Interview: Angelo Moore (Fishbone) By: Rob Smittix

Interview: Angelo Moore (Fishbone)
By: Rob Smittix

Photo Credit: Raymond Amico

AM: Hello Rob.

RRX: Angelo, how’s it going?

AM: Well, we played last night in Orlando at the House of Blues. We are playing tonight in Fort Lauderdale and you know man… we are working so hard for the next month. Everything is on track so far.

RRX: I appreciate you talking to me. We’re very excited that you’re coming to Albany to Empire Live on June 18th.

AM: Albany on the 18th. That’s right!

RRX: I was born in ’78. You’ve been a band practically my whole life, man. Did you ever think you’d be doing it for this long?

AM: No, I never even thought about that.

(Both Laugh)

AM: I’ve been doing for the majority of my life.

RRX: First of all, you’re a pioneer in the type of music that you do, which is phenomenal, thanks for being around and doing this for so long. But your music’s a lot of fun and you’ve even got some good messages in there too.

AM: Yeah, especially if you’re woke.

RRX: I mean… in this day and age, people need to hear it.

AM: Yeah, that’s right. I consider myself a woke person. That means I’m awake. I’m not really too familiar with what everybody calls woke now, but I do know this from knowing what awake means. I’ve been woke for a long time.

RRX: You and me both, man. I feel like we’re from the old school of that generation. But yeah, you gotta know what’s going. on. You gotta keep up to date and you gotta keep putting those positive vibes out there.

AM: Yeah, that’s right, man. A lot of big ugly sh** going down right now in LA, where I’m from. I feel like it’s my duty as an artist and a musician and somebody who seems to have seen the future, especially when it comes to my lyrics. I can’t help but just talk about what the f*** is going on, what’s coming up and what’s coming around the corner of that moment.

RRX: Right. These are some weird times but the music helps bring people together and keep people together.

AM: And sometimes you wake up a little bit.

RRX: Yes, we need a voice like yours. We need somebody out there representing for people that don’t have a big enough voice themselves to be heard.

AM: Yeah man, well I’m glad to be one of the voices for sure.

RRX: And there’s no end in sight. I figure you’re gonna keep going forever or at least as long as you can.

AM: That’s right, that’s why God put me here.

RRX: I agree with that. So, for someone that maybe hadn’t seen you live in several years, what are we to expect from a 2025 Fishbone show?

AM: Well, you’re gonna hear new songs and it’s a new line up. So there’s (guitarist} Tracey “Spacey T” Singleton, (drummer} Hassan Hurd, (trumpeter) JS Williams, (bassist) James Jones and of course Chris Dowd. I’ve been in the band the whole time.

RRX: Fishbone soldier number one.

AM: I think I started saying Fishbone soldier number one as a little play thing, a little joke, but it actually turned into some real sh** because I ended up staying the longest, with no breaks in between.

RRX: That’s right.

AM: We’re gonna have the physical LP available on the 14th or something like that. I’m always encouraging everybody to buy the vinyl, the CDs or the thumb drive because that directly supports the artist because once the music gets on social media or Spotify and Amazon, all of our fans get to hear the music for free. But we the artist don’t really get paid sh**, man. So, I’m always using the social media thing as a last resort.
Because of Napster There’s a selfish mission to like expose… like f***ing Metallica for whatever the f***ing reason. Oh, they’re too rich they don’t need all that money. I’m like… yeah, okay but what it has done to the rest of the artists has short changed the artists and it makes the music not worth anything. And so there’s no way for the artist to make money to pay for their food expenses or anything like that.

RRX: No, you’re. right

AM: Yeah it’s like some new slavery s***.

RRX: Things have changed, man. It really is the merch sales that keep you going.

AM: Merch sales, the t-shirts and everything. When people buy CDs and albums now they don’t buy it out of necessity, they buy it from a nostalgia point of view. A lot of people like to keep their records inside of the of the cover with the plastic on and they want to put it up in a frame or put it up on their mantle and worship it from there. I’m like, no, dude, take the f***ing record out, put it on the record player and enjoy it from there because that’s what it’s all about.
You know? And that’s directly helping the artist! Otherwise we’re starving artists because we’re actually struggling to make a living through our music. Where the record companies after a while they don’t pay you sh**, especially if you’re not following their agenda.

RRX: Yeah, no sh**, man. You hit the nail on the head with that one. Now, it is a shame, man. Coming from somebody that grew up in my time and your time… when we got the vinyl, of course, we threw it on and we listened, and we spent time with the inserts and the lyrics. It created a nostalgia, but it’s a nostalgia that we lived through.

AM: Like a life experience but now that we live in the age of abbreviation, which is the age of the internet. We’ve got LOL and LMFAO or whatever… so people don’t say the actual phrase anymore. They say the abbreviation which presents a way of thinking and learning in our age. Learning and abbreviated thinking.

RRX: Well, nobody has an attention spans anymore. It’s a wild thing. Is there anything that you want to say to fans to get to come on out to the show on the 18th?

AM: Come out to the show, come to the merch table, buy everything. I got 2 books that I put out, actually I got 3.

RRX: Oh, no kidding.

AM: I got 3 comic books. One’s called “Jah Jah on the telephone,” “Madd Vibe en’ Dub” and “Nate Poe Crasto” and there’s music or dialogue to go with the story. And then I got 2 coffee table books that come with thumb drives of me narrating all of my stories. The one book is called “The Olegna Phenomenon.” It’s based on my observations of my different travels all over the world and playing music and stuff like that. I’m narrating the stories like an audio book and I also put a lot of my sound tape behind it, to put you right in the middle of the story. But just a little imagination can take you a long way.

RRX: I love that. Well, I’m gonna have to pick those up.

AM: I do all this stuff for myself because I have to. If you depend on somebody else, you’re pulling the rug out from underneath and then then you ain’t got nothing. I’m always encouraging artists to try their best to not have to depend on somebody else. They can change their mind on you at any time they want and then you’re just f***ed.

RRX: Yeah, that’s the best advice, man. You’ve really got to do it yourself these days. Well, I appreciate your time, man.

AM: You’re welcome, take care, bro.