By Jason Irwin.

The last time I talked to Moriah Formica, the world was a very different place. COVID had shut everything down, live music had disappeared, and the idea of a young rock band touring the country seemed pretty unrealistic. Plush, however, was just getting started. Formica and original drummer Brooke Colucci had connected remotely during the lockdowns and recorded a version of Heart’s “Barracuda.” That video would eventually rack up millions of views and help launch what became Plush.

Fast-forward a few years, and the Albany-born band has gone from a pandemic-era internet collaboration to touring nationally, playing major festivals and sharing stages with some of the biggest names in rock. When Formica and I caught up recently, Plush was about two weeks into its current tour, appropriately titled the Mass Hysteria Tour after the band’s upcoming second full-length album. “It’s been a blast because we’re so excited to be able to finally play new music,” Formica said. “I mean, really, since the last time we talked. Since the pandemic as well.” The tour is taking Plush all over the country, from the Northeast to Ohio, Chicago, Texas and Oklahoma, including a pre-party show for Rocklahoma, before eventually heading west.

But the touring experience isn’t the only thing that has changed. Formica says the band has spent a lot of time figuring out exactly what Plush sounds like — and the result is the heaviest music they’ve released yet. “We have really been working behind the scenes to find our sound,” she said. “We’ve toured a lot since starting out, and we’ve got some really good experience under our belts. Then we kind of wanted to take that into the studio.”

That work has produced “Mass Hysteria,” due September 18, and the single “Animalistic,” a song that gives listeners a pretty good idea of where Plush is headed. Formica describes the song as an exploration of something that seems to be in plentiful supply these days: rage. “We just kind of wanted to make a song that was embracing that primal rage of being a human,” she said. “Because I think sometimes we forget at the end of the day that we are primal beings, no matter how much we might try to fight that.”

The response has been encouraging, particularly from people who have embraced the heavier direction. “I would like to say it’s been really good,” Formica said with a laugh. “We’ve gotten really positive feedback. People are really liking the heaviness of it and the fresher sound.” She admits that she does pay attention to what people think about new music, but there’s a balance. “You know, are people liking what you’re putting out? Are people digging it?” she said. “Because they’re the whole entire reason that you get to do this.” At the same time, the band has to remember why it made the music in the first place. “It’s also kind of remembering what we truly believe about the song and what our intentions were when we wrote the song and when we recorded it,” she said. “Just trying to remind ourselves how happy we are with what we’re putting out, regardless of what other people are saying.”

That confidence also seems to be reflected in Plush’s current lineup. After the departure of former lead guitarist Bella Perron, Formica took on the guitar parts live, leaving the band as a three-piece with original bassist Ashley Suppa and the band’s newest member, drummer Faith Powell. The transition could have been a disaster. Instead, Formica says it brought the band closer. “At first it was like, ‘OK, we have a tour in a week and a half. What the hell are we gonna do?’” she said. The answer was simple: rehearse. Then rehearse some more. “And to be honest with you, it has affected the group dynamic for the best and for the better,” Formica said. “We are the most united we’ve ever been, and we are airtight.” She says the smaller lineup has also helped Plush find its musical identity. I couldn’t agree more. “It’s really allowed us to find our sound too, with this next album,” she said. “We’ve really been able to find our sound and also grow into who we are as people more, too.”

There is another place where Formica feels completely at home: the 518. Plush recently played Rock the Block in Cohoes, and she notes that returning home after spending so much time on the road is always special. “There’s such a nostalgia to it,” she said. “It reminds me of when I was a teenager and playing acoustic gigs and open mic nights and just seeing a lot of the same familiar faces that were there supporting since day one.” Those familiar faces have become more than fans. “I’ve really grown to become friends with—and almost like family with them,” she said. Playing the Capital Region with Plush feels different from playing anywhere else. “It’s almost like a big jam session with your friends and family,” she adds. “The 518 does an amazing job at supporting local acts.”

And then there are the not-so-local stages. Plush has shared the stage with an increasingly impressive list of rock heavyweights, including Alice in Chains, Breaking Benjamin, Evanescence, Halestorm and Disturbed. For Formica, the Evanescence and Halestorm tour in 2021 was particularly meaningful. Amy Lee was one of her biggest musical influences growing up, and Lzzy Hale was another major inspiration. “To be able to see them each night and be on tour with them and just talk to them and thank them, and get advice from them, was so amazing,” Formica said. “It’s something that I would say definitely changed me as a person forever in the best way.”

There was a time when Formica was on the other side of that equation. I remember her once asking me if I could help her meet Maria Brink from In This Moment at an event I was covering. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it happen. Now, she is the one touring with the big names. These days, instead of asking me to get her backstage to meet a band, I might be the one asking her to help me meet somebody. Funny how things work out.

The Disturbed tour produced another unforgettable moment when Formica joined David Draiman onstage to sing “Don’t Tell Me.” “That was a completely surreal moment where it was like, ‘This can’t be right. What is happening?’” she said. For a young musician who grew up watching these bands, those moments haven’t stopped. “Every single experience is something that feels crazy, to be honest,” she said. “We never foresaw it coming, you know, as teenagers or young adults.”

That brings us back to “Barracuda,” the song that helped start the whole thing. I played Plush’s version on my radio show the morning of our interview and asked Formica what made the Heart classic such a perfect fit. Her answer went back to her dad. “My dad is very responsible for a lot of my music tastes,” she said. “One of the bands that he would always play for me was Heart.” There was something particularly powerful to a young Formica about hearing two women absolutely tear through a rock song. “I just remember being so intrigued by the fact that there were two sisters and two women and how fierce ‘Barracuda’ sounded,” she said. Then came Guitar Hero. Formica believes playing “Barracuda” over and over in the video game helped cement the song in her musical DNA before she eventually learned it on real guitar. “It just kind of fell into place because I just loved the song so much,” she said. “I feel like I had it in my body a little bit from just playing that game.”

So, after everything that has happened since that last conversation, I had one final question (and I love doing this during interviews). If she had to choose between playing the biggest sold-out show of her life … and catching the biggest fish of her life, which one would she take? If you don’t know … fishing is one of Moriah’s favorite pastimes. So, she thought about it. A lot. “I would probably go with the sold-out show,” she finally reasoned. “There will always be fish and water. But a career and the opportunity to stand on a stage in front of thousands of people aren’t guaranteed. You can’t predict that your career is always going to be there, that your voice is always going to be there, or that you’re going to be able-bodied to do stuff like that,” she said. “You can’t know that at all, especially in this industry.” Good call. Her voice is there, the band is tighter than ever, and Plush is heading into what may be its heaviest chapter yet. And there are still plenty of fish waiting for her when the tour bus finally stops.

If you want to see in person just how far things have come for Moriah Formica and Plush, you can catch them October 20 at the Palace Theatre in Albany with Collective Soul.