Bob Moses (band)

Formation

Howie and Vallance attended the same Vancouver middle school and high school in Vancouver, but were merely acquaintances, despite enjoying similar tastes in music. They had both dabbled into the sounds of California punk, Northwest grunge, and Minimalist electronic but never together.

After high school Vallance moved to New York City where he worked for a record engineering company for Dutch artist, Matthew Dekay on Lee Burridge's All Day I Dream imprint. He originally started his career making trance and progressive house music, with early success at the age of 18 with releases on the likes of Ultra Records and remixes for Sia and her record "Buttons" alongside Chris Lake and Markus Schulz. After working for Dekay, Vallance began working on writing and engineering for Get Physical's cofounder and one-half of M.A.N.D.Y., Philipp Jung.

Howie continued singing and after a year of attending Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, he also moved to New York. He was originally in the rock band Coalition, known for their song "Snowboarding".

After a year, Vallance and Howie reunited in a Lowe's hardware store parking lot. Surprised to see each other in a different country, they decided to spend time together. They started working on music in Howie's apartment.

Soon after they shared a flat together before working on music for the first time as a duo.

The duo helped write a vocal hook for one of the songs that Jung was working on. The band experimented with different sounds, since Howie had a background in rock music and Vallance in trance music, they began to experiment and combine the electronic and alternative sounds together.

After some studio time and working for a year, they showed the Scissor & Thread crew, specifically Francis Harris and Anthony Collins otherwise known as Frank & Tony, what they had been working on. They duo related their debut EP Hands to Hold on that label in October 2012. Soon after the release of this first EP, they went on to deliver a second, Far from the Tree before signing to Domino Records in March 2014.

Band name

The band name was given to them by Frank & Tony, who the duo say were keen on naming their artists after Big Apple's biggest icons at the time. They suggested adopting the name of Robert Moses, a prominent New York city planner who was behind iconic landmarks like Shea Stadium and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, however the story changes.

Days Gone By (2015–present)

Bob Moses' debut album, Days Gone By, was released on September 18, 2015.

"Tearing Me Up" became the most prominent song on the album, earning Grammy Award nominations for best dance recording and best remixed recording, non-classical..

It went on to win the latter award for remixer RAC. Vallance said the concept for the song was imagined while both of them were "going through something very similar" in their romantic lives. Howie has pointed out that part of the song's inspiration came from the beat of Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part 2." The song received considerable radio airplay in the United States, having peaked at No. 16 on Billboard Alternative Songs.

In January 2016, Bob Moses also appeared and performed on The Ellen Show, after being personally picked by Ellen DeGeneres to feature—they performed "Tearing Me Up". Tracks from "Days Gone By" have also been played on ABC's TV show, The Catch.

On August 19, 2016, Bob Moses released a special Never Enough edition of their album Days Gone By. The album featured remixes of "Like It or Not" and "Tearing Me Up" from artists like A-Trak, RAC, Joris Voorn, and Tale of Us. The album also featured two new bonus tracks, "She Don't Mind" and "Here We Are," along with live versions of "Tearing Me Up," "Before I Fall," and "Nothing At All."

Recognition

The act has been featured as one of the Top 20 live acts by Resident Advisor in both 2014 and 2015.

On the live front, Bob Moses has performed and headlined some of the most prestigious events and venues in the world, including Bowery Ballroom, TomorrowWorld, Ultra Music Festival, Governors Ball, Fabric and many others. In 2016, they were announced to play at Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo as well as prestigious European festivals including Sonar and Melt!.

Bob Moses has been featured heavily on BBC Radio 1, including their debut Essential Mix, and a live performance from Maida Vale Studios. In addition to this they have also been featured on shows such as Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW, and recorded a live session for KEXP.

Personal life

Vallance is son of Jim Vallance and Rachel Paiement, both of whom have a prestigious history within the Canadian music scene.

Discography