Name: Anthony Moore
Occupation: Composer, performer, producer, lyricist
Nationality: British
Current release: Anthony Moore teams up with AKA & Friends for his new album On Beacon Hill, out via Drag City.
Recommendation for Newcastle: The sea.
Topic I am passionate about but rarely get to talk about: I am deeply intrigued by infinite series, limit processes and decideability.

If you enjoyed reading this interview with Anthony Moore, and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit him on bandcamp.

For a deeper dive, read our earlier Anthony Moore interview.



Do you think that some of your earliest musical experiences planted a seed for your interest in writing lyrics or poetry? How and when did you start writing?

I guess so, yes … I was 14 in 1962 and when I look at the top 50 in the UK for that year, shockingly I can sing all the songs and hum all the tunes (“Telstar”) in my head …

I’d had a guitar since I was 12. I’d try to piece together simple songs with it. So I became a strummer of chords rather than any good at actually playing it.

Entering new worlds and escapism through music and literature have always exerted a very strong pull on me. What do you think you are drawn to most when it comes to writing?

Pattern-making.

I loved the symmetry and repetition of pop songs. It’s no surprise that I evolved into a minimalist.

What were some of the artists and albums which inspired you early on purely on the strength of their lyrics? What moves you in the lyrics of other artists?

My parents had a weird record collection. I liked songs like “The train that went to Morrow” by The Kingston Trio, I think.

But before long it was all Dylan, Dylan and Bob Dylan.



Have there been song lyrics which actually made you change (aspects of) your life? If so, what do you think, leant them that power?

Again Dylan … showed me you can say things without saying them.

Also that sounding words is music.

It is sometimes said that “music begins where words end.” What do you make of that?

Is it possible that words begin where music ends? I think speech is music first …

I don’t really want to bother with meaning too closely … I hate surtitles or Italian opera sung in English. I guess I am thinking about “sound” as music.

I have always considered many forms of music to be a form of poetry as well. Where do you personally see similarities? What can music express which may be out of reach for poetry?

I think sound predates writing … octaves are maths without signs … a multiplication times 2.

I think music might offer a more participatory experience. One way or another words are always ‘translated’.

The relationship between words and music has always intrigued me. How do you see it? In how far can music take you to places with your writing you would possibly not have visited without it?

Basically it’s easier for me to trip out to sound than words. Words feel too concrete a lot of the time.

What are areas/themes/topics that you keep returning to in your lyrics?

Fractured love and angry politics … 



For the angry politics try “No Parlez” on On Beacon Hill ...



... and “War” from ‘Flying Doesn’t Help’.



On the basis of a piece off your most recent release, tell me about how the lyrics grew into their final form and what points of consideration were.

Actually I regret this is too difficult to answer for reasons too numerous to mention.

Do you tend to start writing with what will be the first line of the finished lyrics? The chorus? At a random point? What are the words that set the process in motion?

I think it’s the sound, and then a twist … “Can’t keep my eyes from the circling sky. Tongue-tied and twisted just an earthbound misfit I”.



Also I enjoy word-games or double meanings like in “Wearing the Inside Out” like wearing out the inside with too much introspection, or alternatively wearing your heart on your sleeve.



I'd love to know how you think the meaning or effect of an individual song is enhanced, clarified or possibly contradicted by the EPs, or albums it is part of. Does the song, for example, need to be consistent with the larger whole?

In truth I think I tend to see the songs as islands – but I think I am possibly wrong to do that … I can’t help liking them to be autonomous.

When you're writing song lyrics, do you sense or see a connection between your voice and the text? Does it need to feel and sound “good” or “right” to sing certain words? What's your perspective in this regard of singing someone else's songs versus your own?

Oh yes, the words definitely have to feel and sound right in the soundbox of my skull. I really don’t sing other writers’ songs except for the incredible lyrics of Peter Blegvad.

But then his voice has a permanent residence inside my mind. My inner monologue often chooses to speak with his voice. We’ve known and loved each other for nearly 60 years.

I would love to know a little about the feedback you've received from listeners or critics about what they thought some of your songs are about – have there been “misunderstandings” or did you perhaps even gain new “insights?”

Actually this hasn’t really ever happened to me. Not sure how to respond ...

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you feel as though writing song lyrics or poetry is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I am terrible at prioritising… I tend to think that everything is equally important, significant. It makes my life pretty complex but I know no other way.

And I don’t really believe in “expressing” one’s self. If I engage in making something, a song, a piece of music, it’s not really anything other than a “trying to find out”.