Bob Moses Shares Creative Process Behind Next Album, Embracing the Magic Onboard FriendShip 2024

Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance, the dynamic live house duo known as Bob Moses, have a lot going on: Just days before their interview with MP3 MAG, they wrapped up a massive tour with ODESZA. That same week, they announced their final tour in 2024: five Bob Moses (Club Sets) in Brazil, including a special New Years Eve celebration. In October, they released “Round & Round,” their first original song since the Deluxe Edition of The Silence In Between album dropped in October, 2022. It’s great that they’re crushing massive shows across the globe, but the world has been dying to hear new music.

That’s why, when they answered the phone from Western Studios in L.A. — where they spent the week recording new material for their next album — the most pressing question was clear: What will this new record sound like? Their answer was peculiar, but encouraging: “We’re not sure yet. Right now, we’re looking inward and letting our creative spirit guide the way.”

To be fair, that’s been the ethos of the Bob Moses project since its genesis in New York’s warehouse club scene in 2012. Even back then, the duo wasn’t interested in chasing some distinct sound or style, because that’s not authentic. More often than not, the chase actually smothers innovation and prevents the very evolution artists strive for.

“When we’re making music, we don’t try to guess what other people want to hear,” Vallance said. “That doesn’t work. When we go into the studio, we make the music that we want to hear. It’s a very vulnerable process, but people love that spontaneity. If you start chasing something outside of yourself, things can go very wrong.”

That’s why, when Vallance and Howie were brainstorming a proper name for their newly-formed musical duo in 2012, nothing seemed to fit. Every name they came up with seemed too meticulous or self-righteous. So, when a friend suggested the name “Bob Moses” as an arbitrary substitute for the pretentious name-choosing process, it made perfect sense. “We chose ‘Bob Moses’ because we didn’t want to take things too seriously,” Vallance said. “We were just having fun and embracing our creativity. The name didn’t matter to us. Honestly, that’s still our main ethos today.” 

Looking back, Vallance believes that moment laid the groundwork for Bob Moses’s creative trajectory, which has been firmly rooted in authentic expression, uninterested in industry politics or trend-chasing.

Bob Moses lets the music lead the way. Sometimes, that means embracing grand live performances and massive set pieces — Howie believes that “the stage is an instrument, and we like to test its limits.” Still, other times, Bob Moses takes a vastly different approach that exchanges live instruments and visual spectacle for a single piece of equipment, which is all they need for a proper Bob Moses (Club Set).

“When we started performing as Bob Moses, it was mostly Club Sets at warehouses in New York,” Howie said. “That’s why DJing and club culture is so fundamental to our music. But we always wanted to be more than a DJ duo. We both grew up wanting to be in bands, and it’s so cool we get to live that dream today.”

That dream has taken them to some of the most iconic cities across the world, but it’s hard to compete with the natural beauty of California, where the duo has recorded multiple live performances at destinations like San Diego’s Museum of Man, L.A.’s Griffith Observatory, and an abandoned radio tower in Topanga. There’s a distinct visual element to Bob Moses’s music; it’s a cinematic listening experience that lends itself to fantasies of dwindling daylight voyages and wandering nocturnal adventures.

The euphoric ambiance that defines Bob Moses’s music is a perfect companion to a beautiful sunset — or, in the case of The FriendShip 2024, an ocean-side musical adventure. Year after year, The FriendShip Festival proves to be the most exciting festival experience in the Western hemisphere, and Howie thinks he knows why.

“FriendShip is a super unique experience in terms of what a music festival can be. When you’re on the ship, you’re so far removed from the real world — there’s a certain level of escapism in that experience that’s hard to replicate. It’s a feeling you can’t get anywhere else. Our whole career has been about creating special moments, and that’s exactly what FriendShip represents.”

If you’re looking to escape, Bob Moses has the perfect solution: get lost in the music. On this ship, nothing else matters.

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