to dive into on the production of this song.
You also released a really stunning music video alongside the single. I love the vibes of it, Very cinematic. Can you talk a little bit about the concept for the video? Do you have any fun stories about filming?
KAITIE: Oh man. It was such a chaotic day because first of all, we were supposed to film it like a week before but then New York had that crazy storm. Our flights got canceled so we just pushed it back. Then it was beautiful the day before and beautiful the day after [filming] and the day that we shot, we're getting the whole music video done on this one day.
ANDREW: It was so cold.
KAITIE: It was cold and rainy. So rainy.
KAYLA: Which did add some dramatic effects.
KAITIE: Yeah, I will say the rain honestly kind of made the video. So it worked out, but we all had wet socks and blisters and we were soaking wet by the end of the day. But it was fun.
KAYLA: We had our creative director, Lou Rogers, and he did “Oops!” and has been helping us build this world for our album. We love working together with him on everything in the video. I feel like he really gets us. We're very cinematic and building our visual world is extremely important to us so we always wanna make sure it's translating in the way that we want it to when it comes to the music and the visuals working together.
As you stated the track’s title comes from the name of a bar. If you could make a cocktail based on the new song, what would you make and why?
KAYLA: Tequila shot.
KAITIE: Or a martini. It's like New York City, but yeah probably just a tequila shot.
I feel like it fits the vibe of the yearning and everything.
KAYLA: Yeah! It's like the last call, last shot, bar’s closing.
“Loretta's Last Call” is part of your upcoming debut album that's due out later this year. What are you most excited about as you continue releasing singles and gearing up to finish/release the entire project?
KAYLA: Bringing them into a live show for sure. We talk about our band ethos a lot of “owning your humaness.” We got to have our moment with “Oops!” of it being this more lighthearted, fun girls night out anthem. Then we bring in “Loretta's Last Call” which is more yearning and our softer, more vulnerable side. I think that putting out the next few singles is also like a different world than something we've put out so far and I think that is a good showcase of the album. It's just gonna feel really nice to have all these different sides of us out into the world.
KAITIE: The world-building has been so fun, like working with our creative director and letting people see this world we've created slowly. Obviously when the album comes out it'll all come together and they'll be able to see different things we've referenced that they wouldn't know until the album's out.
Your debut EP Dream Girl was released last year. Have you noticed any changes from your process in the studio with that EP compared to now with your first full length project?
ANDREW: We did piece [Dream Girl] together to be a body of work, but some of it was already released as singles and had already been finished before we wrote the rest and released it. So the album is the first time that we really got to craft the thing from top to bottom and be really intentional about it. I would say the thing that we've kind of settled into a little bit with this record is leaning on more organic instrumentation. I think playing live and touring the old songs with live drums and the energy of being on stage has influenced us. So while it still has elements of classic Moody Joody, we just did a lot more exploring on the record.
We're just big album people. We love the deep cuts. We love the way that a track list flows like one song into the next and things like that. So I think it was just exciting for us to get to make a record that is not just a collection of singles and really get to build out this concept and explore a bunch of different sides of our band while also getting to form it in a way that's cohesive and what we wanna put out into the world as our first album. It's been fun! A lot of work but fun.
What is an unexpected or fun fact about Moody Joody that maybe people don't know?
KAITIE: I feel like we wear our hearts on our sleeves, like what are we hiding from the people? Trying to think.
ANDREW: I guess a fun fact is that the band was originally gonna be called The Yeehaw Girls when it was just Kayla and Katie. I don't know how well that would've worked out when I had joined.
KAITIE: You'd have to be a Yeehaw Girl.
Yeah, an honorary Yeehaw Girl. That was a good one. Moving on, you guys are set to join The Maine for their North American headlining tour very soon. What are you most looking forward to when it comes to these shows?
KAYLA: Playing the new songs for sure. We haven't gone on tour in a while. We got to play Austin City Limits last year and I think we got to play some of the new songs from the album there. So definitely we'd all probably say playing the new songs and just having that new, fresh energy with new fans. We're also playing some new places that we've never played, like Florida, so that's gonna be really fun for us too.
What is one thing you want these audiences to take away from your performance every night?
KAYLA: Live shows are just such a safe space. You can just show up as you are and if you need to dance it out, dance it out. If you need to cry, you cry. Comes to hi us at the merch table after the shows. We'd love to meet you. I think that we always talk about wanting to make people feel seen and understood. Live shows really get to be that full mirror and true connection of the art that we've created. However someone wants to experience it, we hope that they can just show up and have that time.
Before we wrap up, is there anything else exciting that you'd like to share?
KAITIE: We have so much coming up so just stay tuned! Stay locked in.
KAYLA: Buckle in, we’re about to go for a ride!
Moody Joody will join The Maine for select dates of the North American leg of their I Love You…But I Chose The Maine Tour starting on April 23rd in Charlotte, NC. Tickets and information for all of these upcoming shows can be found here.
